Edward Lerner, or Ned Lerner, is a

video game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...

and technology project leader in the

video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...

Career

In 1983 he founded Lerner Research (a 3D simulation development company) which was responsible for '' Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer'', ''Deep Space'', ''

Ultima Underworld ''Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) and published by Origin Systems. Released in March 1992, the game is set in the fantasy world of ...

'', ''

F-22 Interceptor ''F-22 Interceptor'' is a 1991 Combat flight simulation game, combat flight simulator created by Ned Lerner and Gene Kusmiak. It was released by Electronic Arts and Ingram Entertainment for the Sega Genesis. The player controls one aircraft, the ...

'', and also created the first 3D system licensed by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

. He later co-founded

Blue Sky Productions Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Product ...

(later

Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Product ...

), filling the roles of

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

, and VP Product Development. During this time, he led the development of more 3D simulation and entertainment software, such as '' Flight Unlimited'', ''

System Shock ''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game is set aboard a space s ...

'', '' Links Pro'', ''

John Madden Football '93 ''John Madden Football '93'' is a 1992 sports video game developed by Blue Sky Productions and Electronic Arts and published by EA Sports. Based on the sport of American football, the player controls a football team in modes such as tournament pl ...

'', and '' Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds''. In 1997, he co-founded Multitude, an Internet gaming

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

startup that created ''

FireTeam A fireteam or fire team is a small military sub-subunit of infantry designed to optimize "bounding overwatch" and "fire and movement" tactical doctrine in combat. Depending on mission requirements, a typical fireteam consists of four or fewe ...

'', the first real-time internet team game with full voice conferencing. The full voice functionality was spun off into a standalone product called FireTalk. Ned later went on to work at Venture FireFighters, and Electronic Arts (as Chief Technology Officer). Ned previously worked for

Sony Computer Entertainment America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

, Director of Tools & Technology. In this role he was involved in the development of games for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, and

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Ned 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Chief technology officers Video game designers Video game programmers