Beckett Massive Online Gamer names Top 20 individuals in the MMO industry

by James Egan May 28th 2009 at 8:00PM

In what's now become an annual event, gaming magazine Beckett Massive Online Gamer has put together a list of the most influential people in the MMO industry.

Blizzard's Rob Pardo has taken the #1 spot, as he did in 2008, which should come as no surprise to anyone, really. But Beckett has named Hilmar Pétursson of CCP Games as the second most influential figure in the MMO industry (up from #4 last year), with SOE's John Smedley, Jack Emmert from Cryptic Studios, and Mark Jacobs from Mythic Entertainment rounding out the top 5.

In addition to the major, established industry names you'd expect to see on the list, there are 10 newcomers this year, including Todd Coleman from KingsIsle Entertainment, studio director for Wizard101 which recently hit the milestone of 2 million unique users.

While Beckett Massive Online Gamer makes the list available online, the magazine offers background on each individual and how they've influenced the future of the industry.

Tags: beckett, beckett-massive-online-gamer, blizzard, ccp-games, cryptic-studios, hilmar-petursson, hilmar-v-petursson, jack-emmert, john-smedley, kingsisle-entertainment, magazines, mark-jacobs, mmo-industry, mythic-entertainment, rob-pardo, soe, sony-online-entertainment, todd-coleman

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kaiallard said on 9:01PM 5-28-2009

Smedly...Smedly is nothing more then a figurehead (a bad one) now. SOE is more run by Kaz (which is why they do not suck anymore).

CCon99 said on 11:28PM 5-28-2009

I completely agree, Smedley oversees those who build SOE's games and do all the actual work. He just signs paychecks. SOE's fans know more about his games in development then he does.

I'm surprised to see Jacobs and Emmert so high as well. I can see Jacobs being that high last year before WAR actually launched, but after losing over 400k subs, there is no one else to blame but himself. Emmert I guess could be on there with 2-3 MMO's in development, but when that NDA protecting CO eventually gets lifted look out Jack. =P

Chobeat said on 1:47AM 5-29-2009

Where the fuck is NHN's CEO? they put min kim and not the NHN's CEO? wtf...
Raph Koster then it's too low... Worlds in Motion is surely more relevant to the mmo world compared to BugHammer Online...

MrGutts said on 6:25AM 5-29-2009

I don't like Beckett any more. I subscribed to them, I got like 4 copies and then I started to receive renewals. Kinda sucks.

redrinn said on 9:11AM 5-29-2009

Top 20? There are 20 total? People who subscribe to that journal:you've been had. Next up, top 20 carbonated beverages, followed by top 20 fruit flavors.