Stardock Entertainment, independent publisher of games including Sins of a Solar Empire, Demigod and Elemental: War of Magic has hired Civilization V Lead Designer Jon Shafer to help lead the studio’s design and modding efforts. Shafer will bring additional modding expertise to the recently launched Elemental: War of Magic and will take the lead in designing the next as-of-yet unannounced Stardock title.

Shafer hails from Firaxis where he was lead designer and principal gameplay programmer for the 2010 smash-hit, Civilization V. Last month, the company announced it was restructuring its games division, which included bringing Fall From Heaven creator Derek Paxton on board as senior producer. The addition of Shafer to the development team bolsters Stardock’s commitment to fans to continue to support Elemental: War of Magic well into 2011 and beyond.

“Jon represents the best and brightest in PC gaming design. We welcome Jon to our growing team of world-class PC game developers, designers, and producers ,” said Brad Wardell, president & CEO of Stardock. “I am also looking forward to working with Jon on one of our upcoming PC games. His passion and skill at game design combined with Stardock’s commitment of long-term support for its titles and technological expertise will drive our PC games to new heights.”

“With Elemental, Stardock essentially developed an incredible new game engine optimized for the creation of PC strategy games,” said Shafer. “I’m excited to take on a leadership role at Stardock and help the company extend the ability for modders to take this engine and be able to create dramatically different games.”


Comments (Page 1)
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on Jan 05, 2011

This is excellent news!  Congrats to both Jon and Stardock!

on Jan 05, 2011

Impressive Acquisition of talent for Stardock. Well Done.

 

I look forward to seeing how Mr Shafer's influence will shape the engine and gaming assets behind Elemental and future games Stardock produces. 

on Jan 05, 2011

“I’m excited to take on a leadership role at Stardock and help the company extend the ability for modders to take this engine and be able to create dramatically different games.”

Do.not.distract.me.with.the.possibility.of.creating.an.RPG.game....

Welcome, Mr Shafer!

PS in my infinite quest for knowing what english surnames mean, guess what I found as first meaning in the urbandictionary.

on Jan 05, 2011

So basically for now Jon will work on the engine's modding capabilities, which directly affect Elemental and the next game in line which will be created with the same engine. If I understood right.

on Jan 05, 2011

Wow!

on Jan 05, 2011

Excellent news!

 

Now you just need to hire someone who can speed  time, so we don't have to wait for all the good stuff you

all have planned! 

on Jan 05, 2011

This is great news, can't wait to see what elemental will turn into.

on Jan 05, 2011

Grats! Wish you the best Mr. Shafer. You came to a good company.

on Jan 05, 2011

Welcome!

on Jan 05, 2011

Let me the first to buy you a burrito to congratulate you on the new job.

on Jan 05, 2011

THIS IS TOTALLY NEW INFORMATION!

on Jan 05, 2011

these makes me happy i like civ 5

on Jan 05, 2011

Holy S***! Awesome! Welcome!

on Jan 05, 2011

Congratulations Jon and Stardock.

on Jan 05, 2011

Kestral2040
THIS IS TOTALLY NEW INFORMATION!

 

Yes .... of course it is Toby .... On a completely unrelated topic, I'll bet you $500 that the U.S will finally have an African-American president.

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