Þórólfur Beck Kristjónsson (born April 14, 1974) is an Icelandic

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

and producer best known for co-founding the video game company CCP Games and creating the board game ''Hættuspil'' (''Danger Game''). ''Hættuspil'' remains one of Iceland's most popular board games and CCP's video game '' EVE Online'' had 500,000 registered accounts during 2013. EVE also went on to win awards from various gaming media outlets such as

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

magazine and MMORPG.com.

Early life and education

Beck was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he has lived for the majority of his life. While originally wanting to become a pilot, he was always interested in video games. The first video games he played were on the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

as well as in arcades; his favorite games and main inspirations were ''

Elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

'' and early

MUD Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

titles. In 2003, Þórólfur enrolled in Bifröst University in Borgarbyggð Iceland, where he studied business law for two years. In 2006 he became the agent and producer of an Icelandic music act that went on to compete in a European music competition. He later re-enrolled and continued his studies from 2011 to 2013.

Career

In 1997, along with Reynir Harðarson, Þórólfur co-founded CCP games for the purpose of making

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

s. In order to finance the initial development of ''Eve Online'', CCP developed and published a board game in Iceland called ''Hættuspil'' (''Danger Game''). During his time at CCP, he was a co-founder, first CEO, and later had the title of Lead game designer. Þórólfur was fired from CCP in 2002 (before their hit game ''Eve Online'' was released); he says he was "forcibly ejected" for being too unpleasant and immature to work with. He is not mentioned anywhere on CCP Games' website, he is not included in the in-game credits, and he was not invited to attend CCP's 10th birthday celebrations. In 2005 Þórólfur became the producer of Silvía Night, an Icelandic singer based on a fictional character who was Iceland's participant in

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

with the song "Congratulations" after winning the Icelandic national finals. While failing to win the competition, the act continued to be very popular in Iceland and is still remembered as one of countries most entertaining entries. In 2007 Þórólfur became

Executive Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

(EVP) of Business Development at LazyTown Entertainment, where he was in charge of tying LazyTown with

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

Mexico with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles and delivering fitness ideas to Mexican children and families. LazyTown Entertainment is an Icelandic children's entertainment company that also brands toys and healthy food items. Its main TV show '' Lazy Town'' (originally ''Latibær'') was based on a popular Icelandic children play and has aired in over 180 countries. Beck is currently working on a MMO project under the company name "NARC".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristjonsson, Thorolfur Beck 1974 births Living people Thorolfur Beck Kristjansson Thorolfur Beck Kristjansson