Gary Whitta
Gary Leslie Whitta was born on the 21st of July 1972 in England. His professional journey began within the pages of ACE magazine, a publication dedicated to video game coverage during the early 1990s. When that specific magazine ceased operations in 1992, Whitta did not leave the industry behind. He transitioned into the role of deputy editor for The One for Amiga Games instead. This shift marked his entry into the management side of gaming journalism rather than just writing about it. A few years later, he played a key role in founding the original PC Gamer magazine in the United Kingdom. That publication would eventually become one of the most influential voices in the global gaming press. He subsequently served as the editor of Total Football and also worked for C&VG before moving across the Atlantic. In the United States, he became the editor-in-chief of the newer US version of PC Gamer. His influence extended beyond games when he collaborated with Future Publishing in early 2000. Together they established Total Movie magazine, a venture intended to cover cinema through a journalistic lens. Financial difficulties forced the cancellation of that film magazine after only four issues appeared in early 2001.
Whitta found significant success on the silver screen with the film The Book of Eli released in 2010. This project established him as a capable screenwriter within the Hollywood system. He went on to co-write the script for After Earth alongside director M. Night Shyamalan in 2013. The screenplay drew from a story written by Will Smith himself. Before those major releases, Whitta wrote the script for an action thriller titled Undying. He was hired to develop the first Star Wars stand-alone film known as Rogue One. Director Gareth Edwards led the production team during this period. On the 9th of January 2015, it was announced that Whitta had amicably parted ways with the film. Despite leaving the project, his contributions helped shape the narrative foundation of the movie. Later that year, Warner Bros and other studios assembled a writers room for the third Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie. Whitta joined names like Nicole Perlman and Justin Malen in that creative group. His work often involved reimagining existing stories or creating new worlds from scratch. He once developed a script called the Monkey Project with Chris Weston. That project aimed to reinterpret the classic Buddhist novel Journey to the West as an animated series. Weston eventually pulled out of the collaboration before any animation began.
Whitta expanded his influence into video game development through writing and design roles. He contributed scripts to Duke Nukem Forever while working with 3D Realms forums. His name appears on the credits for Prey, a title released in 2006 by 3D Realms. He also wrote for Gears of War and consulted on general game design for major publishers including Microsoft and Electronic Arts. A significant portion of his career focused on Telltale Games episodic adaptations. He oversaw the narrative development of The Walking Dead video game series starting in 2012. Whitta wrote the fourth episode of that first season before leaving the studio after its completion. He returned later to help complete The Walking Dead: The Final Season which arrived in 2018. He serves as a story consultant on Halo 5: Guardians released in 2015. His contributions extended to Forspoken where he created the original concept and lore in 2023. He also developed Lewdle, a variant of the popular Wordle game. These projects demonstrate his ability to translate storytelling skills across different interactive media formats. His work often involved consulting for large companies like Activision and Midway Games.
Whitta turned his attention to comic books with a short series based on the Death Jr character. He collaborated with cover artist Mike Mignola and illustrator Ted Naifeh on this project. Image Comics published the initial run in September 2005. The writing received praise from Shrew Review in April 2005 for being charming and cleverly subversive. IGN Comics described it in April 2005 as having quirky characters and slick humor. The series was extended into a second three-part run by February 2006. Whitta spoke about his experience writing this comic with Silver Bullet Comics in May 2005. He is currently co-creating another comic titled OLIVER with Darick Robertson. Robertson is known for creating Transmetropolitan and The Boys comics. This new collaboration targets a 2015 release window from Image Comics. Whitta also contributed to The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 released in 2020. He co-wrote the Kill the Batman story alongside Greg Miller. These works show his versatility beyond traditional screenwriting or game design roles.
The landscape of audio media shifted when Whitta began hosting industry podcasts regularly. He became a frequent commentator on the PC Gamer podcast during its early years. In 2006, he appeared on the PC Gamer podcast specifically mentioned in June 2006. He co-hosted the Game Theory podcast with Colin Campbell until production stopped. In September 2011, they started a new podcast called IGN's Game Business Show. Whitta commentated on the Next Gen podcast until that program was canceled as well. He served as a weekly co-host of This is Only a Test produced by Tested.com. In October 2011, he helped raise over $50,000 for Child's Play charity. That effort involved co-hosting a 24-hour live-streamed edition of the show with Will Smith and Norman Chan. Whitta continues to chair the Octoberkast charity event every year. He created the Space Rocks game in 2013 for these events. In November 2017, he became an official co-host for Kinda Funny Games Daily. He has also been a co-host for Kinda Funny's Xbox-centric podcast since July 2020. In April 2020, he launched Animal Talking, a late-night talk show set inside Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The show featured celebrity guests including Elijah Wood and Brie Larson. On the 21st of August 2020, he announced Talk Guys, a talk show based in Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
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Common questions
When was Gary Whitta born and where?
Gary Leslie Whitta was born on the 21st of July 1972 in England. His professional journey began within the pages of ACE magazine, a publication dedicated to video game coverage during the early 1990s.
What major film projects did Gary Whitta work on after leaving Rogue One?
Gary Whitta co-wrote the script for After Earth alongside director M. Night Shyamalan in 2013. He also joined names like Nicole Perlman and Justin Malen in a writers room for the third Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie later that year.
Which video games did Gary Whitta contribute scripts or design to at Telltale Games?
Gary Whitta oversaw the narrative development of The Walking Dead video game series starting in 2012. He returned later to help complete The Walking Dead: The Final Season which arrived in 2018.
Who did Gary Whitta collaborate with on his comic book projects published by Image Comics?
Gary Whitta collaborated with cover artist Mike Mignola and illustrator Ted Naifeh on a short series based on the Death Jr character. He is currently co-creating another comic titled OLIVER with Darick Robertson from Image Comics.
When did Gary Whitta launch Animal Talking and what was its format?
In April 2020, he launched Animal Talking, a late-night talk show set inside Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The show featured celebrity guests including Elijah Wood and Brie Larson.