In Memory of Ed Hobbs and Cats Eye Games

In early 2024, we lost Ed Hobbs, a SIEGE speaker and a pioneer in the Georgia game development community.

Obituary by Dov Jacobson, GamesThatWork

Ed was a dev from the tough era where each new game required a new game engine. He wrote hard core 3d systems for image synthesis, terrain generation, and physics against the brutal interfaces of consoles and computer GPUs. In various studios, and at the GGDC, Ed mentored a generation of lucky young game developers. He established resilient team coding patterns. He also crafted his own clever special-purpose functions that were as sui generis as their author. But Ed was not limited to 3D graphics - among Ed's early successes was a powerful crossword puzzle generator.

Ed was one of a kind. He mastered sophisticated game systems but ardently shunned technology in his personal life. He renounced automobile ownership, ("Why should I play a realtime game where I bet my real life?") and was a frequent sight on the sidewalks of LIttle Five Points, where he lived alone with his cats in his large Victorian home, which he stubbornly heated with coal. Coal. In the 21st century.

He was also skeptical of technology at work, where early AI features like auto-complete or intellisense often caused him to shout out loud, "Quit helping me, Jethro!" - a reference to the eager and powerful but stunningly stupid young man in the Beverly Hillbillies.

Ed worked at a variety of local studios, including GamesThatWork, where his passionate vision of petro-calypse inspired Gas Hogs, a battle royale vehicular fuel fight.

Fifteen years ago, he left to found his one-man studio: Cats Eye Games. Like other wise developers, Ed learned that publishing success depends less on brilliant technology than on delighting his audience. Like others, he followed his audience into the dependable market of hidden object puzzles where he proved himself a true game developer, not just an accomplished technologist.