Raph Koster

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Raph Koster at the Web 2.0 Conference, 2005
Raph Koster at the Web 2.0 Conference, 2005

Raphael "Raph" Koster (b. September 7, 1971) is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies. Since July 2006, he has been working as the founder and president of Areae on an unannounced product.

Ralph is a common misspelling of his abbreviated name Raph.

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Raph attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English (Creative Writing) and Spanish in 1992. The same year he became involved with MUDs as an implementor in LegendMUD, where he was known as Ptah.

In 1995, he received a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and joined Origin Systems as the lead designer of Ultima Online. Raph was also the lead designer of Ultima Online: The Second Age, Ultima Online Live, and an unannounced and cancelled title until 2000, when he joined Verant Interactive in Austin as the creative director of Star Wars Galaxies.

Promoted to chief creative officer in 2003, he relocated to Sony Online Entertainment in San Diego where he spent three years primarily responsible for business development. In March 2006, Raph Koster left the company to pursue other opportunities. As of July 2, he is currently working on "something indie ... something that is [hopefully] disruptive and different and not games as usual." [1] This venture was revealed as Areae on December 15, 2006. [2]

Koster is a charter member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and a member of the IGDA, ASCAP, and Omicron Delta Kappa. He is also a frequent speaker at game industry conferences such as the GDC, DICE, State of Play, and E3. He presently lives in San Diego, California with his wife, daughter, and son.

  • After the Flood (1999)

  • Computer Gaming World, "The CGW Interview: Raph Koster", April 2006
  • Real People, Virtual Worlds, 2002 film documentary by Tracy Spaight

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