Jason Jones (born June 1, 1971) is an American
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
and
programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
who co-founded the video game studio
Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones (progr ...
with
Alex Seropian
Alexander Seropian (born 1969) is an American video game developer, one of the initial founders and later president of Bungie, the developer of the ''Marathon'', ''Myth'', and ''Halo'' video game series. Seropian became interested in computer pro ...
in 1991. Jones began programming on
Apple computers
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
in high school, assembling a multiplayer game called ''
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete''. While attending the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Jones met Seropian and the two formed a partnership to publish ''Minotaur''.
Following the modest success of ''Minotaur'', Jones programmed Bungie's next game, ''
Pathways into Darkness
''Pathways into Darkness'' is a first-person shooter adventure game, adventure video game developed and published by Bungie in 1993, for Mac (computer), Macintosh personal computers. Players assume the role of a Special Forces soldier who must s ...
'', and worked on code, level design and story development for Bungie's ''
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
'' and ''
Myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
'' series. For Bungie's next projects, ''
Halo: Combat Evolved'' and ''
Halo 2
''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'', Jones took on a more managerial role as project lead. He served as director on the 2014 video game ''
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
''.
Early life
Jones became interested in programming in high school, and learned
Applesoft BASIC
Applesoft BASIC is a dialect of Microsoft BASIC, developed by Marc McDonald and Ric Weiland, supplied with the Apple II series of computers. It supersedes Integer BASIC and is the BASIC in ROM in all Apple II series computers after the original ...
and
6502 Assembly on an
Apple II series
The Apple II series (trademarked with square brackets as "Apple ] ''" and rendered on later models as "Apple //") is a family of home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primaril ...
computer. When Apple released its
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
line, Jones's family purchased a
Macintosh 128K
The Apple Macintosh—later rebranded as the Macintosh 128K—is the original Apple Inc., Apple Macintosh personal computer. It played a pivotal role in establishing desktop publishing as a general office function. The motherboard, a CRT monit ...
, but Jones never programmed much for it. After high school Jones got a job programming for a
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
company on PCs, before going to college the next year. In his off time Jones said that all he ever did on the Apple II was write games, "and it seemed logical to continue that on the Mac," he said. "The first thing I did on the Mac was to port a modem game I'd written called ''Minotaur'' from 6502 Assembly on the Apple II into MPW C on the Mac. I was still finishing that when I came to college. By that time, I knew I wanted to write games."
Career
Jones met
Alex Seropian
Alexander Seropian (born 1969) is an American video game developer, one of the initial founders and later president of Bungie, the developer of the ''Marathon'', ''Myth'', and ''Halo'' video game series. Seropian became interested in computer pro ...
in his second year at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. In 1991 Seropian had founded
Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones (progr ...
and published his own game, ''
Operation: Desert Storm''.
Seropian was looking for another game to publish, and they decided to work together to finish ''Minotaur''. While Seropian did design and marketing, Jones finished the programming. ''
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete'' shipped in April 1992;
while the game sold only around 2,500 copies (it required a then-rare modem for network play),
it developed a devoted following. After publishing ''Minotaur'', Jones and Seropian formed a partnership; "What I liked about him was that he never wasted any money", Jones said of his partner.
Bungie focused on the Mac platform due to familiarity with the platform and ease of use. "The PC market was really cutthroat, but the Mac market was all friendly and lame. So it was easier to compete," Jones said.
After ''Minotaur'', Bungie began work on a 3D graphics version of the game, but realized that the game's format was not suited to a 3D environment. Instead, Jones and Seropian wrote a brand-new story for what became ''
Pathways Into Darkness
''Pathways into Darkness'' is a first-person shooter adventure game, adventure video game developed and published by Bungie in 1993, for Mac (computer), Macintosh personal computers. Players assume the role of a Special Forces soldier who must s ...
''. Since Bungie had no money and Jones was the only one with the available time, he single-handedly coded the game on a
Macintosh IIfx
The Macintosh IIfx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1990 to April 1992. At introduction it cost from to , depending on configuration, and it was the fastest Macintosh available at the time.
...
, passing art chores to his friend Colin Brent.
