Matt Chat 366: Jon Van Caneghem on Might and Magic

Interview - posted by Infinitron on Sun 5 February 2017, 15:14:31

Tags: 3DO; Heroes of Might and Magic; Jon Van Caneghem; Matt Barton; Might and Magic I: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum; Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World; Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra; Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen; Might and Magic Online; Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen; Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven; New World Computing

Matt Barton has been interviewing Might and Magic series creator Jon Van Caneghem, his first major RPG interview in quite a while. The first part of the interview was about Creature Quest, Jon's new free-to-play mobile game, and wasn't of much interest to the Codex. Now Matt has uploaded the second part, where they talk about his past career. It's clear that Matt is a big fan of the series, and there's lots of goofing off as Jon shares anecdotes about the development of the early Might and Magic games as well as the first Heroes of Might and Magic. He also talks about his attempt to produce a Might and Magic Online MMO that failed due to 3DO's reluctance to provide a sufficient budget for the project.

Jon is an easy-going guy who appears to bear no ill-will towards 3DO, so there's not much here for all you drama-seekers. He does reveal that he was under pressure to turn Heroes into an RTS (which he staved off by citing the success of the Civilization series) and that in the final days of 3DO there was an attempt to buy New World Computing from them which failed. On the topic of Kickstarters and spiritual successors, Jon says he's aware of the success his genre pioneering colleagues Brian Fargo and Richard Garriott have had, but that he's busy doing other things. He would be willing to consider that route if he was able to buy the Might and Magic brand from Ubisoft.

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