Joe Ybarra

Joseph Ybarra (born ~1954)[citation needed] is an American producer and designer of video games. He left Apple Computer in 1982 to work at the new Electronic Arts that was founded by his fellow ex-employee Trip Hawkins. He was the original producer of the first Madden NFL.

As one of the original game producers at EA, Ybarra worked on acclaimed games such as M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, Starflight, and the first version of Madden NFL. Ybarra later served as the president of Infocom and produced MMORPGs for Sierra Online and Monolith Productions. He also held a position at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 2013, Ybarra launched a Kickstarter for a simulation game called Shackleton Crater, which ultimately did not meet its funding goals.

Professional biography

Joe Ybarra worked at Apple Computer before leaving in 1982 to work at Electronic Arts, a startup company founded by his fellow ex-Apple employee, Trip Hawkins.[1][2] There he became one of the original game producers and game designers at Electronic Arts[3] in 1982 (along with Stewart Bonn, Dave Evans (Apple), Susan Lee-Merrow and Pat Marriott), where the concept of a game producer was created by Trip Hawkins. During this time he was the producer for video games including M.U.L.E.[3] by Dani Bunten and Ozark Softscape, Seven Cities of Gold (also by Bunten), Starflight,[3] and Dr. J. and Larry Bird Go One on One by Eric Hammond. Ybarra was also the original producer on the first version of Madden NFL.[4]

He later became president of game publisher Infocom[5][6] and produced MMORPGs for Sierra Online and Monolith Productions.[7]

He had been working with Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and its subsidiary FireSky on the Stargate Worlds MMO as Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations.[3][8] However, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment filed for bankruptcy on February 12, 2010[9] and no longer sells or operates Stargate: Resistance.[10]

On March 11, 2013, Joe Ybarra announced a Kickstarter project for a simulation game called Shackleton Crater, billed as "the lunar colonization strategy game based on today's science and tomorrow's dream." It did not achieve its funding goals.[11]

Video games produced or designed[vague] by Joe Ybarra

References

  1. ^ Pham, Alex (April 17, 2009). "Popular Madden NFL game will continue". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  2. ^ Pitts, Russ (March 6, 2007). "EA is a Startup". The Escapist. Durham, NC, USA: Themis Media. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Speaker Details - Joseph Ybarra". 2007 Online Game Developers Conference. Issaquah, WA: Evergreen Events. 2007. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  4. ^ Hruby, Patrick. "The Franchise: The inside story of how Madden NFL became a video game dynasty". ESPN. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  5. ^ Briceno, Hector; Chao, Wesley; Glenn, Andrew; Hu, Stanley; Krishnamurthy, Ashwin; Tsuchida, Bruce (December 15, 2000). "Down From the Top of Its Game - The Story of Infocom, Inc" (PDF). p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 5, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  6. ^ Doherty, Paul David (June 22, 2007). "Infocom Fact Sheet". Paul David Doherty. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Boyle, Alan (March 18, 2005). "Gamers live out the Matrix's next chapter - Technology & science - Games". NBC News. New York, NY, USA. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  8. ^ "Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc.: Private Company Information". Businessweek. New York, NY, USA: Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  9. ^ Ross, Jamie (August 26, 2010). "Funny Business Alleged in Video Game". Pasadena, CA: Courthouse News Service. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  10. ^ "News :: CME Update". Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. January 17, 2011. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2011. As we indicated in our previous announcement, as of January 16, 2011, we are unfortunately no longer able to sell or operate Stargate Resistance. We are actively evaluating options for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc. and its products, and will update you as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for your continued support.
  11. ^ "Shackleton Crater Kickstarter Campaign Closes". Polygon. 27 March 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  12. ^ Sheffield, Brandon (March 24, 2008). "Y Control: Joe Ybarra On Cheyenne Mountain's Massive Plans". Gamasutra. San Francisco, CA, USA: UBM TechWeb. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  13. ^ "Three Days of The Matrix Online". IGN. San Francisco, CA, USA: IGN, a Division of News Corporation. December 21, 2004. Archived from the original on December 23, 2004. Retrieved April 14, 2012.