GamesRPGAndrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of the influential Wizardry series of RPGs, has diedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGAndrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of the influential Wizardry series of RPGs, has diedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Andrew Greenberg,David Mullich)
It’s hard to overstate Greenberg and Woodhead’s influence on RPGs and PC gaming. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was one of the first recognizable RPGs you could play on a home computer, a translation of tabletop RPGs and the games developed for the mighty PLATO mainframes present on college campuses at the time to the humble Apple II.
(Image credit:Robert Woodhead)
Wizardry and the competing Ultima series would prove immensely popular throughout the 1980s, with Wizardry and its sequels getting ports to the major personal computers of the era like the Commodore 64 and MS DOS PCs. One surprising outcome was Wizardrys' influence in Japan, where it has had an even more enduring popularity and inspired the invention of the JRPG as we know it. Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has long cited Wizardry as a primary inspiration, and in a2022 tweetabout meeting Robert Woodhead for the first time, Horii wrote, “When I think back, it all started 40 years ago when I got really into Wizardry.”
After co-creating the Star Saga games in 1988 and ‘89, Greenberg ultimately left the games industry to practice law, first focusing on intellectual property law in Florida before becoming the general counsel of renewable energy company Xslent. However, anarchived snapshotof Greenberg’s personal website, as well as his YouTube channel, show that he never abandoned his interest in computer programming. According to a letter from Greenberg shared to aWizardry fan site in 1999, he married Wizardry playtesterSheila McDonald, and they had two children together.
Andrew Greenberg left the games industry a very long time ago, but his influence can still be felt in everything from Baldur’s Gate to Persona. You can experience Greenberg’s work on Wizardry more directly via Digital Eclipse’srecent remasterof the first game, which took input from the Wizardry’s creators, and also includes a picture-in-picture view of the original’s 1-bit graphics.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
More about rpgElden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like StalkerLatestThe best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kitSee more latest►
More about rpgElden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like StalkerLatestThe best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kitSee more latest►
More about rpgElden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like Stalker
More about rpg
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like Stalker
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything
20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like Stalker
20 hours in, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a mad, systems-driven sandbox that captures some of the best parts of games like Stalker
LatestThe best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kitSee more latest►
Latest
The best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kit
The best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kit
The best part of Marvel Rivals Season 1 is Mister Fantastic’s obnoxiously fun chest-bump attack and his ridiculously OP kit
See more latest►
Most PopularAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortageThis Jinx-inspired gaming PC is my favorite of CES 2025 and I’m head over heels for the hardwareHarrowing report alleges years of horrific abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian support studio that worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and The Last of Us RemakeTencent says it’s not a Chinese military company and is willing to sue the US Department of Defense if it isn’t removed from a blacklistAll Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10We may not have a roadmap or balance patch just yet, but at least Path of Exile 2’s bugfix patch notes are funnyDeus Ex: Mankind Divided writer didn’t like the ending either: ‘Nothing is resolved’It seems like Square’s finally consistently taking the PC ports of Final Fantasy seriouslyLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks more like a zany RGG take on Black Flag than I dared hope
Most PopularAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortageThis Jinx-inspired gaming PC is my favorite of CES 2025 and I’m head over heels for the hardwareHarrowing report alleges years of horrific abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian support studio that worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and The Last of Us RemakeTencent says it’s not a Chinese military company and is willing to sue the US Department of Defense if it isn’t removed from a blacklistAll Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10We may not have a roadmap or balance patch just yet, but at least Path of Exile 2’s bugfix patch notes are funnyDeus Ex: Mankind Divided writer didn’t like the ending either: ‘Nothing is resolved’It seems like Square’s finally consistently taking the PC ports of Final Fantasy seriouslyLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks more like a zany RGG take on Black Flag than I dared hope
Most PopularAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortageThis Jinx-inspired gaming PC is my favorite of CES 2025 and I’m head over heels for the hardwareHarrowing report alleges years of horrific abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian support studio that worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and The Last of Us RemakeTencent says it’s not a Chinese military company and is willing to sue the US Department of Defense if it isn’t removed from a blacklistAll Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10We may not have a roadmap or balance patch just yet, but at least Path of Exile 2’s bugfix patch notes are funnyDeus Ex: Mankind Divided writer didn’t like the ending either: ‘Nothing is resolved’It seems like Square’s finally consistently taking the PC ports of Final Fantasy seriouslyLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks more like a zany RGG take on Black Flag than I dared hope
Most Popular
AMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
This Jinx-inspired gaming PC is my favorite of CES 2025 and I’m head over heels for the hardware
Harrowing report alleges years of horrific abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian support studio that worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and The Last of Us Remake
Tencent says it’s not a Chinese military company and is willing to sue the US Department of Defense if it isn’t removed from a blacklist
All Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codes
Asus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forward
Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10
We may not have a roadmap or balance patch just yet, but at least Path of Exile 2’s bugfix patch notes are funny
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided writer didn’t like the ending either: ‘Nothing is resolved’
It seems like Square’s finally consistently taking the PC ports of Final Fantasy seriously
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks more like a zany RGG take on Black Flag than I dared hope
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2
Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
1
Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
2
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3
WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4
Ikea Utespelare desk review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
