Obituary: Mike Singleton

Mike Singleton, one of the founding figures of Britain’s computing scene and creator of seminal adventure game Lords of Midnight, has died in Switzerland following a battle with cancer.

Singleton, aged 61, died on October 10th, according to a post on the Giant Bomb forum.

Lords of Midnight is one of many defining titles that Singleton created for early 8- and 16-bit machines, including the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga and PC.

Hit PC title Midwinter, mixed complex strategy and role-playing elements in open world players could explore back in 1989.

His most recent credit was working on Codemasters’s Grid in 2008.

Singleton was born in Liverpool in 1951. Before becoming a programmer, he worked as a teacher in Cheshire. He is also an author, having written his novel, The Eternal Empire, during his time at university.

Several figures in the development sector and beyond have paid their respects to Singleton via Twitter, including Sports Interactive’s Miles Jacobson, games consultant Nicholas Lovell and former Conservative MP Louise Mensch.