Mark Jacobs is an American game designer, programmer, author and businessman, and the former GM/VP/CEO of Mythic Entertainment, Inc and after Mythic Entertainment was sold to

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

in 2006 he served as its GM/VP/CEO at EA. Best known as a lead designer of ''

Dark Age of Camelot ''Dark Age of Camelot'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in October 2001 in North America, and in January 2002 in Europe. The game combines Arthurian lore, Norse mythology, and Celtic mythology, Irish Celtic legends wi ...

'' (2001) and ''

Camelot Unchained ''Camelot Unchained'' is an in-development fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game from City State Entertainment which was partially funded through Kickstarter. Leading its production is Mark Jacobs, the former designer of ''Dark ...

'' (2019), he also created two early

MUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

s, ''Aradath'' and ''

Dragon's Gate Dragon's Gate was an interactive, real time, text-based multi user online fantasy role-playing game, sometimes referred to as a MUD. It was one of the longest running pay-for-play online games in the world, it opened to the public in the sprin ...

'', serving as both the designer and programmer in addition to his duties as President/CEO. He founded A.U.S.I. (Adventures Unlimited Software Inc.) in 1983 and worked on a number of computer games for systems such as the Apple II. He is also a screenwriter, having penned a number of screenplays including one based on the game Imperator Online. He is known for his strong position against "real money transfer", a.k.a. "gold selling". Jacobs left EA in June 2009 after the company decided to merge

BioWare BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...

with Mythic Entertainment.

Biography

Jacobs attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and graduated,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then attended

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

and graduated with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. While at GULC, he started his first computer game company, Adventures Unlimited Software Inc. in 1983. In the 1980s and until 1995, he created online games for both local networks and nationwide networks such as

GEnie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

and

Kesmai Kesmai was a pioneering video game developer, game developer and online Video game publisher, game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John R. Taylor III, John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim ''Air Warrior'' ...

's Gamestorm network. In 1995, he was the co-founder (along with Rob Denton), President and CEO of Mythic Entertainment, Inc. He was involved in all Mythic Entertainment games since 1995, including their most successful product, the

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

Dark Age Of Camelot ''Dark Age of Camelot'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in October 2001 in North America, and in January 2002 in Europe. The game combines Arthurian lore, Norse mythology, and Celtic mythology, Irish Celtic legends wi ...

''. In March 2011, he was the co-founder of City State Entertainment, along with Andrew Meggs, President of City State Entertainment.

Games

* ''Attack of the Killer Bees'' (designer, programmer, A.U.S.I., 1983) * ''Aradath'' (Lead designer, programmer, CEO A.U.S.I., 1984) * ''Galaxy'' (Lead designer, programmer, CEO A.U.S.I., 1989) * ''

'' (Lead designer, programmer, CEO, A.U.S.I., 1990) * ''Splatterball'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1996) * ''

Magestorm ''Rolemaster: Magestorm'' (since 2001, ''Magestorm Millennium'') was an online-only first-person shooter using magical spells as weapons. It was developed in 1996 by Interworld Productions (later known as Mythic Entertainment). Gameplay It cent ...

'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1996) * ''Castles II – Online'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1996) * ''

Aliens Online ''Aliens Online'' was a 1998 massively multiplayer first-person shooter video game released for Microsoft Windows. It was based on the science fiction horror film ''Aliens''. Gameplay ''Aliens Online'' included asymmetric teams, teams consisting ...

'' (designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1997) * ''Rolemaster: Bladelands'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1997) * '' Darkness Falls'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1997) * ''Starship Troopers: Battlespace'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1998) * ''Godzilla Online'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1998) * ''Splatterball Plus'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1999) * '' Darkness Falls: The Crusade'' (Lead designer, head acrobat, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1999) * ''Silent Death Online'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1999) * ''Spellbinder II – The Nexus Conflict'' (designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1999) * ''Darkstorm: Well of Souls'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 1999 – never completed) * ''Independence Day Online'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2000) * '' Imperator Online'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2001) * ''

'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2001) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2002) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2003) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Foundations'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2003) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: 'New Frontiers' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2004) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2005) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Darkness Rising'' (Lead designer, EA Mythic, 2006) ** ''Dark Age of Camelot: Labyrinth of the Minotaur'' (EA Mythic, 2007) * '' Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning'' (Lead designer, CEO Mythic Entertainment, 2008) * ''

'' (Lead designer, CEO City State Entertainment, TBD)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Mark American video game designers MUD developers Living people Syracuse University alumni Georgetown University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)