| Teddy Dief | |
| Occupation: | Game designer, creative director, writer |
Teddy Diefenbach, also known as Teddy Dief is an American videogame designer and writer. They worked as a creative director at Square Enix Montreal, directed the game We Are OFK, and was co-designer for the game Hyper Light Drifter.[1] They co-founded the artist collective Glitch City and participate in a yearly charity live-stream called Chocobowl.
Dief was born in Illinois. They graduated from Columbia University, where they studied music, computer science, and Japanese. They later took filmmaking at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.[2]
Dief worked for Disney as a designer on Pirates of the Caribbean Online and for the University of South Carolina School of Cinematic Arts as a game narrative researcher. One of the first game they developed on their own was Kyoto Wild for PC.[3] In 2013 they joined Heart Machine to work on the role playing game Hyper Light Drifter.
Dief left Heart Machine in May 2016 and started work as the creative director of Square Enix Montreal. During this period, they were reportedly working on a game project with Fez programmer Renaud Bédard for two years. On January 29, 2018, Dief announced their resignation after Square Enix shelved the project, citing the company's shift in business strategy. Dief stated that this development marked their return to "full-time indie development".[4] [5]
Dief was the creative director of We Are OFK, a videogame released in 2022 about the origin story of a virtual band called OFK.[6] According to Dief, it is an actual music project and consists of five episodes.[7] [8]
Aside from their design work for several games, Dief also worked as a writer, voice actor, and musician. In We are OFK, Dief provided the voice for the character Luca Le Fae.[9]
Dief is involved in several gaming initiatives. Together with Alex Preston, Beau Blyth, and Samurai Gunn, they co-created Glitch City, a Los Angeles-based game makers and independent artists collective. In 2015, they co-founded Chocobowl, a 48-hour live stream that involves game developers playing Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). Chocobowl has since been used as a platform to raise money for organizations such AbleGamers and The Bail Project.[1]
Other Credits
| Date | Award / Publication | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1, 2016 | The Game Awards | Best Independent Game | Hyper Light Drifter | [23] | |
| December 1, 2016 | The Game Awards | Best Action/Adventure | |||
| February 23, 2017 | D.I.C.E. Awards | Role-Playing Game of the Year | |||
| March 1, 2017 | Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Debut | |||
| March 1, 2017 | Independent Games Festival | Excellence In Visual Art | |||
| March 1, 2017 | Independent Games Festival | Audience Award | |||
| March 22, 2023 | Independent Games Festival | Excellence In Audio | We Are OFK [24] | [25] | |
| March 22, 2023 | Game Developers Choice Awards | Social Impact | [26] | ||
| June 9, 2024 | Peabody Awards | Interactive & Immersive | [27] |