Key Takeaways
- Video game directors need talented teams for success, not just individual effort.
- Good directors give direction to a vision, guiding teams effectively.
- Some iconic video game directors include Peter Molyneux, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and Hideki Kamiya.
A captain does not solely command a ship, a chef does not run a kitchen by themself, and a video game director does not create a game as just a single person. Everything needs a team to be run, games included. We can herald some people as auteurs all we want, but their games would not exist without a talented team.
Rather, a good director, as the name should rightly imply, gives direction to a vision. They guide the people in their team to where their talents would work best while working towards a cohesive whole. The best directors know how to do this, and have created stellar games as a result. So let’s look at some of the most iconic directors out there.
10
Peter Molyneux
A small caveat. This article is titled ‘Most Iconic Video Game Directors’, not best. One can absolutely call into question the quality of Peter Molyneux as a director, though there’s no denying that he has a unique presence that has given birth to some truly memorable games that wouldn’t exist without such an outrageous personality.
The trees grow in real-time, obviously. Your weapons shift and change in real-time, definitely. Everything is dynamic and real and the impossible is made possible. It doesn’t matter if most of it isn’t true, it is very, very funny. The worst part of Peter Molyneux’s false claims is that they tarnish the reputation of otherwise great games.
9
Hidetaka Miyazaki
The latest figure in the gaming industry to be heralded as its saviour, Hidetaka Miyazaki only joined FromSoftware in 2004, 18 years after its founding. Much of the company’s most well-known games, such as Armored Core and King’s Field, were already in full swing at that point. So why is Miyazaki held in such high regard?
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Miyazaki directed Demon’s Souls, and then later Dark Souls. We all know how that went. FromSoftware went from a niche interest in the West to developers of some of the most influential, highly anticipated games there are. FromSoftware recognised this too, and Miyazaki became president in 2014.
8
Warren Spector
eIn a lot of the modern Western gaming industry, we tend to obfuscate those who actually work on games. We mention the studios, the publishers, but rarely the individuals. The escapes the typical throes of auteurship, but makes it harder for the creative achievements of individuals to be recognised.
This was less so in the 1980-90s, when teams were much smaller. Take Warren Spector. He directed the original Deus Ex, taking massive inspiration from the likes of Looking Glass studio, and in turn inspired many others like Harvey Smith of Dishonored fame.
Warren Spector is also, ironically, spoken of as the sole creator of the games he worked on, a framing he has frequently refuted.
7
Shinji Mikami
In Mikami’s earliest days in the industry he worked at Capcom, becoming the director of the original Resident Evil, later directing Resident Evil 4 while working as a producer on many of Capcom’s other projects. In many ways, he helped make the survival horror genre into what it is.
Except Mikami has directed so much more than the horror he is renowned for. There is Vanquish, the high-octane cover shooter that isn’t even a cover shooter. God Hand that is all action with a focus on absurdity and genuine martial arts. He is a massively diverse talent who is clearly able to work in multiple genres.
6
Amy Hennig
Sadly, it is rare for a woman to ascend to prominent positions within the gaming industry, and rare still for them to take on directorial duties. That is just part of what makes Amy Hennig such a major figure, but it is the actual work she has achieved that makes her a real icon of the industry.
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She worked primarily as a designer in her early days, shifting into a director role first with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. From then, she would continue on to Naughty Dog, directing the first three Uncharted games. With them, she pushed the industry towards a more cinematic direction. Love it or hate it, its a powerful effect of her direction.
5
Hideki Kamiya
Capcom spawned a great many developers that would go on to become stellar directors in their own right. Once such individual is Hideki Kamiya. Originally, he worked under Mikami on the original Resident Evil before directing the sequel himself, and eventually spawning Devil May Cry from a prototype he’d made for Resident Evil 4.
In later years, Kamiya became known for his character-action games such as Bayonetta, though his works beyond that genre tend to be forgotten as his. Kamiya also directed Okami, one of the most incredibly gorgeous games there is, and The Wonderful 101, a character-action game with a top-down perspective and more arcade stylings.
Though perhaps beyond his gaming endeavours, he is most well-known for blocking every one he can on social media.
4
Yoko Taro
Yoko Taro really shot into the spotlight with Nier Automata, didn’t he? Of course, that wasn’t the first game he worked on, as it was the second Nier game. However, he’s actually directed plenty of games before that, too, Look at Drakengard, and the many mobile games since then. Yet no matter the game, no matter the platform, they always have something in common.
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Those games sure are depressing. Yet always hopeful, too. The power of Yoko Taro as director is the way in which he uses gameplay to tie into the themes, something that can often feel disconnected in other large-scale games. The game doesn’t tell you to feel bad about killing. That’s you feeling that.
3
Aya Kyogoku
Of all the directors mentioned in this list, Aya Kyogoku is probably the one you have potentially heard the least of. Except you have definitely heard of her works. Animal Crossing New Horizons was a worldwide phenomenon, and she directed New Leaf before that, too. You know, the most successful Animal Crossing games.
She was the first woman to direct a game for Nintendo with New Leaf, and after the success of that game was promoted to Manager of Nintendo EPD Production Group 5. Even when you may not have heard of her, her influence is unmistakable, and it’s great to see Nintendo recognise that too.
2
John Romero
First-person shooters are some of the most popular games in the world. There’s no denying the immersive element of a first-person game, and holding a gun first-hand makes it more personal. John Romero, alongside the team of id Software, helped turn it into the genre that it is today.
Like many of that era, you either went big or stayed small, and Romero remained small. While others like John Carmack went further into the tech side of the industry, Romero remained on the development side. Yes, Daikatana was a major blow, but he seems at his happiest making smaller things after the unprecedented effects of Doom.
1
Hideo Kojima
Yes, of course Hideo Kojima is here. The reason many people interested in games even know the phrase auteur, he has been a prominent name in games since he first started with Konami back in 1986, directing the very first Metal Gear a year later.
Kojima is known for making games that are eccentric, that teeter on the edge of being a bit too much, yet entirely sincere. Except Kojima and his team over the decades have also showcased an inherent understanding of the tech that creates games, making each game inseparable from where they were made. There’s a reason Psycho Mantis doesn’t have the same impact outside of the PS1.
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