In the business of… computer games
Join us at this special In the Business of Computer Games event, hosted by the Master, with David Braben, Founder and CEO of Frontier Games. Current students can register for free via Eventbrite.
Dr David Braben OBE FR Eng (1982) has been a software engineer for 40 years, beginning when he co-wrote the best-selling computer game “Elite” while still at Jesus College, studying Natural Science. He later founded Frontier Developments plc in January 1994, a now 812 person company based on the Science Park in Cambridge, which floated in 2013 (FDEV.L). Frontier is famous for many successful games, including Elite: Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution 1 & 2, Planet Zoo, and just recently F1 Manager 22. Frontier also publishes games from other studios.
David is one of six founders of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity that sells small educational computers worldwide for as little as $5, and a VP of Special Effect, a charity working with the Games industry supporting disabled people playing games. He supports start-ups through his membership of Cambridge Angels. He has both an arts and a science fellowship – he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012, and a Fellowship of BAFTA in 2015 (one of only 98, since the first was given to Alfred Hitchcock in 1971). He also has honorary doctorates from Abertay University, the Open University, and York University, and an OBE in 2014. He also is a member of Cambridge Angels, and supports start-up companies, particularly in the green energy space.
He is a keen sailor, loves film (has been a BAFTA film judge since 2010), and loves architectural design (he built his sustainable house in Cambridge working with an architect, with whom he later went into business).
