Bubsy designer Mike Berlyn dies at 73

1949-2023

Game designer Mike Berlyn, known for his work on the Bubsy games and others like Zork, died earlier this week at age 73.

Digital Eclipse president Mike Mika shared the sad news via Twitter:

Shattered to hear that game designer, programmer and writer Mike Berlyn has passed away. Suspended, Cutthroats, Infidel (Infocom) as well as games like Bubsy, and Busy 3D. Oo-topos, Tass Times in Tonetown, and many more games. RIP. pic.twitter.com/vAIJlQPe4D

— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) March 29, 2023

While Mike Berlyn is best known for designing 1993 platformer Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind and the maligned 1996 titled, Bubsy 3D, I feel that those games carry a negative connotation and overshadow what was a fruitful career. He should, perhaps, be better known for the swaths of interactive fiction he created, including 1983’s Suspended and 1997’s Zork: The Undiscovered Underground.

Mike co-founded Eidetic Studios with Mark Blank (then known as Blank, Berlyn, and Co) but decided to exit the video game industry entirely during the creation of 1999’s Syphon Filter. At the time, he expressed frustration with those at the top of the industry. He always seemed to be someone who stuck to his guns, and that’s commendable.

He will be remembered for the incredible work he did in the early days of the industry, and we at Destructoid offer our sincere condolences to his friends and family.

_{Lead image via MobyGames.}

Zoey Handley

Staff Writer – Zoey is a gaming gadabout. She got her start blogging with the community in 2018 and hit the front page soon after. Normally found exploring indie experiments and retro libraries, she does her best to remain chronically uncool.