Call of Duty developer Raven Software’s founder, Brian Raffel, is retiring from the company after 36 years leading the studio. Brian and his brother Steve (who himself retired in 2017) founded Raven in 1990, and while the studio today is most closely associated with Call of Duty, that’s only a relatively recent change.
Raven’s first game was 1992’s Black Crypt, a 3D realtime-style adventure game, which would be followed up by the shooter Heretic in 1994 and a sequel, Heretic II, in 1998. Raven then created the Soldier of Fortune shooter series in the early 2000s, before developing multiple Star Wars: Jedi Knight games with LucasArts. Raven also worked on multiple X-Men, Marvel, and Wolfenstein games.
Activision would go on to buy Raven, with the Raffel brothers receiving more than 1 million shares of Activision stock as part of the deal. Raven began working on the Call of Duty series with 2010’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, contributing to the game’s DLC, and the team has been focused on Call of Duty since.
“From dark, otherworldly realms to places that reached far across galaxies, Brian has crafted stories that have left a lasting mark on players around the world. His work spans titles like Hexen, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, X-Men Legends, Wolfenstein, and many more, each contributing to a legacy of iconic experiences,” Raven said in a statement. “Those first decades of achievements earned Raven a place among the greats and the trust to shape and evolve Call of Duty over the years.”
“Brian, thank you for the stories, for the path you carved, and for the lives you’ve changed along the way. The impact you have had is timeless, and we wish you all the best in this next chapter.”
In his time at Raven, Raffel shipped 42 games, including 12 original IPs, and 18 Call of Duty games. Eight of the games that Raven released while he worked there featured his art and level design.
Raven is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and Raffel is a graduate of University of Wisconsin at Madison. He remains active in the educational community, saying he owes it to his community to give back and help inspire the next generation after he had so much success.
Of course, Raven will continue without the Raffel brothers. David Pellas, a Raven veteran, is the current studio head at the company, which has more than 300 employees.
Raven was also in the news when some of its workers secured a contract to form a union.