Virginia Tech alumnus and video game designer Mo Alavi.
Mo Alavi
Photos by Patrick Byler Clark
Acclaimed video game designer Mohammad “Mo” Alavi of California-based game developer Respawn Entertainment studied at Richmond’s Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School before starting to create “mods,” or modifications, to video games like Quake and Half-Life while a student at Virginia Tech. He started his design career at leading game developer Infinity Ward before earning widespread cred in the gaming community for his work on Call of Duty and Titanfall.
Gaming magazine Edge said Alavi “is responsible for some of the most intense and memorable campaign levels in Call of Duty history.” Alavi, a native of Iran who came to the U.S. as a child, is instantly recognizable to avid gamers for his brightly-hued spiky Mohawk. Next up for Alavi and his designers: a collaboration with Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm to create an action/adventure game set in the Star Wars universe. Respawn.com
