Brent Knowles

{{Short description|Canadian video game designer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Brent Knowles

| birth_place = Canadian

|alma_mater= University of Alberta

| occupation = Video game designer

}}

Brent Knowles is a writer, programmer, and game designer currently working at Beamdog. He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare (Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Dragon Age) for ten years, during most of which he was a Lead Designer/Creative Director.{{cite web |author=calgary seo |url=http://blog.empireavenue.com/2010/12/06/former-bioware-lead-designer-brent-knowles-joins-empire-avenue/ |title=Former BioWare Lead Designer Brent Knowles Joins Empire Avenue | The Empire Avenue Blog |publisher=Blog.empireavenue.com |accessdate=2012-10-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209211653/http://blog.empireavenue.com/2010/12/06/former-bioware-lead-designer-brent-knowles-joins-empire-avenue/ |archive-date=2012-12-09 |url-status=dead }}

As a designer, he feels that party control and tactical combats should be huge factors in a role playing game. Dragon Age II's departure from that made him realize that he would not be satisfied with what it would be.{{cite web|url=http://blogcritics.org/scitech/article/an-interview-with-brent-knowles-writer/ |title=An Interview With Brent Knowles: Writer, Video Game Developer and Next Gen Social Networking Emperor - Blogcritics Sci/Tech |publisher=Blogcritics.org |date=2011-05-03 |accessdate=2012-10-05}}

Brent eventually left BioWare in September 2009, to pursue writing. He has been published in a variety of magazines including Neo-Opsis, Not One of Us, On Spec, Perihelion Science Fiction, Tales of the Talisman and Through Blood and Iron. He has had articles published in Dragon Magazine and Pyramid.{{cite web|author=Erik Kain |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/17/former-bioware-designer-brent-knowles-on-day-one-dlc-and-the-mass-effect-of-public-relations/ |title=Former BioWare Designer Brent Knowles On Day-One DLC And The Mass Effect Of Public Relations |work=Forbes |date=2012-04-18 |accessdate=2012-10-05}}