Chuck Kroegel
Encyclopedia
Chuck Kroegel is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 computer game designer. He was an executive for many years with SSI, and played a role in developing their position as an industry leader in war games
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...

 and role-playing games. His career in the games industry now spans over 30 years.

Career

In the 1970s Kroegel was a school teacher and later an HR manager who enjoyed playing computer war games. He had played games on his TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...

 computer that had been designed by David Landry and the two corresponded. They decided to found a development studio, Tactical Design Group. Their first two games, The Battle of Shiloh and Tigers in the Snow, were published by SSI in 1981. TDG created twelve SSI games from 1981 through 1988, the last being Battles of Napoleon
Battles of Napoleon
is a 1988 Family Computer strategy video game from Irem.-Summary:This video game allows the player to re-enact the Napoleonic Wars using a bird's-eye view. The game includes all the major nations involved in the Napoleonic Wars including Czarist Russia and Great Britain...

.

In 1983 Kroegel left TDG to join SSI, which continued to publish TDG's games. In 1986 he designed Gettysburg: The Turning Point for TDG, although he was an employee of SSI. He ultimately became VP of Product Development for SSI, and later served as President of the company. Kroegel played a role in the creation of the Gold Box
Gold Box
Gold Box is the name for a series of computer role-playing games produced by SSI. The company won a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc...

 Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

games, and of the first graphical MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....

, Neverwinter Nights on AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

, and the Panzer General series.

When SSI was acquired by The Software Toolworks (which quickly thereafter became Mindscape
Mindscape
Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...

) in 1994, Kroegel stayed on and later served as Executive VP and General Manager of the Mindscape Entertainment Division. He also stayed through a series of acquisitions that was to follow: Mindscape
Mindscape
Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...

 by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...

 (which also acquired Boederbund), The Learning Company by Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

, and the spin-off by Mattel to Gores (which occurred after he had left).

Upon leaving SSI in 2000, Kroegel joined EA
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

-owned Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...

, where he was the Chief Operating Officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...

. In 2002 he joined Strategy First in Montreal, Canada working as their VP of Product Development. In April of 2003 he joined Petroglyph to assist in creating that studio.

Chuck Kroegel is currently CEO of Las Vegas game developer Petroglyph Games since April 2003. He has been very involved with all the titles developed at Petroglyph, Star Wars: Empire at War (LUCASARTS), Universe at War (SEGA), Panzer General on XBOX live arcade (UBISOFT), Mytheon (TRUEGAMES), and Guardians of Graxia (Petroglyph), End of Nations (TRIONWORLDS), and Rise of Immortals (Petroglyph). He has also been involved in the design and development of four boardgames published by Petroglyph; Panzer General: Russian Assault, Panzer General: Allied Assault, Guardians of Graxia, and Heroes of Graxia.

External links

  • Kroegel's rap sheet from MobyGames
    MobyGames
    -Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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