Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan
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| Kaplan, Larry | |
 Larry Kaplan | |
| Occupation | Founder Activision, Software Developer |
Career
Larry Kaplan is a pioneering figure in the video game industry, best known as one of the co-founders of Activision, the first third-party video game publisher. A software engineer with a strong technical foundation, Kaplan helped shape the early years of home video gaming during its most formative era.
Kaplan’s interest in computers began in the late 1960s, culminating in a degree in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1974. He started his professional career working on computerized power-grid systems at Control Systems Industries in Missouri. But the lure of California’s emerging tech scene soon drew him back west, and in 1976, he joined Atari, Inc., then at the forefront of the video game revolution.
At Atari, Kaplan quickly became an integral part of the small, talented group designing games for the company's new home console, the Atari 2600. He programmed several of the system’s early titles, including Air-Sea Battle and Street Racer, both of which were launch games released in 1977. He followed these with Brain Games (1978) and Bowling (1979), and contributed to the operating system for Atari’s 400/800 home computers. Despite the innovation and commercial success of his work, Kaplan and his colleagues were frustrated by the lack of creative credit and financial recognition— policies Atari rigidly enforced.
This frustration came to a head in 1979 when Kaplan, along with fellow programmers David Crane, Bob Whitehead, and Alan Miller, decided to leave Atari. Together, they formed Activision, establishing a new business model that allowed game designers to receive public recognition and royalties for their work. This bold move disrupted the industry and laid the groundwork for the modern third-party game development ecosystem.
At Activision, Kaplan’s talents flourished. He not only helped build internal development tools for the Atari 2600 but also created several notable titles himself. Among these was Bridge (1980), a console version of the classic card game, and Kaboom! (1981), a fast-paced, paddle-controlled game that became one of Activision’s biggest hits and a defining title of the early home gaming era. Kaplan’s ability to squeeze compelling gameplay out of the VCS’s limited hardware showcased his technical ingenuity.
Despite Activision’s early success, Kaplan left the company in 1982. He felt that his influence on the company’s direction had diminished as it grew. He went on to co-found Hi-Toro, the company that would later become Amiga, working on early stages of what would become a revolutionary multimedia computer platform. Although he left the project before its completion, his involvement helped set the stage for the groundbreaking Amiga 1000.
Later in 1982, Kaplan returned briefly to Atari, this time as Vice President of the Consumer Software Division. However, the rapidly shifting industry landscape, combined with internal corporate turmoil and the onset of the 1983 video game crash, made it a short-lived return.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Kaplan continued to contribute to the broader tech and entertainment industries. He held roles at companies like Capcom USA, 3DO, and Pacific Data Images (PDI). At PDI, he served as Lead Technical Director on the animated feature film Antz (1998), further demonstrating his versatility beyond game development. He also worked intermittently for 3DO on hardware and software projects.
Although Kaplan gradually moved away from the public spotlight after the early 2000s, his legacy in gaming remains firmly intact. Kaboom! is still celebrated as one of the Atari 2600’s greatest titles, and his role in founding Activision marked a turning point in how developers were treated in the game industry. His early efforts helped establish game programming as a creative profession, not just a technical job, and his advocacy for credit and compensation for game designers still resonates today.
