Brian Raffel, co-founder of Raven Software, has officially retired after 36 years working in the games industry, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Raffel helped establish Raven Software back in 1990 alongside his brother Ben, building it into one of the most recognizable studios in the business.
Raven Software is perhaps best known today as a key support studio behind Call of Duty, contributing heavily to Warzone and ongoing live-service operations for the franchise under Activision Blizzard, now part of Microsoft. But the studio's legacy runs much deeper, with classic titles like Quake 4, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and Soldier of Fortune on its resume.
Raffel's 36-year run is a remarkable tenure by any measure. The games industry is notorious for its volatility, and co-founders who stay actively involved with their studios for that length of time are a genuine rarity. His career spans the era of shareware gaming all the way through to the modern AAA live-service landscape.
Raven itself has had a turbulent few years in the spotlight. The studio became a focal point of the broader Activision labor movement in 2021, when a group of quality assurance workers voted to unionize - the first successful union vote at a major American game studio. The resulting CWA-affiliated union, known as the Game Workers Alliance, marked a turning point in how the industry discusses worker organization.
Raffel's retirement marks the end of a foundational chapter for one of the Midwest's most storied development houses. Madison, Wisconsin-based Raven has operated under Activision's ownership since 1997, meaning Raffel navigated that acquisition, multiple franchise pivots, and the eventual Microsoft buyout all within his tenure.
Details on what Raffel plans to do next have not been shared publicly. For now, it sounds like a well-earned rest for someone who helped shape a significant slice of gaming history.
