The gaming world recently lost one of its greatest influences. The Wall Street Journal has learned that Microsoft engineer Eric Engstrom died on December 1at the age of 55 from complications following an injury. Engstrom, along with Alex St. John and Craig Eisler, played a key role in the development of DirectX — a programming interface that made Windows games viable and paved the way for the Xbox.
Alex St. John contacted Engstrom in 1994 to help him make gaming on the upcoming Windows 95 practical. At the time, developers preferred the low overhead and greater DOS control offered in Windows 3.1. In addition to working on the project, Engstrom helped St. John support the eventual DirectX platform despite a lack of support from Microsoft itself. Windows chief Brad Silverberg still had to fight to keep Engstrom, St. John, and Eisler working.
The sequel may be familiar to you. Although it took a while, DirectX made Windows the go-to platform for PC gaming. It also gave Microsoft the foundation for the Xbox and even the CE variant of Windows that powered Sega's Dreamcast. That wasn't Engstrom's only contribution. He was involved in the early mobile through the startup Wildseed. However, there's no doubt that he left his mark on the industry . DirectX remains the foundation for many games on Windows 10 and Xbox Series X, and that's likely not to change for years. Engstrom will certainly be missed by the industry as a whole.
