Jon Shafer is an American programmer and designer of computer games. He was the lead designer and principal programmer of the video game Civilization V at Firaxis Games.[1] He currently works at Stardock Corporation.[2][3]
Shafer developed fan mods for Civilization III while in high school. Additionally he served as a beta tester for the Civilization III expansion, Conquests, and later Civilization IV. This led to a programming internship at Firaxis and ultimately the position of co-lead designer for the second Civilization IV expansion, Beyond the Sword.[4][5] In developing for Civilization V, Shafer drew from his past modding experience and from computer games such as Panzer General.[6] Following the release of the game, Shafer left Firaxis to lead an unannounced game project and help development on the Elemental series at Stardock.[2]
He attended Colorado State University from 2002-2005, studying History and Computer Science. After acquiring a position at Firaxis he left Colorado State but later completed his undergraduate study at Towson University in 2006 with a BS in History.[7][3]