Jeffrey Anderson is currently serving as the chief executive officer at NCSoft West, overseeing NCSoft's gaming business in the Americas, EMEA, and Oceana regions. He was appointed to this position on July 28, 2021, replacing Dr. Songyee Yoon. As the head of NCSoft West, Mr. Anderson is in charge of the company's internal development at its first-party studio

ArenaNet ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCsoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers of the online role-playing g ...

, publishing

Aion (video game) ''Aion: The Tower of Eternity'' ( ko, 아이온: 영원의 탑) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by the South Korean company NCSoft. The game combines PvP and PvE (a concept the developers call ...

Blade & Soul ''Blade & Soul'' () is a Korean fantasy martial-arts massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by NCSoft (Team Bloodlust). ''Blade & Soul'' was released in Western territories on January 19, 2016. A Japanese animated televisio ...

Fuser (video game) ''Fuser'' is a rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by NCSoft. It was released on November 10, 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. ''Fuser'' allows players to create DJ mixes from a number of lice ...

Guild Wars ''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplay ...

Lineage II ''Lineage II'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows and the second game in the ''Lineage'' series. It is a prequel to '' Lineage'' and is set 150 years before the first game. It has become popular si ...

and Lineage 2 Mobile ("L2M"), and corporate operations of more than 400 employees in Aliso Viejo, Austin, Bellevue, London, and San Mateo. Under his leadership, the studio launched the third expansion pack for

Guild Wars 2 ''Guild Wars 2'' is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild ...

, entitled "End of Dragons," on February 28, 2022 as well as releasing the title on

Steam (service) Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing and offering third ...

Biography

Jeffrey Anderson received an undergraduate degree from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

where he was one in the top 3% of his graduating class. He also has a JD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

where he served on the

University of Chicago Law Review The ''University of Chicago Law Review'' (Maroonbook abbreviation: ''U Chi L Rev'') is the flagship law journal published by the University of Chicago Law School. It is among the top five most cited law reviews in the world. Up until 2020, it utili ...

. After graduating, he went to work as an attorney at the law firm of Holleb & Coff in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Feeling that the legal profession was not for him, he joined with Thomas Ptak and others to start

Mission Studios Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal ...

(which was later sold to Take-Two). After that, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and joined Viacom's consumer products division where he worked on various initiatives from

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

licensing to the

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is an American seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film ''Forrest Gump''. As of October 2022, thirty-four Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants operate worldwide. Twenty-two of these locations are in the United ...

. In 1998,

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

recruited him to join its

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

studio to oversee the

Ultima Online ''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems. Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...

franchise along with

Raph Koster Raphael "Raph" Koster (born September 7, 1971) is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of ''A Theory of Fun for Game Design''. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of ''Ultima Online'' and the creative dir ...

and

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux ('' né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth ...

. Then, in 2001,

Turbine Inc WB Games Boston (formerly Turbine Inc., then Turbine Entertainment Software Corp., and originally CyberSpace, Inc.) is an American video game developer. The studio is best known for its massive multiplayer online role-playing games, '' Asheron' ...

recruited him to be its president and CEO. The company had a software development agreement with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

at the time to develop

Asheron's Call 2 ''Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings'' was a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows which was released on November 22, 2002 and shut down on December 30, 2005. In 2012, it was relaunched as a beta for ac ...

, but wanted to expand the business and become the largest independent

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (of ...

company in the world. Anderson successfully raised capital from

Highland Capital Partners Highland Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco. Highland has raised over $4 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 280 companies, with 47 IPOs and 134 Acquisi ...

and

Polaris Venture Partners Polaris Partners is a venture capital firm active in the field of healthcare and biotechnology companies. The company has offices in Boston, Massachusetts, New York, NY and San Francisco, California. History Polaris Partners was founded in 199 ...

, and secured the rights to develop two new

games known as Dungeons & Dragons Online and

The Lord of the Rings Online ''The Lord of the Rings Online'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows and OS X set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, taking place during the time period of '' The Lord of the Rings''. Originally ...

