Rodvik Humble (born June 1, 1966) is a British video game designer. He is the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of ''

Second Life ''Second Life'' is a multiplayer virtual world that allows people to create an Avatar (computing), avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online environment. Developed for person ...

'' developer

Linden Lab Linden Research, Inc., doing business as Linden Lab, is an American technology company that is best known as the developer of ''Second Life''. The company's head office is in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in Boston, Massach ...

, Chief Creative Officer at ToyTalk, and former

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 ...

for the EA Play label of the video game company

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

. He is the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the Berkeley studio of

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independ ...

. He has been contributing to the development of games since 1990, and is best known for his work on the Electronic Arts titles, ''

The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims''. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on ...

'' and '' The Sims 3''. Previously, he worked at Sony Online where he worked on ''

EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, ...

'' and before that Virgin Interactive's '' SubSpace''.

Biography

Humble was born on June 1, 1966, in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, England. The son of an English mother and an Irish father, Humble moved to the US when he was around 27 years old. Humble has developed experimental games including '' The Marriage'', ''Stars Over Half Moon Bay'' and ''Last Thoughts of the Aurochs''. His work was shown and played at the SFMOMA in 2016. On 7 October 2008, a press release noted that

had promoted Humble to Executive Vice President and Head of The Sims Label of EA. In this role, Humble was to be responsible for The Sims Label, the developer and marketer of life-simulation games and online communities with an emphasis on creativity, community and humor. A

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

in ''The Sims 2'' expansion pack, '' FreeTime'', is based on Humble. He is seen delivering a gift to new home-owners, the gift always being a computer, the computer having a sneak preview of ''The Sims 3''. On 23 December 2010,

, the creators and operators of the

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...

'', announced that he would become their new CEO as of January 2011. On 24 January 2014, Humble announced on his Facebook account that he would be leaving Linden Lab to pursue founding a new company that will "make art, entertainment and unusual things!". On 29 January 2015, Humble announced his latest solo project ''Cults & Daggers'', with his new company Chaphat.

announced that Humble would lead its new internal studio, Paradox Tectonic, located in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, starting in March 2019. On March 6, 2023,

teased ''

Life by You ''Life by You'' was a cancelled life simulation game developed by the now-closed Paradox Tectonic studio for Paradox Interactive. Gameplay Some gameplay elements were demoed before the game's early access release. ''Life by You'' would have ...

'' with Rod leading the studio. On 17 June 2024, a forum post from Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja announced that Life by You had been cancelled.

References

External links

* * * *
Rod Humble presentation at Inventing the Future of Games Symposium in 2011
Free Will and the Future of Games, 15 April 2011 * Living people Electronic Arts employees Paradox Interactive Second Life EverQuest Irish video game designers 1966 births British video game designers American video game designers {{videogame-bio-stub