David Braben

{{Short description|British video game developer, designer and CEO}}

{{infobox person

| image = David Braben.jpg

| image size = 250px

| caption = Braben at SingStar premiere at 2005 Cambridge game event

| name = David Braben

| post-nominals = OBE

| birth_name = David John Braben

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1964|1|2}}

| birth_place = {{nowrap|West Bridgford, Nottingham, UK}}

| alma_mater = Jesus College, Cambridge

| occupation = Business executive; video game developer and designer

| title = Founder and President of Frontier Developments

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Katharin Dickinson|1993|end=div.}}
{{marriage|Wendy Irvin-Braben|2014}}}}

| children = 2

| years_active = 1984–present

| known_for = {{plainlist|

Co-creator of the Elite series
Co-founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation}}

| signature = David Braben Signature.png

}}

David John Braben {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FREng}} (born 2 January 1964) is an English video game developer and designer, founder and President of Frontier Developments, and co-creator of the Elite series of space trading video games, first published in 1984.{{cite news|url= https://gamedaily.biz/article/194/david-braben-why-the-industry-needs-the-return-of-the-publisher|title= David Braben: Why The Industry Needs 'The Return of the Publisher'|date= August 23, 2018|work= Game Daily}} He is also a co-founder of and works as a trustee for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which in 2012 launched a low-cost computer for education.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9113679/What-is-Raspberry-Pi.html What is Raspberry Pi?], Telegraph, 29 February 2012[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/feb/29/raspberry-pi-computer-sale-british Demand for Raspberry Pi, the British £22 computer, crashes website], Guardian, 29 February 2012

Biography

= Early life =

Braben was born in West Bridgford, Nottingham. He attended Buckhurst Hill County High School in Chigwell, Essex.{{cite news|last1=Parkin|first1=Simon|title=The life of Pi|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/technology/2017/02/life-pi-0|access-date=31 October 2017|work=New Statesman|date=8 February 2017|quote=Braben, who attended Buckhurst Hill County High, a grammar school in Chigwell, Essex, was a natural programmer, talented at maths and physics.}} He studied Natural Sciences at Jesus College, Cambridge, specialising in Electrical Science in his final year.{{cite web |title=David Braben |url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1050/david-braben/ |access-date=7 May 2015 |publisher=The Centre for Computing History}}

= Career =

In 2008, Braben was an investor and non-executive director{{cite web|author=David John Braben |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=50244865&privcapId=49501565&previousCapId=49501565&previousTitle=Phonetic%20Arts%20Limited |title=David Braben: Executive Profile & Biography – Businessweek |publisher=Investing.businessweek.com |access-date=23 June 2014}}{{dead link|date=April 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} of Phonetic Arts, a speech generation company led by Paul Taylor. Phonetic Arts was acquired by Google in 2010,{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/03/google-acquires-phonetic-arts/ |title=Google Acquires Phonetic Arts To Make Robo-Voices Sound Human |work=TechCrunch |date=3 December 2010 |access-date=23 June 2014}} for an undisclosed sum.

In May 2011, Braben announced a new prototype computer intended to stimulate the teaching of basic computer science in schools. Called Raspberry Pi, the computer is mounted in a package the size of a credit card, has a USB port on one end with a HDMI monitor socket on the other, and provides an ARM processor running Linux for an estimated price of about £15 for a configured system, cheap enough to give to a child to do whatever he or she wants with it.Rory Cellan-Jones, "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2011/05/a_15_computer_to_inspire_young.html A 15 pound computer to inspire young programmers]", BBC News, 5 May 2011 The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity whose aim is to "promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing".{{cite web|url=http://www.raspberrypi.org/ |title=Raspberry Pi Foundation website |publisher=Raspberrypi.org |date=13 June 2014 |access-date=23 June 2014}}

== Game development ==

Braben has been called "one of the most influential computer game programmers of all time", based on his early game development with the Elite series in the 1980s and 1990s.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/10573763/The-godfather-of-video-games-looks-to-a-new-Frontier.html|title=The godfather of video games looks to a new Frontier|date=15 January 2014|author=Rebecca Burn-Callander|newspaper=The Telegraph}} Next Generation listed him in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", chiefly due to the original Elite.{{cite journal|title=75 Power Players|journal=Next Generation|issue=11|publisher=Imagine Media|date=November 1995|page=50}}

Elite was developed in conjunction with programmer Ian Bell while both were undergraduate students at Cambridge University. Elite was first released in September 1984 and is known as the first game to have 3D hidden-line removal. In 1987, Braben published Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes, ported in 1988 as Virus for the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and PC.{{cite web|url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-virus_22995.html|title=Virus|publisher=Atari Mania|access-date=9 May 2015}}

