posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Greenberg, Robert Woodhead co-created 1st game in long-running fantasy RPG in 1981
The official X/Twitter account for the fantasy role-playing simulation game franchise Wizardry announced on September 1 that the franchise’s co-founder Andrew C. Greenberg has died. He was 67.
The Twitter account noted Greenberg had a huge influence on computer RPGs and gaming culture. The account added that although Greenberg did not make many public appearances in the later years of his life, he was always happy to answer questions about his work, and cared about the work until the end of his life.
Greenberg and AnimEigo co-founder Robert Woodhead co-created the original Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord game in 1981. The game’s boss “Werdna” is Andrew’s name spelled backward.
Wizardry is an ongoing franchise that has inspired many RPGs in the West and Japan. The franchise remains consistently popular among Japanese players, with the nation’s Wizardry spin-offs outnumbering the primary games in the series. Japanese video game developer Drecom acquired copyrights and domestic and foreign trademarks for the game series in October 2020.
The Wizardry franchise inspired an OVA in 1991.
Greenberg attended Cornell University, and he also worked on games such as Q*bert. He went on to become a patent lawyer and was a past chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Sources: Wizardry franchise’s X/Twitter account (link 2), Famitsu (ミル☆吉村), PC Gamer (Ted Litchfield)
