‘She was a beautiful nerd’: a tribute to game designer Laralyn McWilliams

The creative director of noughties online role playing game Free Realms was a passionate advocate of principles over personality

Noted game designer Laralyn McWilliams, 58, died as the result of complications from heart surgery on 5 February in Seattle, Washington. She was creative director of Free Realms, Sony Computer Entertainment's family-friendly online world, lead designer on 2004's Full Spectrum Warrior, and the recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement award at the Game Developers Choice awards.

McWilliams was born in Vicenza Italy in 1965, into an American military family, and moved frequently throughout her youth. She found her home in the games she played, and Myst was particularly significant to her, a world to which she returned again and again. She earned a BA in psychology from Vassar College, and a JD from St Louis University of Law. While she worked hard for those accolades, she never forgot the joy that games brought, and she wanted to return to those worlds and bring that same joy to others. She taught herself game design and became a master of her trade, creating games for Disney, Dreamworks and many others. She was a rare all-rounder, having worked on everything from first-person shooters to casual games.