After Zarch, Braben went on to develop the sequel to Elite, Frontier, published in 1993, and founded Frontier Developments, a games development company whose first project was a version of Frontier for the Amiga CD32. Braben is still the President and majority shareholder of the company, whose projects since 2000 have included Dog's Life, Kinectimals, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, LostWinds, Planet Coaster, Elite: Dangerous, Jurassic World Evolution, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Zoo Tycoon, Coaster Crazy, and games based on the Wallace & Gromit franchise.{{cite web|url=http://coastercrazy.frontier.co.uk/ |title=Coaster Crazy: Build, ride and crash any roller coaster you can think of. For iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch |publisher=Coastercrazy.frontier.co.uk |access-date=23 June 2014}}

In 2006, Braben was working on an ambitious next-generation game called The Outsider, being developed by Frontier Developments. As said in an interview,[http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162140.html?tag=result;title;1 Q&A: David Braben—from Elite to today], GameSpot, 22 November 2006 he was planning to start working on Elite 4 – as a space MMORPG game – as soon as The Outsider went gold. Braben said explicitly that this title was of special value to him. The Outsider was abandoned due to the removal of publisher support and was never published.

In 2012, Braben explained in an interview with developer website Gamasutra his opinion that the sale of secondhand games negatively affects the development of new titles, also holding the price of games in general much higher than they would otherwise be.{{cite web | url=http://www.reghardware.com/2012/03/20/braben_claims_second_hand_games_market_kills_development_of_single_player_titles/ | title=Braben sticks knife into secondhand games market | publisher=The Register | work=Reg Hardware | date=20 March 2012 | access-date=13 April 2012 | author=Cox, Caleb | archive-date=22 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422145545/http://www.reghardware.com/2012/03/20/braben_claims_second_hand_games_market_kills_development_of_single_player_titles/ | url-status=dead }} However, later in 2014 he acknowledged: "Piracy goes hand in hand with sales. If a game is pirated a lot, it will be bought a lot. People want a connected experience, so with pirated games we still have a route in to get them to upgrade to the real version. And even if someone's version is pirated, they might evangelise and their mates will buy the real thing."{{cite web|url=https://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20140116/06581425898/david-braben-once-angry-used-games-now-new-business-model-embracer.shtml|title=David Braben, Once Angry At Used Games, Now A New Business Model Embracer|date=4 February 2014 |author=TechDirt}}

On 6 November 2012, Braben's Frontier Developments announced a new Elite sequel called Elite: Dangerous on the Kickstarter crowdfunding site.{{cite web|author=Rory Cellan-Jones |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20165344 |title=Elite classic video games remake seeking backers |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=6 November 2012 |access-date=23 June 2014}} Elite: Dangerous achieved its funding goal and was listed as one of the most funded Kickstarter campaigns.{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/advanced?category_id=0&woe_id=0&sort=most_funded|title=Kickstarter, most funded|author=Kickstarter|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518093925/https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/advanced?category_id=0&woe_id=0&sort=most_funded|archive-date=18 May 2015|df=dmy-all}} The game was released on 16 December 2014, and by April 2015 had sold over 500,000 copies.{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Frontier-s-Elite-Dangerous-earnings-boost/story-26396543-detail/story.html|title=Frontier's Elite Dangerous earnings boost Cambridge Index|date=28 April 2015|author=Cambridge News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705012128/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Frontier-s-Elite-Dangerous-earnings-boost/story-26396543-detail/story.html|archive-date=5 July 2015|df=dmy-all}} As of August 2017, the game has sold over 2.75 million copies.{{cite web|last1=Phillips|first1=Tom|title=Planet Coaster soars past one million sales|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-15-planet-coaster-soars-past-million-sales|website=Eurogamer|publisher=Gamer Network|access-date=15 August 2017|date=15 August 2017}}{{cite news|url= https://www.ft.com/content/b3a5cc22-6800-11e9-a79d-04f350474d62|title= Big tech presents next chapter for UK gaming companies|date= April 26, 2019|work= Financial Times}}

In August 2022, Frontier announced David’s transition to his new role of President and Founder, stepping down as CEO.

Personal life

In May 1993, he married Katharin Dickinson in Cambridge. His current wife is Wendy Irvin-Braben, and he has two sons.{{cite web |title=Frontier Dev PLC: Director Dealings |url=https://www.investegate.co.uk/frontier-dev-plc--fdev-/rns/director-dealings/201709280856370782S/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043144/https://www.investegate.co.uk/frontier-dev-plc--fdev-/rns/director-dealings/201709280856370782S/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=28 November 2017 |publisher=FE Investegate}} According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, Braben and his wife have an estimated combined worth of £182 million, an increase of £50 million from the previous year.{{cite web |title=Sunday Times Rich List features nine video games multi-millionaires |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sunday-times-rich-list-features-nine-video-games-multi-millionaires |website=GamesIndustry.biz |date=May 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225195236/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sunday-times-rich-list-features-nine-video-games-multi-millionaires |archive-date=Dec 25, 2022}}

Awards

File:David Braben GDCA 2015 (cropped).jpg

On 5 September 2005, Braben received the Development Legend Award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards in Cambridge.{{cite web |publisher=MobyGames |title=David Braben |access-date=8 May 2015|url=http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1003/}}

