Will Wright: BAFTA Fellow in 2007

Will Wright, acclaimed games designer behind SimCity and The Sims, has become the first-ever gaming professional to receive the BAFTA Fellowship. He was presented the honour at the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards 2007.

Wright is acknowledged as one of the most creative people working in video games today. Most of us will have played at least one of his titles – which include genre-defining building game SimCity and groundbreaking series The Sims.  

He’s been recognised as a leading figure in entertainment, technology and gaming by publications from PC Gamer to Time and this year delivered the BAFTA Games lecture (watch below).

Wright has two enduring passions: computers and robots. He used his first computer, an Apple II, to animate robots he built himself. At 22 he discovered the Commadore 64 – which completely changed his life.  

His first major hit was Raid on Bungeling Bay – a helicopter action game which racked up sales of 800,000 in Japan alone. Then came an idea for a city-building game called Metropolis. Released in 1989, the renamed SimCity was immediately hailed as a cerebral classic with sales topping $3m. More hits followed including SimEarth, SimAnt and SimCity 3000, which was the USA’s best-selling game in 1999.  

Next came a game with the working title ‘dolls house’ which allowed players to design and decorate their own homes while steering the lives of tiny human residents. Within three years of its 2000 release, The Sims had sold eight million copies, almost 16 million expansion packs, and become the best-selling games franchise of all time.  

“I know I was lucky getting into games. I started at a time when you could come up with ideas that didn’t take vast teams to create, and you could even make a bit of a name for yourself.” 
– Will Wright

We were lucky to welcome Wright to the BAFTA ceremony, since he’s busy putting the finishing touches to his eagerly awaited new game, Spore. It uses clever tech – including a graphics engine which can turn out in milliseconds the living, breathing, moving creations that would take developers weeks to complete. 

“Games are in the process of diffusing out into culture and spreading across all these different platforms,” he says.  

“Ask the average 25-year-old in the US and probably about as many play Counter-Strike regularly as are playing basketball. For them, gaming is now a recreational activity. It might be creative or it might be competitive – or both – but it is a way to unwind.” 

Awarded every year by the Academy, the BAFTA Fellowship is the highest accolade given to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or TV.

Previous Fellows include Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave.

For more inspiring stories from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA Award Stories section.