American McGee is an American video game designer. He is most famous for designing the game American McGee's Alice, its follow-up game Alice: Madness Returns, and for working on many video games created by id Software.

Early life

American McGee was born in Dallas, Texas, to a mother who was a house painter and had unusual habits. His only contact with his biological father was on his 13th birthday, when the man showed up drunk and physically hurt him. McGee was very creative and excelled in math and science, showing an early interest in computer programming. He was later accepted into a special school that focuses on computer science.

During his childhood, McGee had several stepfathers until his mother began a relationship with a transgender woman. When McGee was 16, he returned home from school to find his house empty. Only his bed, books, clothes, and a Commodore 64 computer remained. His mother had sold the house to pay for two airplane tickets and the cost of her girlfriend’s gender-affirming surgery, leaving McGee to live alone. He took his computer, left high school, and worked different jobs before finding work at a Volkswagen repair shop.

Career

At the age of 21, McGee, who was interested in cars and video games, moved into an apartment where he met and became friends with John Carmack. Carmack gave McGee a job in technical support at id Software, and he was soon promoted to level designer and music manager. McGee, along with Kevin Cloud and Tim Willits, was part of id Software’s "second generation" of developers. They worked on games such as The Ultimate Doom, Doom II, Quake, and Quake II.

In 1998, McGee was fired from id Software. Later, he said that the day he was fired was very important to him:

— American McGee, "American McGee on Quake," interview with quaddicted.com (May/June 2011)

According to former id Software staff member Sandy Petersen, Tim Willits was responsible for McGee’s firing (though Petersen did not name him, referring to him only as "Snake" and "X"). It is said that during the development of Quake II, Willits gave poor level design advice to McGee. When McGee showed his work to Carmack, it made Carmack angry, and McGee was fired shortly after. McGee has said that he still does not know why he was fired but acknowledged that it was due to "internal politics and my own failings."

McGee later joined Electronic Arts and worked as a creative director on American McGee’s Alice (with Rogue Entertainment). The game received positive reviews. Soon after its release, discussions began about making a film based on the game. Initially, Wes Craven was set to direct the film, and later, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar bought the film rights. However, the film project has remained delayed for a long time.

After finishing Alice, McGee left Electronic Arts "in frustration" when the company fired his creative partner, R. J. Berg, and shut down Rogue Entertainment. In 2002, McGee founded a short-lived company called Carbon6, which became known as Mauretania Import Export Company two years later.

McGee directed the 2002 music video for the song "Same Ol' Road" by the band dredg, from their album El Cielo. He partnered with Enlight Software and its founder, Trevor Chan, to release the games Scrapland in 2004 and Bad Day L.A. in 2006.

McGee supported the Nintendo Wii, calling it "the only truly next-gen console in the same year."

In 2005, McGee left the United States and lived in Hong Kong before moving to Shanghai, where he has lived since 2009. In China, he created Spicy Horse and helped found Blade (formerly Vykarian), a game outsourcing company. They produced American McGee’s Grimm for GameTap (now owned by Metaboli) and worked on the sequel to his original Alice game, Alice: Madness Returns.

The planned American McGee’s Oz, which was to be developed with Ronin Games, was canceled due to financial issues at Atari. American McGee’s Grimm, developed by Spicy Horse for GameTap, was released in 23 weekly parts, starting in 2007.

At the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello announced that a sequel to American McGee’s Alice was in development for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 by McGee’s Spicy Horse studio. In July 2010, at the EA Showcase in San Francisco, Spicy Horse and EA announced the sequel’s title, Alice: Madness Returns, which was released less than a year later, on June 14, 2011.

More recently, McGee’s Spicy Horse expanded to include another brand, Spicy Pony, to create mobile games for the iPhone. Their first title, DexIQ, was released in early December 2009, and its follow-up, Crooked House, was released in March 2010 (both had iPad versions released in June 2010). On December 17, 2010, McGee’s old company, The Mauretania Import Export Company, was dissolved, and all intellectual property was transferred to Spicy Horse.

In 2012, McGee developed free-to-play mobile games, such as BigHead Bash, Akaneiro, and Crazy Fairies. In 2013, he launched a Kickstarter for a new game, American McGee’s OZombie, but the project was canceled due to slow funding. A few days later, he announced another Kickstarter for a project called Alice: Otherlands, a planned series of short films leading to a theatrical film. This campaign reached its funding goal on August 4, 2013, and was officially confirmed.

In September 2017, McGee announced he was working on a license proposal for Alice: Asylum, the third game in the Alice series. He and his small team began creating a pitch book with artwork, design outlines, and a financial plan to send to Electronic Arts. The pitch book was partially funded through Patreon and presented to EA in early 2023.

In April 2023, McGee announced that EA rejected his proposal for Alice: Asylum for both production and licensing. He also said that even if EA reconsidered the project in the future, he would not be involved in future Alice games.

McGee also announced his retirement from game development, with plans to focus on his family and their family business, Mysterious.

Personal life

McGee lives in Shanghai with his wife, Yeni Zhang. Together, they started Mysterious, Inc., a company that sells art, clothing, and accessories inspired by McGee's work. Yeni Zhang is responsible for creating the designs. The couple has two children. McGee identifies as pansexual.

McGee had a sister named Mercy Covington, who was reported missing on November 10, 2015. As of November 2025, her disappearance remains unsolved.