Gamasutra has received word that Harold Ray "Pete" Kauffman, the founder of long-time arcade game company Exidy, passed away last Friday. He is survived by his wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
Kauffman was known best in the game industry for founding Exidy (Excellence in Dynamics) in Palo Alto in 1973. Exidy competed with heavyweights like Atari and Taito in the '70s and '80s, releasing arcade games like Death Race, Crossbow and Vic Tolomei's Top Secret.
Later in life, Kauffman allowed Exidy games to be distributed for non-commercial use by the folks who maintain the MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) software.
The company was also responsible for launching the Exidy Sorcerer, one of the early home computer systems, in 1978.
News of Kauffman's passing was confirmed by his daughter, Amber Ramies, and initially came from Ken Love, one of the developers of the upcoming Exidy Arcade Anthology. Love was working closely with Kauffman on the iOS/Android project.