Jump to content

David Banner (game designer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr
David Banner
MBE
David Banner at Buckingham Palace 2018
Born1 November 1972
Rhondda, Wales
Occupation(s)Video games and interactive film designer, producer, director and entrepreneur
Known forCo-founder of Wales Interactive, Co-creator for Maid of Sker, Sker Ritual and Soul Axiom. Executive Producer for The Complex, Five Dates and Ten Dates.

David Banner MBE (born November 1972) is a Welsh video games and interactive film designer, producer, director and entrepreneur. Also known in the video games and interactive film industries as “Dai”.[1][2]

He is the co-founder and CEO of video game and interactive film developer and publisher Wales Interactive.[3][4]

Biography

[edit]

Banner was born on 1 November 1972 in Rhondda, Wales.[5][6] He attended Treorchy Comprehensive School and Tonypandy Comprehensive School, then Mid Glamorgan Centre for Art, Design and Technology.[7][8][9] He then received a Graphic Design degree at De Montfort University, Leicester, where he graduated in 1995 with a first-class honour.[10] After graduating, Banner started his professional video game career in London as an artist and designer for video game developer and publisher Domark, which later became Eidos Interactive.[10][11][12]

In 2007 Banner became a visiting lecturer at University of Glamorgan (now University of South Wales).[13] With his participation at the University of South Wales, a separate course for a degree in game art was created.[14]

Banner established the company Wales Interactive in 2012 with his business partner Richard Pring. The company develops video games across PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo platforms.[15][16][17][18]

In 2017, he won the St David Awards for Enterprise.[3] In 2018, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for service to the video game industry.[19][3][20][21]

In 2018, Banner won Digital Ambassador of the Year at the Wales Online Awards and the Pride of De Montfort University Alumni Award.[22][23]

In 2020 Banner was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Technology from De Montfort University.[3][24] Banner was appointed by Welsh Government as Creative Wales Non-Executive Board Member in 2020.[3][25]

His combined portfolio of games has achieved in excess of 10 million downloads worldwide.[26][27]

He is co-Creator and co-Director of Sker Ritual and Maid of Sker games, both global hits based on Welsh folklore.[28][29][30]

Banner has contributed to the re-invention of the interactive film genre with titles such as Late Shift, which won the BAFTA Cymru game award in 2018 and, The Complex, which received 7 nominations in the British Film Festival Awards, going on to win in two categories.[31][32]

Games

[edit]

Interactive films

[edit]
  • The Bunker (2016)
  • Late Shift (2017)
  • The Shapeshifting Detective (2018)
  • The Complex (2020)
  • Five Dates (2020)
  • Night Book (2021)
  • I Saw Black Clouds (2021)
  • Bloodshore (2021)
  • Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (2022)
  • Ten Dates (2023)
  • Mia and the Dragon Princess (2023)
  • The Isle Tide Hotel (2023)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "David Banner". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  2. ^ "Develop Awards Partner Spotlight: Wales Interactive". MCV. 2019-05-15. ISSN 1469-4832. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  3. ^ a b c d e "First Non-Executive Board for Creative Wales announced". Welsh Government News. 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  4. ^ 2019-10-29T13:18:00+00:00. "Wales winners crowned in Cardiff". Fresh Business Thinking. Retrieved 2023-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Barry, Sion (2018-06-08). "WalesOnline Digital Awards 2018 winners revealed". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  6. ^ Smith, Mark (2013-08-07). "It's game on for Bridgend firm as PlayStation goes Welsh". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  7. ^ "Winter graduations 2020: Citation - David Banner MBE". www.dmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  8. ^ "Video game entrepreneur offers five life lessons for DMU graduates". www.dmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  9. ^ "BAFTA winning games company founder awarded first ever". www.dmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  10. ^ a b Caines, Matthew (14 July 2017). "You don't have to be in London or LA to develop great games". Telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ Smith, Mark (2013-08-07). "It's game on for Bridgend firm as PlayStation goes Welsh". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  12. ^ Editor-in-Chief, Matthew Handrahan (2018-06-11). "Wales Interactive co-founder David Banner to receive MBE". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2023-05-23. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Caines, Matthew (2017-07-14). "'You don't have to be in London or LA to develop great games'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  14. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2018: MBE for video game entrepreneur". BBC News. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  15. ^ 2019-10-29T13:18:00+00:00. "Wales winners crowned in Cardiff". Fresh Business Thinking. Retrieved 2023-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Media, Insider (2021-06-04). "Wales Interactive makes full motion move | Business News". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  17. ^ https://www.pressreader.com/uk/western-mail/20180613/282484299467562. Retrieved 2023-05-23 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2018: MBE for video game entrepreneur". BBC News. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  19. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours 2018: MBE for video game entrepreneur". BBC News. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  20. ^ "First Non-Executive Board for Creative Wales announced". GOV.WALES. 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  21. ^ Editor-in-Chief, Matthew Handrahan (2018-06-11). "Wales Interactive co-founder David Banner to receive MBE". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2023-05-23. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  22. ^ "Penarth business 'chuffed' to win prestigious award". Penarth Times. 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  23. ^ https://www.pressreader.com/uk/western-mail/20180613/282484299467562. Retrieved 2023-05-23 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ "Winter graduations 2020: Citation - David Banner MBE". www.dmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  25. ^ "First Non-Executive Board for Creative Wales announced". GOV.WALES. 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  26. ^ https://www.pressreader.com/uk/western-mail/20180613/282484299467562. Retrieved 2023-05-23 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ^ Barry, Sion (2018-06-08). "WalesOnline Digital Awards 2018 winners revealed". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  28. ^ "Gaming: Wales zombie survival thriller enjoys chart success". BBC News. 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  29. ^ "Home-grown Welsh zombie horror shooter tops international gaming charts | GOV.WALES". www.gov.wales. 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  30. ^ Reid, Lucinda (2020-07-28). "Video game based on Welsh folklore launches and it features a spooky Calon Lân". Wales Online. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  31. ^ "Wales Interactive: a new way of making Games | Creative Cardiff". creativecardiff.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  32. ^ Mark (2018-10-15). "2018 British Academy Cymru Awards: Winners Announced". Cardiff Times. Retrieved 2023-05-23.