https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/ted-dabney-a-founder-of-atari-and-a-creator-of-pong-dies-at-81.html > Samuel F. Dabney, an electrical engineer who laid the groundwork for the modern video game industry as a co-founder of Atari and helped create the hit console game Pong, died on May 26 at his home in Clearlake, Calif. He was 81. > The cause was esophageal cancer, his wife, Carolyn Dabney, said.