Warhammer Online - the people behind the game

Former White Dwarf editor and Design Studio boss - Robin Dews, heads up the company and Rick Priestley - Warhammer's original creator and now Games Workshop's Design Director, is leading the game design team. On the Climax side, Matt Sansam is producing the game under the guidance of Paul Caruthers, Gary Liddon and Karl Jeffery. It's a pretty heavyweight team with a great deal of experience of cutting edge games design and delivery.

Robin Dews - General Manager, Warhammer Online Ltd

Robin joined Games Workshop in 1989 working on a range of publications for the company. In 1991 he took on the role of White Dwarf editor and steered the magazine through a period of internationalisation that saw it grow to seven editions in five languages and become the world's best selling fantasy gaming magazine.

After 4 years and 50 issues of White Dwarf, Robin became Games Workshop Studio Manager with responsibility for the Design Studio. At the core of its business - the Design Studio employs over 80 creative staff and is responsible for the design, development and production of all of Games Workshop's games and miniatures.

In early 2001, he left the Design Studio to take up the challenge of delivering a massively multiplayer online version of the Warhammer World - Warhammer Online.

"My real ambition is to create a game that brings together the excitement and gameplay of the early pen and paper RPGs, with fantastic graphics and a great social environment - a game that makes the Warthammer World more real than real!."

Matt Sansam - Executive Producer, Warhammer Online Ltd.

Matt has been in the games industry for nearly 10 years, working on a variety of formats including Super Nintendo, PC, PlayStation and, more recently, first-party development for Microsoft's Xbox. He is now combining his experience of online gaming with his knowledge of the Games Workshop license, leading the design work as Executive Producer on the forthcoming Warhammer Online.

 

Rick Priestley - Games Workshop Product Development Director

Among fantasy gamers, Rick is a myth, pixie or possibly a fairy story. He joined Games Workshop in 1982 and founded the Games Workshop Design Studio. As a designer he co-wrote and produced the original set of tabletop fantasy battle rules - Reaper (1979) - and then Warhammer (1982).

Warhammer has since mutated through numerous editions and supplements - spawning a complete role-play system, computer games, a fiction imprint and a spectacularly unsuccessful record company. In 1987, he unexpectedly fathered Warhammer 40,000 (1987) upon an innocent public - the game has gone on to become the benchmark in tabletop Sci-Fi wargaming with enthusiasts in every part of the globe. In between, he has written, produced and forgotten a huge number of games and supplements. He currently holds the position of Product Development Director for Games Workshop Group.

Rick's ambition for Warhammer Online is to finally see a game that is the bastard offspring of the union of Carry On and Monty Python: "Warhammer was always a cheerful melange of the serious and absurd and so the list of sources that have inspired Warhammer is always going to be eclectic. The obvious candidates are Tolkien, Robert E Howard (et al), and Michael Moorcock - solid fantasy fare for the time. Less obvious perhaps - Shakespeare, Milton and William Blake - truly no source is sacred. If the ingredients seem overly credible then the secret must be in the blending - the radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, TV's Monty Python - and the Python films, the Carry On movies, and (as if I should forget) Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns."

Paul Carruthers - Studio Head, Climax Nottingham

Paul has worked in the computer games industry since he formed Astral Software Ltd in 1987 and created a number of games for the Atari ST and Amiga, including: Xor, Quadralien, Archipelagos and Stormball.

After a period as a freelance programmer where he worked on a number of titles for Probe Software including Mortal Kombat and Batman Forever for the Sega Genesis he formed Anthill Studios in 1999 producing the successful Archipelagos 2000 and Rat Attack for the PCCD.
In early 2001, Anthill Studios became part of the Climax Group. The Warhammer Online joint venture was established and Paul was appointed Studio Head.

 

 

 

Warhammer online is a cooperation between Climax and Games Workshop. All information taken from the official promotion package provided by www.bastion.uk