Prolific game designer Richard 'Levelord' Gray dies at 68

Richard "Levelord" Gray, a veteran first-person shooter level designer, died on October 12, 2026, at the age of 68. Apogee Entertainment announced his death, and former colleague Joe Siegler shared that Gray had dealt with cancer on and off for a while, though an official cause of death was not disclosed. [1][2]

Gray entered the video game industry in 1994 at age 35 after creating the GrayDoom map pack, which led to level design work on Blood. He then joined 3D Realms, where he crafted roughly half of the levels for Duke Nukem 3D and hid his famous "You're Not Supposed to Be Here" Easter egg, reachable only by using cheats. [1][2]

Following the release of Duke Nukem 3D, Gray co-founded Hipnotic Interactive, later known as Ritual Entertainment. At the studio, he contributed to titles such as Quake: Scourge of Armagon, Sin, Star Trek: Elite Force 2, and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. [2]