Rhianna Pratchett (born 30 December 1976) is an English video game writer[2] and journalist.[3] She has worked on Heavenly Sword (2007), Overlord (2007), Mirror's Edge (2008), and Tomb Raider (2013) and its follow up, Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015), among others. She is the daughter of fantasy writer Terry Pratchett.
Rhianna Pratchett | |
---|---|
Born | Rowberrow, Somerset, England | 30 December 1976
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | British |
Genre | Video games, fantasy |
Notable works | Heavenly Sword, Mirror's Edge, Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider |
Relatives | Terry Pratchett (father) |
Website | |
rhiannapratchett |
Career
Rhianna Pratchett studied journalism at the London College of Printing and following graduation began writing for Minx magazine, where her first games reviews were published.[4] She moved to the long running PC Zone magazine[5] as an editorial assistant, staff writer, eventually becoming a section editor. She wrote for many other publications including The Guardian.[6]
Pratchett moved into script writing and narrative design in 2002, with Beyond Divinity, produced by Larian Studios in Belgium.[7] She also wrote a novella to accompany the game. In 2007, her work on Heavenly Sword was nominated for a BAFTA and a year later she won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain 'Best Videogame Script' award for Overlord.[8] Pratchett wrote the comic Tomb Raider: The Beginning with Dark Horse and the Mirror's Edge miniseries with DC Comics, along with several of her own short stories. She has contributed to various books on games narrative including Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing and Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames.[9]
Since 2012, she has been co-director of Narrativia Limited, a production company which holds exclusive multimedia and merchandising rights to her father Terry Pratchett's works following his death.[10] In 2012 and 2013, Narrativia announced that it would be working on three television projects based on Pratchett's father's works: The Watch, Good Omens, and Wee Free Men, as well as several other projects.[11] Multiple Discworld novels will be "absolutely faithful" adaptations for television by Narrativia, Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content in a deal announced in April 2020.[12]
She has also spoken on BBC Radio 1, Radio 4, 5Live and multiple conferences around the world, including Develop, Animex, GDC and TEDx Transmedia.[13] In June 2015, she said that her father's 41st Discworld novel The Shepherd's Crown, to be published posthumously later that year, would mark the end of the series, and that no further novels or books of unfinished work would be authorised for publication.[14]
Works
Video games
- Beyond Divinity (story editor) – Larian Studios (2004)
- Stronghold Legends (writer) – Firefly Studios/2K (2006)
- Heavenly Sword (co-writer/story) – Ninja Theory/Sony (2007)
- Overlord (writer/audio co-director) – Triumph Studios/Codemasters (2007)[15]
- Overlord: Raising Hell – expansion pack (2008)[16]
- Viking: Battle for Asgard (writer) – The Creative Assembly/Sega (2008)
- Mirror's Edge (writer) – DICE/EA (2008)
- Prince of Persia (additional writer) – Ubisoft Montreal (2008)
- Overlord: Minions (writer) – Climax/Codemasters (2009)
- Overlord: Dark Legend (writer/voice director) – Climax/Codemasters (2009)
- Overlord II (writer/voice director) – Triumph/Codemasters (2009)
- Risen (co-writer of English localization) – Piranha Bytes/Deep Silver (2009)[17]
- CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (writer) – Telltale/Ubisoft (2010)
- BioShock Infinite and BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea (additional writer) – Irrational Games/2K (2013)
- Tomb Raider (lead writer) – Crystal Dynamics/SE (2013)[18]
- Beat Buddy: Tale of the Guardians (writer) – Threaks (2013)
- Thief (story and cinematics) – Eidos Montréal (2014)
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (lead writer) – Crystal Dynamics/SE (2015)[18]
- Overlord: Fellowship of Evil (writer) – Codemasters (2015)
- Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (story consultant) – Salix Games (2019)
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page (writer) - Sketchbook Games (2019)[19]
- Surgeon Simulator 2 (writer) - Bossa Studios (2020)[20]
- Crystal of Storms (Fighting Fantasy) – published by Scholastic (2020)[21]
- Bardsung (lead writer and narrative designer) – Steamforged Games (in development)[22]
Comics
- Mirror's Edge #1 to #6 – published by DC Comics (2008)
- Tomb Raider: The Beginning – published by Dark Horse Comics (2013)
- Legends of Red Sonja #3 – published by Dynamite (2014)
- Tomb Raider #7 to #18 – published by Dark Horse Comics (2014–2015)
Film and television
Pratchett has appeared in the documentaries Games Britannia,[23] Critical Path and Charlie Brooker's How Video Games Changed the World.[citation needed]
Achievements
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) – Won Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing at 68th Writers Guild of America Awards 2016.[24] Won Outstanding Achievement in Character for Lara Croft at 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards 2016[25]
- Risen (2009) – co-nominated for a WGGB award 2010.[26]
- Won the European Women in Games Hall of Fame Award in 2013.[27]
References
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett". Front Row. 26 December 2013. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
- ^ Gilbert, Ben (27 March 2009). "GDC09: Rhianna Pratchett says games should forget about making people cry". Engadget. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett interview". Multiplay UK. 16 February 2005. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ Timmer, John (28 June 2007). "Talking with Rhianna Pratchett, writer and co-story designer of Overlord". Ars Technica. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett On Working From Bed, Retrofitting Story, And Rise Of The Tomb Raider". Kotaku Australia. 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett's Profile". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ russpitts (3 September 2014). "Rhianna's rise: Meet the writer behind Tomb Raider". Polygon.
- ^ UAL (8 June 2018). "Honorary Awards 2017". UAL.
- ^ Leigh, Megan (13 July 2017). "Writing video games with Rhianna Pratchett".
- ^ Maureen Paton (14 March 2015). "It was like having a full-sized hobbit for a father". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "Terry Pratchett: Sex, death and nature". New Statesman. 21 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ^ Ravindran, Manori (28 April 2020). "Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' Series to Be Adapted by Endeavor Content, Motive Pictures". Variety. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ "The Future of the Videogames Writer: Rhianna Pratchett at TEDxTransmedia". YouTube. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ Terry Pratchett's daughter declares The Shepherd's Crown will be the last Discworld novel, The Guardian, 12 June 2015
- ^ "Writers' Guild Awards 2008 – shortlists". WGGB – The Writer's Guild of Great Britain. 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett interview: writing for the Overlord". Den of Geek. 19 June 2008.
- ^ "Rhianna Pratchett - Games". rhiannapratchett.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
- ^ a b Makuch, Eddie (22 October 2018). "Tomb Raider Writer Rhianna Pratchett To Give PAX Australia Keynote With A Twist".
- ^ "Pratchett-penned Lost Words: Beyond the Page heads to Switch". 7 June 2019.
- ^ "Surgeon Simulator 2 Store Page". Epic Games Store. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ "With Crystal of Storms, Rhianna Pratchett Helps Reboot Fighting Fantasy Roleplay Books". 30 September 2020.
- ^ "Here Be Legends: 12 Bardsung Guest Writers". 20 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- ^ ""Games Britannia" Joystick Generation (TV Episode 2009) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ "2016 Writers Guild Awards Winners Announced". Writers Guild of America, West. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016.
- ^ "Tomb Raider writer Rhianna Pratchett leaves Crystal Dynamics for 'new adventures'". Destructoid. 3 January 2017.
- ^ of Great Britain, Writers' Guild. "Writers' Guild Awards 2010 – shortlists announced". Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "European Women in Games Hall of Fame". womeningamesjobs.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014.
External links
Media related to Rhianna Pratchett at Wikimedia Commons