Bill Roper (born March 27, 1965) is an American video game designer and producer. He is a co-founder and the current Chief Executive Officer at Lunacy Games. Previously he was Chief Creative Officer at Web3 start-up Midnight. He has also served as co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at AuthorDigital (Adept Stusios / Arcadia Games) and was Chief Creative Officer at Improbable. Roper was Vice President/GM at Disney Interactive Studios from 2011–2016,[3] and headed video game studios and creative and development departments for two decades, including divisions at Blizzard Entertainment, Flagship Studios, and Cryptic Studios. He is also an accomplished musician, and a founding member of the folk bandThe Poxy Boggards.[4]
Career
Roper worked at Blizzard North and Blizzard Entertainment from 1994 to 2003, and was Vice President at Blizzard North at the time of his departure.[5] He served in senior production and design capacities on the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo series. He also provided voice-over talent for numerous games.[6]
After his departure from Blizzard, Roper co-founded and held the position of CEO for Flagship Studios, the developer of Hellgate: London and Mythos (which was later released by HanbitSoft).[7] In early 2008, amidst rumors of layoffs within the company,[8] the company dissolved and lost the rights to both Mythos and Hellgate: London to Hanbitsoft and Comerica[9] respectively, after it secured financing with Texas-based Comerica Bank to support the continuing development of its franchises.[10] HanbitSoft currently owns the intellectual property rights to Mythos and Hellgate: London.[11]
In November 2008 Roper joined Cryptic Studios as Design Director and Executive Producer of their newest project, Champions Online.[12] In March 2010, Roper was promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Cryptic, replacing Jack Emmert after the latter transitioned to the role of Chief Operations Officer.[13] On August 16, 2010, Roper announced his departure from Cryptic Studios to join Disney.[14]
Roper was formerly Chief Creative Officer at Improbable.[18] In an interview with VentureBeat, Bill Roper unveiled the name of a new studio he founded, Lunacy Games, which is currently developing an "open world survival RPG set in the post-apocalyptic American West" as well as a sequel to 2007's Hellgate: London, codenamed Hellgate: Redemption[19]
Honors
Roper was named #41 in IGN's Top 100 Game Creators of All Time.[20]