In 2012, Braben was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.{{cite web|url=http://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/30a/raeng-fellows.cfm|date=25 July 2012|title=IET members among new Academy Fellows|publisher=The IET|access-date=8 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213114/http://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/30a/raeng-fellows.cfm|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

In 2013, Braben was co-award winner of Tech Personality of the Year at the UK Tech Awards 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.uktech-awards.co.uk/index.php/archive/2013|title=UK Tech Awards 2017 :: 2013|publisher=UK tech awards|date=2013|access-date=10 December 2017}} In the same year, he was awarded an honorary degree by Abertay University.{{Cite web |url=https://scottishgames.net/2013/12/02/david-braben-receives-honorary-degree-from-abertay/ |title=David Braben Receives Honorary Degree from Abertay | Scottish Games Network |access-date=10 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701125426/https://scottishgames.net/2013/12/02/david-braben-receives-honorary-degree-from-abertay/ |archive-date=1 July 2016 |url-status=dead }}

Braben was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to the UK computer and video games industry.{{London Gazette |issue=60895 |date=14 June 2014 |page=b11 |supp=y}}{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Queen's birthday honours list 2014: OBE|date=13 June 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/13/queens-birthday-honours-obe}}

In January 2015, he received the 2015 Pioneer, Game Developers Choice Award (GDCA), for his work on the Raspberry Pi and for working more than 30 years as a game developer.{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2015-game-developers-choice-awards-honoring-veteran-brenda-romero-with-ambassador-award-elite-co-creator-david-braben-with-pioneer-award-300026049.html|title=2015 Game Developers Choice Awards Honoring Veteran Brenda Romero With Ambassador Award, Elite Co-Creator David Braben With Pioneer Award|publisher=PR newswire|date=27 January 2015}}

On 12 March 2015, Braben was awarded the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in video gaming at the 11th British Academy Games Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/bafta-awards-honor-i-destiny-monument-valley-i-and-david-braben |title=BAFTA Awards honor Destiny, Monument Valley, and David Braben |last=Nutt |first=Christian |publisher=Gamasutra. UBM plc |date=March 12, 2015 |access-date=13 March 2015 }}

Braben is the recipient of three honorary doctorates from Abertay University (2013),{{cite web|url=https://scottishgames.net/2013/12/02/david-braben-receives-honorary-degree-from-abertay/|title=2013 David Braben Receives Honorary Degree From Abertay|publisher=The Scottish Games Network|date=2 December 2013|access-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701125426/https://scottishgames.net/2013/12/02/david-braben-receives-honorary-degree-from-abertay/|archive-date=1 July 2016|url-status=dead}} the Open University (2014),{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-officers/FDEV

|title=Frontier Developments PLC (FDEV.L) People|work=Reuters|access-date=10 December 2017}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic|fix-attempted=yes}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and the University of York (15 July 2015).{{cite web |url=https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2015/events/honorary-graduates-july-2015|title=University of York honours 11 for their contribution to society|publisher=University of York|date=14 July 2015|access-date=10 December 2017}}

Braben was inducted into the UK Games Industry Hall of Fame on 4 March 2025.{{Cite web |date=5 March 2025 |title=Frontier Founder & President David Braben inducted to the UKIE Hall of Fame |url=https://www.frontier.co.uk/news/2025-03-05/frontier-founder-president-david-braben-inducted-ukie-hall-fame |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250609183012/https://www.frontier.co.uk/news/2025-03-05/frontier-founder-president-david-braben-inducted-ukie-hall-fame |archive-date=9 June 2025 |access-date=15 June 2025 |website=Frontier Developments}}

Games

Game name	First released	Braben's role(s)
class="wikitable"
Elite	1984	Designer and programmer
Zarch	1987	Developer
Conqueror	1990	Developer
Campaign	1992	Programmer (original 3D shape display code)
Frontier: Elite II	1993	Designer, writer and programmer
Frontier: First Encounters	1995	Director and writer
Darxide	1995	Designer
V2000	1998	Programmer
[https://web.archive.org/web/20001218083600/http://www.ubisoft.co.uk/infestation/braben.html Infestation]	2000	Creative director and engine and tool programmer
Dog's Life	2003	Director and designer
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3	2004	Executive producer
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked!	2005	Executive producer
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Wild!	2005	Executive producer
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit	2005	Executive producer
Thrillville	2006	Executive producer
Thrillville: Off the Rails	2007	Executive producer
LostWinds	2008	Executive producer
LostWinds 2: Winter of the Melodias	2009	Chairman
Kinectimals	2010	Executive producer
Kinect Star Wars	2012	Chairman and Founder
Tales From Deep Space	2014	CEO and Founder
Elite: Dangerous	2014	Director
Planet Coaster	2016	CEO and Founder
Jurassic World Evolution	2018	CEO and Founder