# Jon Van Caneghem - Maker: Game designer - Houses: New World Computing - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/jon-van-caneghem/ > The UCLA-trained programmer who spent three years writing Might and Magic almost alone, shipped it from his apartment, and built New World Computing into the home of Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic. **Why it matters:** Van Caneghem created Might and Magic, one of the defining first-person party RPG series, and its strategy offshoots King's Bounty and Heroes of Might and Magic, which fused RPG heroes with turn-based war. ## Quick answers **Who is Jon Van Caneghem?** The UCLA-trained programmer who spent three years writing Might and Magic almost alone, shipped it from his apartment, and built New World Computing into the home of Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic. **What is Jon Van Caneghem known for?** Jon Van Caneghem is best known for Might and Magic Book One and Heroes of Might and Magic. **Why does Jon Van Caneghem matter to fantasy and games?** Van Caneghem created Might and Magic, one of the defining first-person party RPG series, and its strategy offshoots King's Bounty and Heroes of Might and Magic, which fused RPG heroes with turn-based war. ## Life Jon Van Caneghem was born in the early 1960s; sources disagree on the exact year, so this entry omits it. He was raised on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood by his mother, an artist, and his stepfather, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. He attended the Lycée Français de Los Angeles and then UCLA, where he began as a pre-med student but graduated with a degree in computer science. His great outside passion is motor racing: informal runs down Mulholland Drive became, by the early 1990s, serious competition on tracks across the country, including a West Coast Formula Ford championship and more than 100 races with the Sports Car Club of America and others. ## Work Van Caneghem launched New World Computing in the mid-1980s; his own biography gives 1983, while company histories date the founding to 1984, with his wife Michaela Van Caneghem and Mark Caldwell as co-founders. Its first product was his: [Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/might-and-magic/), which he programmed almost single-handedly for the Apple II over three years; Michaela shares design credit. When no publisher would take it, he shipped it himself from his apartment after its 1986 release, until he secured distribution through Activision. The game was ambitious. A [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/) of six adventurers explored the land of Varn in first-person view, not just in dungeons but across an entire outdoor world of towns, castles and wilderness, with detailed drawings of both indoor and outdoor locations, a rarity at the time. It invited comparison with [Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/wizardry/) and [The Bard's Tale](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-bards-tale/), but its scale, and the science-fiction secrets lurking beneath its fantasy surface, set it apart. Ported to the Commodore 64, Macintosh and MS-DOS and later to the NES and PC Engine, it sold more than 100,000 copies by 1989. Van Caneghem then designed *Might and Magic II* (1988) and led a long line of sequels; the series eventually numbered nine main games from New World, all co-created by him. *Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra* (1991) introduced a new engine with 256-color VGA graphics, and its successors *Clouds of Xeen* (1992) and *Darkside of Xeen* (1993) could be installed together as the combined *World of Xeen*. *Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven* (1998) moved the series into 3D and was widely admired. He also turned his fantasy world toward strategy. *King's Bounty* (1990) sent a hero recruiting armies of mythical creatures, and it became the forerunner of [Heroes of Might and Magic](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/heroes-of-might-and-magic/) (1995), a turn-based game of exploring maps, capturing towns and fighting tactical battles that shared *Computer Gaming World*'s Strategy Game of the Year award; *Heroes II* (1996) and *Heroes III* (1999) became enduring classics. New World published other developers' work too, and Van Caneghem directed *Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan* (1990), a computer adaptation of [Ken St. Andre](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/ken-st-andre/)'s [Tunnels & Trolls](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/tunnels-and-trolls/). As president and CEO, he oversaw more than 250 titles. New World was acquired by NTN Communications and then, in 1996, by The 3DO Company, where Van Caneghem stayed as president and "lead visionary." When 3DO went bankrupt in 2003, the studio closed and Ubisoft bought the *Might and Magic* name for $1.3 million. Van Caneghem moved on to online games, as an executive producer at [NCSoft](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/ncsoft/) (2004–05) and then as founder of Trion World Network in 2006, backed by more than $100 million from investors including Time Warner and NBC Universal. He joined [Electronic Arts](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/electronic-arts/) in 2009 to lead its *Command & Conquer* brand until the planned online game was cancelled in 2013, and in 2014 founded VC Mobile Entertainment, whose creature-collecting RPG *Creature Quest* launched in 2017 and has since been shut down. ## Legacy *Might and Magic* stands with *Wizardry*, *Ultima* and *The Bard's Tale* among the foundational Western [computer RPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/computer-rpg/) and helped carry the first-person [First-Person Dungeon Crawlers ('Blobbers')](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/dungeon-crawler/), or [Blobber](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/blobber/), into open-world exploration. *Heroes of Might and Magic* created a lasting hybrid of RPG character growth and turn-based strategy that has been imitated ever since, and Ubisoft has since continued both series under the *Might & Magic* banner. *Computer Gaming World* inducted Van Caneghem into its Hall of Fame in 2004 and placed the first *Might and Magic* and *Heroes of Might and Magic II* in its list of the greatest games. ## Facts - He grew up on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood and entered UCLA as a pre-med student before graduating in computer science. - *Might and Magic Book One* (1986) was written almost single-handedly by Van Caneghem over three years for the Apple II. - Unable to find a publisher, he distributed the game himself from his apartment until he struck a distribution deal with Activision. - *Might and Magic* sold more than 100,000 copies by 1989. - He directed *Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan* (1990), a computer version of Ken St. Andre's tabletop RPG. - An avid racing driver, he won the West Coast Formula Ford championship and has competed in more than 100 races. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Van_Caneghem) - [Wikipedia: New World Computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Computing) - [Wikipedia: Might and Magic Book One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_Book_One:_The_Secret_of_the_Inner_Sanctum) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.