Danielle Bunten Berry
The creator of M.U.L.E. was a pioneer of multiplayer computer games – “no one ever said on their deathbed, ‘I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.’”
Danielle Bunten Berry was born in St. Louis and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, the eldest of six children. Her family did not always have enough money, and she remembered that the only times they spent together that were not dysfunctional were when they played games. She studied industrial engineering at the University of Arkansas, ran a bicycle shop and began programming games as a hobby.
In 1983 she created “M.U.L.E.” for Electronic Arts, a game in which up to four players colonise a planet, compete for resources and must cooperate at the same time. It sold only modestly but became a cult classic and is regarded as one of the most influential early multiplayer games. Her next game, “The Seven Cities of Gold” (1984), about exploring the New World, sold more than 150,000 copies. With “Modem Wars” (1988) and “Global Conquest” (1992) she developed early games for play over modems and networks. She refused to add guns and bombs to a console version of M.U.L.E., saying it would destroy the game.
Berry was convinced that games should bring people together: “No one ever said on their deathbed, ‘Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.’” Of her twelve games, ten were designed for several players.
In 1992 she transitioned and from then on lived as Danielle. She later spoke publicly about her experience. In 1998 she died of lung cancer, aged 49, while working on an online version of M.U.L.E. In 2007 she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.