I don't want to single out a favorite, but one who stands out is Tynan Sylvester. Not just for making RimWorld a good game, but for participating in unofficial community forums, discussing features and flaws discovered by players, and bringing a good attitude. This kind of openness helps improve things for everyone, IMHO. I wish it was more common.
Today One (aka Tarn Adams) who is making Dwarf Fortress and formerly worked on Liberal Crime Squad is way up there.
Redigit (of Super Mario Brothers X and Terraria) is another from the current era.
But if we can go oldschool, Sid Meier is a legend. Civilization and Pirates! are two absolute favorites, especially the remake of Pirates and Civs 2 & 4.
But the real OG, the man who showed me I wanted to make videogames, is Tim Sweeney. Sure, now he's rich and famous, but back in the day, even before UnReal, he ran Epic Megagames out of his parents' basement and sold floppies by mail. His first game, ZZT, came with the tools included to not just edit levels, but to make a whole new game of your own using the ZZT engine. By the time I discovered it there were already hundreds of user-made games being traded on BBS.
I fell in love. I joined the IRC channels and bulletin boards, I made the games I wanted, I shared them with my friends and over the Internet. It sparked a love in me that still burns today. Sweeney moved on, I moved on, but I will always owe him my regard for releasing ZZT into the world. It changed my life.
90s era Maxis, Bullfrog, Black Isle Studios, Troika Games.
JoWood also gets a special mention.
This is a more retro selection.
West Wood studios and Bullfrog.
F
Subset Games
Wube
The factory must grow.
Now in space from October 20th.
Retro gaming?
Rare
Larian Studios
And Naughty Dog during the PS3 era.
And Naughty Dog during the PS3 era
Not the PS2 era? Jak and daxter was the GOAT.
I tend to agree here. Their PS2 games were genuinely incredible. The PS3 ones are culturally iconic, but a lot of them are just... a cinema camera on wheels
Great games as well, but I was mostly playing on PC during the PS2 era. Loved their original Crash Bandicoot games as well. But Uncharted and also The Last of Us was pretty special to me.
ConcernedApe! Can't wait for his next game.
Since this is c/retrogaming, Interplay ca. 1995-2000
Supergiant
Ben Esposito
John Carmak ftw
FromSoftware, 100%. From the days of Armored Core to all the Souls games.
Nolla. They make great games with interesting vibes!
Powerhoof and joy masher make some nice indie games.
Team Ninja, from Ninja Gaiden and Nioh to Stranger of Paradise and Wo Long, their gameplay don't miss, ever (Rip DFFOO)
Vintage gaming community.
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