Jason Bender

Jason Bender is Senior Systems Designer on Diablo III.

Background

Jason Bender at Blizzcon 2010.

Jason seems to have started his career in the gaming industry at developer NovaLogic around 1998. At NovaLogic, he worked on a number of titles (principally combat flight simulator games including MiG-29 Fulcrum and F16 Multirole Fighter) as a member of the QA team. He moved from QA to game design with work on the tactical first person shooter Delta Force 2 and a tank based action game Armored Fist 3. Jason was also a member of the design team for the space combat simulator Tachyon: The Fringe and Comanche 4.

Around 2001, Jason left NovaLogic and joined EA where he worked on the legendary RTS series Command & Conquer as well as the RTS iteration of the famed J.R.R Tolkien world in the game series The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth. He landed his first role as lead designer on The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II. Additionally, he was a lead designer for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and lead concept designer for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (C&C4:TT).

After his work on C&C4:TT, Jason joined Blizzard and is currently Lead Systems Designer for Diablo III.

Jason maintains a MySpace page where you can learn more about his interests as well as a LiveJournal.

Interviews

Jason Bender (along with Christian Lichtner) were interviewed by The Escapist during Blizzcon 2010. In the interview, Jason talks about the design of the Demon Hunter, general character design, skills, and the iteration process.

Jason (and Christian) were also interviewed by VG247 and discussed the Demon Hunter, PVP, the possibility (now confirmed as happening) of Diablo III on consoles

Game Credits/Experience

Jason Bender on the D3CE Behind the Scenes DVD.

• 2010 – Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Electronic Arts. Lead Concept Designer
• 2008 – Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, Electronic Arts. Designer
• 2007 – Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Electronic Arts. Lead Designer
• 2006 – The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II - The Rise of the Witch-King, Electronic Arts. Special Thanks
• 2006 – The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II, Electronic Arts. Lead Designer
• 2004 – The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth, Electronic Arts. Designer
• 2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero:Hour, Electronic Arts. Designer
• 2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals, Electronic Arts. Designer
• 2001 – Comanche 4, NovaLogic. Mission Design
• 2000 – Delta Force: Land Warrior, NovaLogic. Design Associate, Voices
• 2000 – Tachyon: The Fringe, NovaLogic. Mission Design, Additional Design
• 1999 – Armored Fist 3, NovaLogic. Mission Design
• 1999 – Delta Force 2, NovaLogic. Multiplayer Missions
• 1999 – F-22 Lightning 3, Electronic Arts. Quality Assurance
• 1998 – Delta Force, NovaLogic. Quality Assurance
• 1998 – F-16 Multirole Fighter, NovaLogic. Quality Assurance
• 1998 – MiG-29 Fulcrum, NovaLogic. Quality Assurance