Jon Shafer

Who is Jon Shafer?

Jon Shafer is an American designer and programmer of computer games. He was the lead designer of the strategy game Civilization V, developed by Firaxis.

Currently, Shafer is the president of Conifer Games, a video games development company he founded in 2012. The studio's first title is Jon Shafer's At The Gates, a 4X strategy game similar to Civilization in which players command a barbarian kingdom with the goal of defeating both rival tribes and the waning Roman Empire. The budget for developing At the Gates is primarily made up of funds raised through a Kickstarter campaign held in February 2013.

Shafer runs a blog named Jon Shafer on Design where he writes articles on the subjects of game design and project management. He also serves as co-host for The Game Design Round Table, a weekly podcast where Shafer and fellow designer Dirk Knemeyer are typically joined by guests to discuss topics relating to digital and tabletop game design.