Hall of Fame game designer and artist Reinhold Wittig passed away on April 11, 2026.
Wittig was credited as a designer and/or artist on over 130 games and games-related items; his work in the games industry spans five decades. He was most well known for the Beer Hall Proclamation that happened at Nuremberg Toy Fair 1988. Wittig wrote on a beer coaster “None of us would submit a game to a publisher unless their name is on the top of the box!” and convinced other German designers to sign it, including Wolfgang Kramer. This was the start of a push to inspire European publishers to put the designers’ names on the top of every game they contributed to.
Wittig was a five-time winner of the Beautiful Game from Spiel des Jahres. He also founded the Gottingen Gathering and the German Game Authors Guild, and was a key contributor to building up the Nuremberg Games Library. In 2020, Wittig was inducted into Hall of Fame of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (see “Origins Awards 2020 Winners“). He was age 89 at the time of his passing; ICv2 sends condolences to his friends and family.
Source: ICV2
