Prolific first-person shooter level designer Richard “Levelord” Gray died Monday at the age of 68, based on reports shared on social media by Apogee Entertainment yesterday. He had “dealt with cancer on and off for a while now,” according to former colleague Joe Siegler.

After studying computer engineering in the ’80s and tinkering on some early games in COBOL, Gray broke into the industry at the age of 35 in 1994 with the launch of GrayDoom, a set of four maps for the then-new that were widely shared on CompuServe and beyond. The work attracted the attention of Q Studios’ Nick Newhard, who contracted Gray to work on level design for the late ’90s cult classic .

Gray was subsequently hired by 3D Realms, where he said he was given free rein in designing “half the levels” for . There, he was also responsible for the famous, signed “You’re Not Supposed to Be Here” easter egg, which players could find only by using cheats to explore outside of the usual confines of the map.

Gray said in a 2016 interview that he assumed the prevalence of cheats in would mean that “of course, most all of you would be flying around, seeing what you could break, find easter eggs the easy way …bingo! I gave you an easter egg that you had to cheat to find.”

Remembering Richard “Levelord” Gray.

In this interview, Richard reflects on the creative freedom he and Allen Blum had while designing the iconic levels of Duke Nukem 3D.

— Apogee Entertainment (@apogeeent.com) October 14, 2026 at 8:18 AM

In the years following, his level design work appeared in games ranging from to to and . “The most important duty you have as a level designer is to bring the player ‘into’ your level,” he said in a 1999 interview for the book Game Design: Secrets of the Sages. ”It’s not until after this submersion that issues like action, game play, and even the Fun Factor enter the game. The more of your level to which the player can attach himself via familiarity, the stronger the player’s sense of ‘being there’ will be.”

Gray also made a brief pivot late in his career to casual games such as the series after FPS maker Ritual Entertainment was acquired by new parent company MumboJumbo. “It does seem sort of a shock at first, from the outside, for sure,” he said of the surprise move in a 2007 interview. “Remember, though, making games is making games, a dream job come true! … To be honest? …we’re enjoying the hell out of doing something different than hardcore shooters, and the variations within the casual game market makes us even more enthusiastic!”

Gone but not forgotten

Tributes from friends and colleagues have poured in across the Internet since Gray’s death was announced. 3D Realms founder Scott Miller called Gray “a stellar talent” and “a relentless hard worker, a fun teammate, and an overall great human. His levels in Duke Nukem 3D and Sin will live on forever.”

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski praised the “sense of place” Gray’s levels could create in a game like . “Few 3D shooters up to that point had it,” he wrote. “Instead of a generic hallway you were in an identifiable location. To pull that off with such early/simple tech was a miracle.”

I loved the first episode of DN3D but was more drawn in by E2 and E3 that had such distinctive designs. We’re gonna miss you, man. You were one of the best.

— John Romero (@johnromero.bsky.social) October 13, 2026 at 4:12 PM

Id Software’s John Romero remembered Gray as a “great guy” who “was full of life, a gentle soul, and an excellent level designer. He was called ‘Levelord’ for a reason.”

“Richard was, without a doubt, one of the kindest people I’ve ever met in the games industry,” Slipgate Ironworks CEO Frederik Schreiber wrote. “Incredibly humble, remarkably intelligent, endlessly creative, and always a pleasure to be around. Despite everything he had accomplished and the enormous influence his work had on my generation of game developers, he never carried himself as anything other than a genuinely good human being.”