''Pathways'' was successful enough that Bungie moved from a one-bedroom apartment to an actual office.
Bungie's next project started as an update of ''Pathways'' but evolved into a science fiction shooter game,
''Marathon''. The game included state-of-the-art graphics, network multiplayer, and voice support, and won a number of awards on release in 1994.
Jones recalled that he was surprised anyone ever completed the game and sought to atone for some of its shortcomings with its sequel, ''
Marathon 2: Durandal'',
which was also released for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. The ''Marathon'' series was followed by a series of
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
games, starting with ''
Myth: The Fallen Lords'' in 1996.
Bungie continued to expand, and in 1997 work began on a new project, codenamed ''Blam!''
(Jones had changed the name from ''Monkey Nuts'' because he could not bring himself to tell his mother about the new game under that title.) ''Blam!'' evolved from a real-time strategy game to a third-person shooter to a
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
called ''
Halo: Combat Evolved''. Jones role in development was unlike ''Marathon'' and ''Myth'', where Jones was involved in developing more than half the levels and much to most of the story. Instead, he was the project lead
and a manager, barely providing any code to the game. He would read war journals by authors such as
John Kinkead and
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
.
In 2000,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
acquired Bungie, moving the team from Chicago to Washington State. Jones recalled that the buyout was a "blur
..We'd been talking to people for years and years—before we even published ''Marathon'',
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
made a serious offer
o buy us But the chance to work on
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
console]—the chance to work with a company that took the games seriously. Before that we worried that we'd get bought by someone who just wanted Mac ports or didn't have a clue."
Around the same time, a glitch in versions of ''Myth II'' was found to entirely erase a player's
hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
; this led to a massive recall of the games right before they shipped, costing Bungie nearly one million dollars.
Composer
Martin O'Donnell
Martin O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as '' Myth'', ''Oni'', ''Halo'', and ''Destiny''. O'Donnell collaborated with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori ...
said that this recall created financial uncertainty in the studio, though accepting the offer was not something "Bungie had to do."
Jones and Seropian refused to accept Microsoft's offer until the entire studio agreed to the buyout.
''Combat Evolved'' was highly successful, selling more than a million units in its first six months and driving Xbox sales.
Jones led the development team that created its sequel, ''
Halo 2
''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'', and served as director on a new video game series, ''
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
''. He was listed in ''
Next Generation
Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to:
Publications and literature
* ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company
* Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
''s top 100 Developers in 2006 and 2007.
After the release of Halo 2, Jones took a sabbatical from Bungie, not knowing whether he wanted to continue making games.
As Jones returned, his involvement with Halo began to diminish,
as Jones tended to 'dislike' sequels.
He desired to build a new intellectual property.
Jones worked closely with colleague
Jaimie Griesemer who was working on his own internal project named "Dragon's Tavern" which Griesemer described to be a "third person fantasy game"
In the end however, Jones had the most power at Bungie, despite not being the President he was the majority share-holder and his vision of the studio was his alone to decide.
Ultimately, Jason got his way with the studio's next project and worked with Griesemer to combine his ideas of "Dragon's Tavern" with what would be ''
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
''.
As development continued, and with Griesemer gone, the writing team led by
Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten is an American writer best known for his work at video game studio Bungie.
At Bungie, Staten served as director of cinematics for the studio's games, including the ''Halo'' series; he would write mission scripts and movie dialogue ...
had created a "Super-Cut" which was essentially a summary of the game's story-line. The super-cut was poorly received by Jones and the rest of the studio.
Shortly after, Jones decided to scrap the writing team's work and effectively re-write the story very late into production with
Marty O'Donnell, believing it was not feasible and almost impossible to complete.
Knowing the game was in peril with his proposed reboot of the story, Jones formed a group called the "Iron Bar" composed of art director Christopher Barrett, designer
Luke Smith and writer Eric Raab, an experienced book editor.
Jones and the rest of Bungie carried on to release ''Destiny'' on September 9, 2014, to mostly positive reception.
References
External links
Jason Jones profileat
Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones (progr ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jason
1971 births
American video game programmers
Bungie
Living people
University of Chicago alumni