Jon Van Caneghem (born 1962/1963)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 is an American video game director, designer and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. He is best known for launching development studio New World Computing in 1983, making his design debut in 1986 with '' Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum''. During the company's 20-year lifespan, Van Caneghem was involved in the creation and direction of several franchises, including the '' Might and Magic'' role-playing series and the spin-off ''

Heroes of Might and Magic ''Heroes of Might and Magic'', known as ''Might & Magic Heroes'' since 2011, is a series of video games originally created and developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing. As part of the ''Might and Magic'' franchise, the series ...

'' and ''

King's Bounty ''King's Bounty'' is a turn-based fantasy video game designed by Jon Van Caneghem and published by New World Computing in 1990. The game follows the player's character, a hero of King Maximus, appointed with the job of retrieving the Sceptre of ...

'' strategy series.

Early life

Van Caneghem was raised on the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

, United States, by his mother, an artist, and his stepfather, a neurologist at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(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.

Career

In 1983, Van Caneghem founded New World Computing, a publisher and

developer Developer may refer to: Computers *Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications *Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games *Web deve ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

and

console games A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...

. 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. It debuted in 1986 for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

. The series went on to include nine bestselling games, all of which Van Caneghem co-created. In 1990 Van Caneghem released ''

'', the forerunner of the ''

'' 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 US$13 million. He remained with 3DO as president and "lead visionary" until 2003 when 3DO filed for bankruptcy and eliminated its New World Computing division. The rights to the ''Might and Magic'' name were purchased for $1.3 million by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

, which revived the franchise with a new series under the same name. From 2004 to 2005, Van Caneghem worked at NCSoft as executive producer of a massively multiplayer online game. In 2006 Van Caneghem left NCSoft and launched Trion World Network, headquartered in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

, after securing more than $100 million in investment capital from

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, NBC Universal, GE and

Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

. Trion produces

server-side In the client–server model, server-side refers to programs and operations that run on the server. This is in contrast to client-side programs and operations which run on the client. General concepts Typically, a server is a computer application ...

games. Van Caneghem left Trion in 2009 and joined

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 ...

where he headed the video game giant's ''

Command & Conquer ''Command & Conquer'' (''C&C'') is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game ''Dune I ...

'' brand. Van Caneghem was responsible for extending the series online. On 29 October 2013, EA cancelled the development of the ''Command & Conquer'' game and closed the development studio. In 2014, Caneghem founded VC Mobile Entertainment (VCME) with the goal to produce and publish

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

games. Caneghem secured $4.5 million in capital investment from companies like Tencent and Pacific Sky Investments. VCME is based in Los Angeles, and currently has around 15 employees. Their first game, ''Creature Quest'', is a mobile game focused on collection of creatures with which to quest and explore. It is an RPG with turn-based combat similar to Might & Magic and isometric exploration reminiscent of Heroes of Might & Magic. It was launched globally early 2017, after a successful limited test launch in selected countries in Europe and Australia.

Awards

Van Caneghem was inducted into the ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' Hall of Fame in 2004 for Strategy and Role-Playing.Classic Personal Computer (PC) Games » The Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame
from GoldenAgeOfGames.com The first ''Might and Magic'' games is number 44 in ''

s Hall of Fame, and ''Heroes of Might and Magic II'' is number 31. ''Heroes of Might and Magic I'' won Strategy Game of the Year from

, Turn-Based Strategy Game of the Year from

Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly Video game, computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' ...

, Editor's Choice from

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

, and Golden Triad from Computer Game Review.

Personal life

Van Caneghem lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and has a daughter, Amanda.

Racing

Van Caneghem 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, including winning the West Coast Formula Ford championship. He attended the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 1976, ...

during this time. Van Caneghem has competed in over 100 races with dozens of wins with the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

where he competed in GT2, CSR, DSR, S7, SGT, and Pro7. With

Nasa Pro Racing The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education. Founded in 1991, NASA hosts High Performance Driving Events (HPDE), automotive rallies, Time Trial ...

, he competed in Mazda-GT, ST2, STR2. Van Caneghem also won races with Cal Club, including the SGT2 Season Winner in 2005.

Games

* '' Might and Magic I'', 1986, designer/programmer * '' Might and Magic II'', 1988, designer/programmer * ''

Nuclear War Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

'', 1989, designer * '' Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan'', 1990, director * ''

'', 1990, designer * '' Might and Magic III'', 1991, director/designer * '' Planet's Edge'', 1992, director/designer * '' Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen'', 1992, director/designer * '' Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen'', 1993, director/designer * ''

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fiction Fiction media * ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turkish ...

'', 1994, designer * '' Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb'', 1994, executive producer * '' Hammer of the Gods'', 1994, executive producer * ''

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

'', 1995, executive producer * ''Multimedia Celebrity Poker'', 1995, original concept/executive producer * '' Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest'', 1995, designer * ''

Anvil of Dawn ''Anvil of Dawn'' is a 1995 fantasy role-playing video game developed by DreamForge Intertainment and published by New World Computing. ''Anvil of Dawn'' was named the best role-playing game of 1995 by '' Computer Gaming World'' and ''Computer G ...

'', 1995, executive producer * '' Empire II: The Art of War'', 1995, executive producer * ''

Heroes of Might and Magic II ''Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars '' is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the ''Heroes of ...

'', 1996, director/designer * '' Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Price of Loyalty'', 1997, designer * '' Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven'', 1998, designer * '' Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor'', 1999, designer * '' Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia'', 1999, designer * '' Crusaders of Might and Magic'', 1999, special thanks * '' Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer'', 2000, designer * '' Heroes Chronicles: Warlords of the Wastelands'', 2000, designer * '' Heroes Chronicles: Masters of the Elements'', 2000, designer * '' Heroes Chronicles: Conquest of the Underworld'', 2000, designer * '' Heroes Chronicles: Clash of the Dragons'', 2000, designer * '' Heroes of Might and Magic: Quest for the Dragon Bone Staff'', 2001, designer * '' Heroes Chronicles: The Final Chapters'', 2001, designer * '' Legends of Might and Magic'', 2001, designer * ''

'', cancelled * ''Creature Quest'', 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caneghem, Jon Van American video game designers Living people New World Computing Year of birth uncertain 1960s births