Andy Gavin
| Andy Gavin | |
|---|---|
Gavin in 2009
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| Born |
Andrew Scott Gavin June 11, 1970 United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
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| Employer | Expogroup |
Andrew Scott "Andy" Gavin (born June 11, 1970) is an American video game programmer, designer, entrepreneur, and novelist. In the video game industry, he is notable for co-founding the video game company Naughty Dog with childhood friend Jason Rubin in 1986, where games such as Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter were released to critical acclaim. The sophistication of Naughty Dog technology is often credited to Gavin's background in LISP at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Gavin earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiological Science from Haverford College. Gavin studied for his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he carried out research for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Mars Rover Vision Project, under his advisor Rod Brooks. While still a student, Gavin learned the computer programming language LISP. Influences from M.I.T. and his own work lead him to develop a number of custom programming languages that improved the quality of graphics, controls, sounds and artificial intelligence in Naughty Dog video games.
Gavin and Rubin sold their first video game, Math Jam, in 1985. In 1989, they sold Keef the Thief to Electronic Arts. In the early '90s, their fighting game, Way of the Warrior, led to a multi-title deal with Universal Interactive Studios. It was under the auspices of this Universal deal that they produced the multi-million selling Crash Bandicoot series from 1994 until 1999, and later segued into the critically acclaimed Jak and Daxter series of games. At the end of 2000, Rubin and Gavin sold Naughty Dog to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). All in all, they created 14 Naughty Dog games including Math Jam (1985), Ski Crazed (1986), Dream Zone (1987), Keef the Thief (1989), Rings of Power (1991), Way of the Warrior (1994), Crash Bandicoot (1996), Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997), Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (1998), Crash Team Racing (1999), Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001), Jak II (2003), Jak 3 (2004), and Jak X: Combat Racing (2005). Together these games have sold over 35 million units and generated over $1 billion in revenue.
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