Designer, programmer, and author Mike Berlin, best known as the creator of "Babsy the Bobcat," has died at age 73. Berlin had a long career in the video game industry, starting with "Oo-Topos" in 1981, working for such prestigious studios as Infocom and Accolade, and co-founding Blank, Berlin & Company (also known as Aidetic, which later became Bend Studios). Berlin also wrote novels, founded a book publishing company, and started a jazz band called Hot Mustard.

Berlin worked on a number of well-known games during that time, and his list of credits runs into the dozens, but his breakthrough in the mid-90s, when the industry was in need of a mascot, was the creation of Babsy the bobcat. (opens in a new tab), where he says, "I've been working on a game called Sonic the Hedgehog for a while now. I saw a game called Sonic the Hedgehog, and I thought, 'Oh, this is something I can really get into, something I can see. So I played Sonic for a week, almost 14 hours a day. I was just overwhelmed. And that's where Babsy came from."

The first Bubsy in 1993 sold well and received positive reviews, but Berlin was not involved in a sequel. Berlin, who had co-founded Eidetic at this point, returned to producing the ill-fated 3D series at Accolade.

"They were going to release 'Bubsy 2' and let the franchise die," Berlin said in 2005. So we joined them and created Bubsy 3D." Unfortunately, Bubsy 3D was released at about the same time as the pioneering Super Mario 64. "I took one look at Mario and thought, 'Oh my God, this is no good,'" Berlin recalled."

Berlin also co-founded Brainwave Creations in the mid-1980s and produced Tass Times in Tone Town with Rebecca Heinemann (formerly of Interplay) and (wife) Muffy McClung Berlin. We learned that Mike Berlin passed away today. We worked together on Tass Times in Tone Town. We worked together at Tass Times in Tonetown and will miss him very much.

Berlin co-founded Blank Berlin and Company with software engineer Mark Blank, which would later change its name to Bend Studios and produce "Syphon Filter" (the studio's latest work came to Steam in 2021, " Days Gone"). However, Berlin did not like the wind direction during the production of "Syphon Filter" and left the industry altogether to pursue other interests: although he then began working on more casual games in the 2000s.

"RIP Michael Berlyn," said George Broussard of 3D Realms (opens in new tab). Mike's work on Infocom's adventure games in the early 80's was amazing and inspired me as a young would-be game developer. He worked on many more games after Infocom and became a pioneer in PC gaming. Take a moment to read about him (opens in new tab)."

"I was sad to hear that Mike Berlin passed away today," said John Garvin (opens in new tab), who worked on the "Syphon Filter" series and others. He was a video game pioneer and later co-founder of Bend Studios." He was always kicking ass, funny, thoughtful, intelligent, and a wonderful human being. May Mike rest in peace.

Babsy has perhaps been a bit unfairly maligned lately, but that's due to the industry being oversaturated with mascots and how the series has since been mishandled by its owners, but that original game had personality.

For me, an unforgettable memory is of watching the game as a small child, and to my surprise, the bobcat, tired of standing there, staring straight out of the TV: then, with a winning pseudo-3D effect, leaning toward the screen and beating the player's attention to repeatedly tapping it to get their attention. This moment remains a moment of special charm, as the game surprises you and prompts you a bit: don't forget what's on the other side of this display.

Mike Berlin is survived by his wife and collaborator, Muffy McClung Berlin. Their papers are housed at the National Theater Museum (opens in new tab).