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Jon Van Caneghem

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Jon Van Caneghem
File:Jon Van Caneghem.jpeg
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
OccupationGame designer
Notable workMight and Magic series
Heroes of Might and Magic series
ChildrenAmanda (daughter)
AwardsComputer Gaming World Hall of Fame[1]

Jon Van Caneghem is a noted figure in the video game industry. He has more than 25 years experience in video game design, direction, production and publishing. He is best known for launching game publisher New World Computing in 1983 and for creating more than 25 titles including the Might and Magic role-playing series and the spin-off Heroes strategy series.

Early life

Van Caneghem was raised on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States by his mother, an artist, and his stepfather, a neurologist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He attended grade school at Lycée Français de Los Angeles and his collegiate alma mater is UCLA, where he started as a pre-med student and graduated with a degree in computer science.[2]

Career

In 1983, Van Caneghem founded New World Computing, a publisher and developer of computer and console games.

Their first title was the medieval fantasy Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum—one of the first role-playing games to feature detailed drawings of both indoor and outdoor locations.[3] It debuted in 1986 for the Apple II.[4] The series went on to include nine bestselling games, all of which Van Cangehem co-created. In 1990 Van Caneghem released King's Bounty, the forerunner of the Heroes of Might and Magic series of seven games which feature turn-based, fantasy-themed conflicts in which players control armies of mythical creatures.

In the following 20 years as president and CEO of New World Computing, Van Caneghem oversaw the publishing of more than 250 titles worldwide.

Van Caneghem sold New World Computing to developer and publisher 3DO in 1996 for USD$13 million.[5] He remained with 3DO as president and "lead visionary" until 2003 when 3DO filed for bankruptcy and eliminated its New World Computing division.[6] The rights to the Might and Magic name were purchased for $1.3 million by Ubisoft, which revived the franchise with a new series under the same name.[7]

From 2004 to 2005, Van Caneghem worked at NCSoft as executive producer of a massively multiplayer online game.[8] In 2006 Van Caneghem left NCSoft and launched Trion World Network, headquartered in Redwood City, California, after securing more than $100 million[9] in investment capital from Time Warner, NBC Universal, GE and Bertelsmann.[10] Trion produces server-side games.

Van Caneghem left Trion in 2009[11] and joined Electronic Arts where he heads the video game giant’s Command & Conquer brand.[12] Command & Conquer was originally launched in 1995 and has sold 30 million units worldwide. Van Caneghem is responsible for extending the series online.[13]

Van Caneghem was inducted into the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame in 2004 for Strategy and Role-Playing.[1] The first Might and Magic games is number 44 in Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame,[14] and the Heroes of Might and Magic II is number 31.[15]

Personal life

Van Caneghem lives in Los Angeles, California and has a daughter, Amanda. He is an avid race car driver and has won or placed in races regularly since the '90s. This hobby grew from his unofficial races down Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood hills and in the early '90s grew into a more serious hobby on racetracks across the country.[16][17] Jon has competed in over 100 races with dozens of wins with the Sports Car Club of America [18] where he competed in GT2, CSR, DSR, S7, SGT, and Pro7. With Nasa Pro Racing, he competed in Mazda-GT, ST2, STR2. [19] Jon won many raced with Cal Club, including the SGT2 Season Winner on 2005.[20]

Games

References

  1. ^ a b Classic Personal Computer (PC) Games » The Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame from GoldenAgeOfGames.com
  2. ^ AN EDUCATION IN GAME MARKET\33-year-old's magical touch has transformed passion for role playing\adventures into a lucrative reality from TheFreeLibrary.com
  3. ^ High score!: the illustrated history of electronic games from Google Books
  4. ^ The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part 2: The Golden Age (1985-1993) from Gamasutra
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ [5]
  10. ^ [6]
  11. ^ [7]
  12. ^ [8]
  13. ^ [9]
  14. ^ Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame from 1up.com
  15. ^ Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame from 1up.com
  16. ^ 2005 2005 Regional Point Standings as of 11/27/2005 from CalClub.com
  17. ^ Track Lap Records for Track Buttonwillow RP 25CCW from CalClub.com
  18. ^ [10]
  19. ^ http://www.nasaproracing.com/
  20. ^ http://www.calclub.com/html/html2/archives/2005/2005r_points_11_27_05.htm
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