TOP 100 GAMING EXPERTS: VIDEO GAME CONSULTANTS, SPEAKERS & CONSULTING ADVISORS

The Top 100 gaming experts, video game consultants and consulting thought leaders suggest that as the industry surpasses hundreds of billions in revenue and continues to influence culture, technology, and entertainment, the driving force remains a diverse and dynamic group of individuals. The world’s Top 100 gaming experts list includes developers, designers, executives, innovators, and strategists.

Consistently found across today’s leading voices who are making waves, few names are as recognizable as Scott Steinberg, a longtime industry analyst, futurist bestselling author, and keynote speaker turned innovation advisor. As a Top 100 gaming experts consultant to 3000 brands, he’s spent decades advising studios, developers, publishers, investors and distributors, helping drive the evolution of games and interactive entertainment.

You’ll also find on the roster folks who continue to lead award-winning franchises that have redefined all manner of genres and titles. It only makes sense, given that Top 100 gaming experts members are creative powerhouses unto themseleves.

It’s all but guaranteed that you’ll have your own ideas for recommendations as well. Fair enough: Feel free to submit Top 100 gaming experts suggestions for consideration going forward, which we’re happy to review.

• Shigeru Miyamoto – Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda
• Hideo Kojima – Metal Gear, Death Stranding
• Sid Meier – Civilization series
• Will Wright – The Sims, SimCity
• John Carmack – Doom, Quake
• John Romero – Doom, Wolfenstein 3D
• Yu Suzuki – Shenmue, Virtua Fighter
• Scott Steinberg – Consultant, Bestselling Brands
• Yuji Naka – Sonic the Hedgehog
• Gabe Newell – Co-founder, Valve (Half-Life, Portal)
• Peter Molyneux – Fable, Black & White
• Hironobu Sakaguchi – Final Fantasy series
• Ken Levine – BioShock
• Todd Howard – The Elder Scrolls, Fallout
• Ed Boon – Mortal Kombat
• Cory Barlog – God of War
• Tetsuya Nomura – Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy
• Goichi Suda (Suda51) – No More Heroes
• Cliff Bleszinski – Gears of War
• Michel Ancel – Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil
• Toby Fox – Undertale
• Masahiro Sakurai – Super Smash Bros., Kirby
• Eiji Aonuma – The Legend of Zelda
• Katsuhiro Harada – Tekken series
• Amy Hennig – Uncharted series
• Lorne Lanning – Oddworld series
• Fumito Ueda – ICO, Shadow of the Colossus
• Hideki Kamiya – Bayonetta, Devil May Cry
• Shinji Mikami – Resident Evil, The Evil Within
• Yoko Taro – Nier series
• Tetsuya Takahashi – Xenogears, Xenoblade Chronicles
• Kazunori Yamauchi – Gran Turismo
• Koji Igarashi – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Keiji Inafune – Mega Man
• Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) – Final Fantasy XIV
• Dan Houser – Grand Theft Auto series
• Sam Houser – Red Dead Redemption
• Jenova Chen – Journey, Flower
• Kojima Productions Team – Death Stranding
• Yoshinori Kitase – Final Fantasy VII
• Rieko Kodama – Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia
• Jonathan Blow – Braid, The Witness
• Markus Persson (Notch) – Minecraft
• Phil Fish – Fez
• Lucas Pope – Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn
• Eric Barone – Stardew Valley
• Zachtronics (Zach Barth) – SpaceChem, Opus Magnum
• Christine Love – Analogue: A Hate Story
• Chris Taylor – Total Annihilation
• Derek Yu – Spelunky
• Alexander Bruce – Antichamber
• Hajime Tabata – Final Fantasy XV
• Neil Druckmann – The Last of Us, Uncharted
• Bruce Straley – Uncharted, The Last of Us
• Chet Faliszek – Left 4 Dead, Portal
• Doug Lombardi – Half-Life series
• David Gaider – Dragon Age
• Casey Hudson – Mass Effect
• Mike Laidlaw – Dragon Age
• Patrick Söderlund – Battlefield
• Brendan Greene (PlayerUnknown) – PUBG
• Ken Silverman – Build Engine (Duke Nukem 3D)
• Cliff Bleszinski – Unreal
• Ron Gilbert – Monkey Island
• Jordan Mechner – Prince of Persia
• Chris Roberts – Wing Commander, Star Citizen
• Roberta Williams – King’s Quest
• Al Lowe – Leisure Suit Larry
• Jane Jensen – Gabriel Knight
• Warren Spector – Deus Ex
• Richard Garriott – Ultima series
• Cory Davis – Spec Ops: The Line
• Scott Cawthon – Five Nights at Freddy’s
• Sean Murray – No Man’s Sky
• Hidetaka Miyazaki – Dark Souls, Elden Ring
• Kazuya Niinou – Dragon Quest Builders
• Takuya Aizu – Inti Creates (Blaster Master)
• Naoko Takamoto – Animal Crossing
• Tomohiro Nishikado – Space Invaders
• Yoshio Sakamoto – Metroid
• Kellee Santiago – Journey, Thatgamecompany
• Alex Evans – LittleBigPlanet, Dreams
• Marcus Nilsson – Need for Speed
• Todd Alderman – Call of Duty
• David Perry – Earthworm Jim, Gaikai
• Cevat Yerli – Crysis
• Dylan Cuthbert – Star Fox
• Andrew Wilson – Electronic Arts and EA Sports
• Kaz Hirai – Former PlayStation CEO
• Phil Spencer – Xbox leadership
• Howard Phillips – Former Game Master Nintendo of America
• Satoshi Tajiri – Pokémon
• Kenji Kaido – ICO
• Tetsuya Mizuguchi – Rez, Lumines
• Yasuhiro Wada – Harvest Moon
• Daisuke Amaya (Pixel) – Cave Story
• Takahashi Meijin – Hudson Soft
• Koichi Ishii – Mana series
• Takahiro Harada – Tekken
• Shouzou Kaga – Fire Emblem
• Fawzi Mesmar – Battlefield, Ubisoft, industry strategist

The world’s Top 100 gaming experts are a solid resource for anyone hunting for consultants and keynote speakers. From AAA blockbusters to indie gems, from studio heads to influential analysts and consultants like Steinberg, thought leaders represent the spectrum of talent and vision fueling today’s video games industry. As technology continues to evolve from virtual reality to cloud gaming these leaders are not only defining what’s next but ensuring gaming remains one of the most creative, inclusive, and fast-moving industries on the planet.