. He went on to raise $30 million in additional funds from Tudor Ventures and

Columbia Capital Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

for development and expansion capital. Mr. Anderson left Turbine in 2008 and the company was subsequently sold to

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. After a short break, Mr. Anderson went on to found Quick Hit and

Quick Hit Football ''Quick Hit Football'' (QHF) was a free online American football game. The Quick Hit company was started in 2008 by Jeffrey Anderson,

. This new online gaming studio developed the world's first free-to-play

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

-licensed online football game. The company raised capital from

New Enterprise Associates New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is an American-based venture capital firm. NEA focuses investment stages ranging from seed stage through growth stage across an array of industry sectors. With ~$25 billion in committed capital, NEA is one of the w ...

and had some moderate success before it was ultimately sold to Majesco in 2011. As a part of Majesco's senior executive leadership, Mr. Anderson was responsible for driving the company's social and mobile business, including the original

Quick Hit Football ''Quick Hit Football'' (QHF) was a free online American football game. The Quick Hit company was started in 2008 by Jeffrey Anderson,

game as well as Cooking Mama and other titles. Once the earn-out from the sale of Majesco was over, Mr. Anderson left the company and joined the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and reviv ...

in 2013 as

Chief Strategy Officer A chief strategy officer (CSO) is an executive that usually reports to the CEO and has primary responsibility for strategy formulation and management, including developing the corporate vision and strategy, overseeing strategic planning, and leadin ...

under David Goldhill. Under his leadership, GSN acquired the makers of Bingo Bash and others. At the time, Bingo Bash was one the world's most profitable and successful social bingo games according to the CY16 annual report published by Eilers and Krejcik. In addition to serving as the CSO, Mr. Anderson also spent time operating GSN's many gaming divisions and apps as its

Executive Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of Social Casino and Bingo, including ''Bingo Bash'', ''GSN Casino'', ''Wheel of Fortune Slots'', ''Fresh Deck Poker'', and many more. After nearly seven years with GSN, Mr. Anderson left the company to pursue a new opportunity with

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

as the head of its global gaming business. In that role, he served as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Gaming. At Hasbro, Mr. Anderson was responsible for driving Hasbro's portfolio of iconic game brands (such as

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

Cluedo ''Cluedo'' (), known as ''Clue'' in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players (depending on editions) that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddingt ...

, and

Game of Life ''The Game of Life'', also known as ''Life'', is an 1860 board game by Milton Bradley. Game of Life also often refers to: *Conway's Game of Life, in mathematics, a cellular automaton Game of Life or The Game of Life may also refer to: Games * ' ...

) where the total value of the portfolio exceeded 700 million U.S. dollars in global annual sales. Specifically, Mr. Anderson over saw the strong growth over Hasbro's iconic

brand which is the leader in the 7.2 billion U.S. dollars

Tabletop game industry The tabletop game industry is the economic sector involved in the development, marketing, and monetization of games that fall within the scope of tabletop games, which includes dice and card games. According to Statista, the tabletop game industry ...

. Moreover, in 2020,

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidi ...

announced that its

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

brands would be moved over to

and be overseen by the gaming group. Subsequently, Hasbro announced that it was relaunching a new version of

HeroQuest ''HeroQuest'', sometimes written as ''Hero Quest'', is an adventure board game created by Milton Bradley in conjunction with the British company Games Workshop. The game was loosely based around archetypes of fantasy role-playing games: the g ...

, the iconic

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

on its crowd-funding platform.

Awards

* ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

100 - Top Innovators in Massachusetts'

Game Credits

* Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons (2022) * Bingo Bash (2020) * GSN Casino (2020) * Mirrorball Slots (2020) * Grand Casino (2020) * Quick Hit NFL Football (2020) * Cooking Mama Friends' Café (2011) * Bananagrams (2011) * Parking Wars 2 (2011)"Majesco acquires Quick Hit assets and team"
Retrieved January 23, 2023 * Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (2009)"Moby Games - Game Developer Credits"
Retrieved April 13, 2020 * The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (2007) * Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach (2006) * Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (2005) * Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings (2002) * Ultima IX: Ascension (1999) * Ultima Online: The Second Age (1998) * Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jeffrey 1967 births Living people American video game designers American game designers University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni American technology chief executives