Jon Van Caneghem

Jon Van Caneghem
Jon Van Caneghem Interview Photo
Born	1962/1963 (age 54–55)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Occupation	Game designer
Notable work	Might and Magic series Heroes of Might and Magic series
Children	Amanda (daughter)
Awards	Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame

Jon Van Caneghem (born 1962/1963) is an American video game director, designer and producer. 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 and King's Bounty strategy series.

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.

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. It debuted in 1986 for the Apple II. The series went on to include nine bestselling games, all of which Van Caneghem 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.