Bill Roper (born 27 March 1965 in Concord, California)[1][2] is a video game designer and has been a well-known person in the worldwide gaming industry since 1994. He personally represents the games he works and has built a solid reputation with his strong relationships with press, developers, and gamers. He has been featured in numerous articles in hundreds of worldwide games magazines, as well as being in the New York Times, Newsweek, and CNN. Having worked at some of the biggest game development houses, Roper went on his own to found Flagship Studios. Following its demise, Bill returned to a larger production studio, Cryptic. Bill was featured in a 2009 biography entitled “Santa Clause of Korean Game Market: Bill Roper” which examined the influence of his work in Korea. In December, 2010, he was a featured keynote speaker at the China Game Developers Conference held in Shanghai. Having stepped down from his position at Cryptic, Bill can now be heard on a Radio/Internet show called Bulletproof Radio, and is slated to assume control of Disney Interactive Media Group's Marvel Franchise.[3]
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Roper served as a Vice President of Blizzard North and was a Director of Blizzard Entertainment from 1994 - 2003. He oversaw and managed all external projects, coordinated internal development teams, and headed Blizzard's project oversight teams where he was instrumental in shaping the direction of the company's games.
Bill Roper worked directly on numerous million-selling games in varied producer positions and played a key role in the success of the Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo franchises. He also acted in and assisted with the direction of the voice recording for Blizzard’s titles, as well as personally representing the games to the global gaming community.
After his departure from Blizzard Entertainment, he co-founded and held the position of CEO for Flagship Studios, the developer of Hellgate: London and Mythos (which was later released by HanbitSoft). Amidst rumors of layoffs within the company,[4] the company dissolved and lost the rights to both Mythos and Hellgate: London to Hanbitsoft and Comerica[5] respectively; the Asian market partner and the bank which held up the intellectual property rights as collateral on loans taken to buy time to find investors.[6] HanbitSoft currently owns the intellectual property rights to Mythos and Hellgate: London.
In November 2008 Roper joined Cryptic Studios as Design Director and Executive Producer of their newest project, Champions Online.[7] At New York Comicon 2009, Roper told the audience that he "played Champions as a kid" and that his efforts to get involved in Cryptic's beta test for Champions Online led to his being offered a job at the company.[8] In March 2010, Roper accepted a promotion to Chief Creative Officer of Cryptic Studios, replacing Jack Emmert who transitioned to the role of Chief Operations Officer.[9] On August 16, 2010, Roper announced his departure from Cryptic Studios.[10]
Roper was named #41 in IGN's Top 100 Game Creators of All Time.[11]
Roper has worked on the following titles:[12]
Roper has performed at the California Renaissance Pleasure Faires, as the character "Captain Black" since 1994. He is the co-founder as well as a lyricist and composer for the Poxy Boggards, a folk band. He sings baritone and tenor with the group and is featured on "Anchor Management", which was released in 2008, playing tenor and baritone saxophones, tuba, and tin whistle. The band's song, "I Wear No Pants" was featured as part of a Dockers advertising campaign which launched during the 2010 Super Bowl.[13]
Bill also performs at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair as the character "Thaddeus Codswallop" in the Broadside Music Hall. He sings baritone and tenor in the group and plays a variety of brass instruments as well as acting in the traditional Victorian Music Hall role as Chairman for the group.
On March 3, 2011 it was announced[14] that Bill Roper would be joining the Bulletproof Radio team. Bulletproof Radio is a weekly, international terrestrial and streaming radio show covering the latest trends in gaming and tech. Bulletproof Radio is produced weekly by the team at Bulletproof Pixel.
Largely because of the failure of Flagship Studios after its poorly-received title Hellgate: London, Bill Roper has been extensively criticized by gamers.[15] Roper acknowledges the game as a failure, but believes he has learned from the experience.[16] Roper's role in Champions Online also came under fire.[17] On March 16, 2010, Roper announced on the Champions Online website that he would be stepping down as Executive Producer of the game[18] but later it was announced that the vacancy was made to accept a promotion to Chief Creative Officer title within Cryptic Studios overseeing Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and Neverwinter. He left Cryptic Studios later that same year.[19]
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