Laralyn McWilliams was a video game creator best known as the lead designer of “Full Spectrum Warrior” and the creative director of “Free Realms.”
- Died: February 5, 2024 (Who else died on February 5?)
- Details of death: Died of cancer at the age of 58.
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Laralyn McWilliams’ legacy
Italian-born game designer McWilliams began her professional career in video games as a beta tester, working out bugs such classic titles as “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” “The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall,” and “Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.” In 2004, she won praise for the squad-based real-time tactics game “Full Spectrum Warrior,” which garnered good reviews and resulted in a sequel two years later.
McWilliams arguably made a bigger splash with the free-to-play massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, “Free Realms.” Released for PlayStation 3 and PC, the game drew millions of players into its fantasy world and remained online for six years in the highly competitive MMO field.
In 2010, McWilliams was named one of the top women in MMO gaming. In 2021, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Game Developers Choice (GDC) Awards. Other credits include “Disney’s Stitch: Experiment 626,” “Gears of War 4,” “Archangel,” and “The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.”
On designing MMO games:
“There’s an understating that can be more holistic about the various methods we have to influence players, whether it’s to influence them to group together, to laugh, or to cry, or anything else.”—from the 2015 “Critical Path” video discussion
Tributes to Laralyn McWilliams
Full obituary: PC Gamer
