Ray Tobey

Ray Tobey
Born	1964 or 1965 (age 52–53)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Game designer Game programmer
Employer	Electronic Arts
Known for	Skyfox

Ray Tobey (born c. 1965) is an American computer game and video game programmer best known for writing the arcade-style combat flight simulator game, Skyfox (1984), for the Apple II.

After taking a 6-week summer computer class at school when he was 13, Tobey saved for a year to purchase a Commodore PET 2001 for $800. He learned BASIC and then 6502 machine language, having graduated to an Apple II. Soon the teenager was a central figure in the Philadelphia Area Computer Society.

At 16, Tobey and a friend started work on a combat flight sim called Alpha Strike for the Apple II, a project that continued for two years. When they went to Boston for the 1983 Applefest they were invited to meet Rod Nakamoto, a games industry executive. Nakamoto praised the game, and later that day introduced them to Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Wozniak was amazed by the visual effects Tobey had achieved with the game. He had recently joined the Board of Directors of start-up game publisher Electronic Arts, and he gave Tobey a business card with a message for EA President Trip Hawkins written on the back: "Trip, Please consider this flight simulator as the finest Apple game ever done. Woz"

Tobey was still only a senior in high school. Less than two weeks later EA had flown him and his parents to Northern California for a meeting. Bill Budge, then the best-known computer game designer in North America for his Raster Blaster and Pinball Construction Set games, urged Tobey to sign a development deal. After his graduation in June he rejected a rival offer from Sir-Tech and committed to EA to produce the newly renamed Skyfox, becoming their second-youngest developer.

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