Michael V. CappsorMike Capps is an American video game designer who was the president of Epic Games, based in Cary, North Carolina from 2002 to 2012.[1] In 2018, he co-founded a new artificial intelligence company called Howso.[2] He has been described as "a legendary figure in the video game industry."[3]
Capps was selected by the Army's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis (OEMA) to head its development team that was charged with designing a fun military video game.[6][4] He became the producer, designer and lead programmer of the America’s Army computer game.[7][6][4] He used Epic's Games' Unreal Engine to build the game.[6]
Capps has been a game designer, executive producer, head writer, lead programmer, research professor, and studio executive. He is best known for his decade as the president of Epic Games, makers of the mega-hit Gears of War, Infinity Blade, Fortnite franchises, and the award-winning Unreal Engine.[9][4][10] Under his leadership, Epic was named Studio of the Year at the 2006 Spike Video Game Awards, the North Carolina Technology Association 2007 Large Company of the Year, and the NCTA 2008 Top Industry Driven Technology Company of the Year.[4] In addition, Gears of War won the Best Game and the Technology Award at Game Developers Choice Awards in 2007.[11]
Capps also successfully defended video games using free speech before the U.S. Supreme Court.[3] He stepped down from the post of president in December 2012.[1]
In 2018, Capps co-founded and became the CEO of Diveplane Corporation, an artificial intelligence start-up company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, along with Dr. Chris Hazard and Mike Resnick.[2][3][13][14] Diveplane has eighteen employees and is backed by $3.5 million.[14] It is working the areas of healthcare and NASCAR racing simulation.[14] In 2019, Diveplane won first place at the UBS Future of Finance Challenge for its platform, GEMINAI.[15] In September 2023, Diveplane rebranded as Howso alongside the release of the open source version of the Howso Engine in a critical step towards meaningful social impact. [16]
Capps currently serves on the board of the Sphero entertainment robotics company in Colorado and is the chairman of the advisory board for the Lonerider Brewing Company.[20] He also serves on the board of Epic Games.[21] He also served as an advisor to the Game Developers Conference and the Video Games track.[22][4][13] He was a member of the North Carolina Innovation Council.[4] He is a frequent speaker at Dragon Con.[23]
Capps became a stay-at-home father when his two children were born.[21][3] He returned to work as his children became He is a member of Change the Equation.[4] He also serves on the board of The Raleigh School.[24]
