11 Facts About Bob Bates

Robert Bates was born on December 11,1953 and is an American computer game designer.

Bob Bates has twice been the chairperson of the International Game Developers Association, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

Bob Bates has written extensively about game design and development in works such as the 2001 book Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games, which is commonly used as a game design textbook in college courses.

Bob Bates continues to work as an independent consultant with various publishers in the games industry.

Bob Bates was born in 1953 in Greenbelt, Maryland, the fourth of eight children to Frances and James Bob Bates.

Bob Bates envisioned a game series entitled "Immortal Legends", with his first two published game designs being the interactive fiction titles Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels and Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur, on which he was both designer and writer.

Bob Bates was backed by ASC, and located in their facility in Chantilly, Virginia.

Bob Bates contributed design and writing to other company games, including the Gateway series and the company's final game Unreal II: The Awakening.

Bob Bates then went on to do independent consulting until 2011 when he was hired by Mike Verdu, then at Zynga, to be Chief Creative Officer for External Developers, a job Bob Bates held until early 2014, at which point he returned to independent consulting.

In 2017, Bob Bates launched a Kickstarter for his game Thaumistry: In Charm's Way, which was successfully funded having raised $35,238 from 1,053 backers.

Bob Bates has twice been Chairperson of the International Game Developers Association in 2005 and 2009, and has served on the advisory board of GDC Europe.