Peter Adkison

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Peter D. Adkison
Adkison at Gen Con Indy 2007
Alma materWalla Walla College
University of Washington
Occupation(s)CEO, Owner of Gen Con

Peter D. Adkison

game designer and businessman who is the founder of Wizards of the Coast
, where he held the role of CEO from 1993 to 2001.

During Adkison's tenure, Wizards of the Coast rose to the status of a major publisher in the hobby game industry. Wizards achieved success with its creation of

TSR, publisher of the Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game, releasing a successful new edition.

Adkison is the current owner of Gen Con, a major yearly game convention in the Midwest. In 1999, Adkison sold Wizards of the Coast to Hasbro, remaining with the company until January 2001.[1]

As a longtime fan of role-playing games (RPGs), Adkison has become an advocate for indie RPGs. His own game design work includes The Primal Order, a "capstone system" for use with any of a number of different role-playing games.

Background

As a child, Adkison enjoyed playing strategy games and war games. In 1978, he was exposed to Dungeons & Dragons, which "blew [him] away."[2] His friend, Terry Campbell, suggested the idea of starting a game company to Adkison and his friends using the name "Wizards of the Coast", taken from a guild of which one of their player characters was a member.[3]: 276 

In the early 1980s, Adkison self-published a wargame to be used with fantasy role-playing games titled Castles & Conquest, utilizing the "Wizards of the Coast" name as a brand.[3]: 276  In 1981, he created a Dungeons & Dragons campaign titled Chaldea, which he continues to run today.[2]

As of 2002, Adkison was running two Dungeons & Dragons campaigns and playing in three.

While working at Hidden City Games, his public biography from 2005 claimed that he was married to Melissa Reis Adkison.[5]

In 2014, Adkison married Dee Fenton.[6]

Career

Adkison received a

Computer Science from Walla Walla College in 1985.[1] He also has a MBA degree from the University of Washington.[5] From 1985 to 1991, he worked as a systems analyst for Boeing.[1]

While working for Boeing, he became involved in the founding of Wizards of the Coast.

R.A. Salvatore.[3]: 282  Adkison was planning a third edition of Dungeons & Dragons even during the acquisition of TSR, and put Bill Slavicsek in charge of the design team, later naming Jonathan Tweet the new project leader for third edition.[3]: 286  Adkison was a longtime friend of Christian Moore from Last Unicorn Games, and when that company was having its own financial troubles, Wizards of the Coast purchased it in July 2000.[3]
: 316 

Peter Adkison at Origins Game Fair 2003

Infogrames, leaving Wizards unable to publish D&D computer games; Adkison therefore submitted his resignation, which became effective December 31, 2000.[3]: 290  In January 2001, Adkison sold Wizards of the Coast to Hasbro[1] and entered "semi-retirement", engaging in rock-climbing and "lying around".[8] In May 2002, Adkison purchased Gen Con from Hasbro, which he had been attending since 1992.[8] Adkison says he has "always loved" Gen Con.[4]

As of 2005, Adkison is the

Hidden City Games, publishers of the Bella Sara
collectible card game for girls. As of 2013, he has started a production company known as Hostile Work Environment LLC.

Accolades

In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Peter Adkison as one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons "at least in the realm of adventure gaming".[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography, Peter D. Adkison". Gen Con Indy. Retrieved 2007-06-21.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b c McNutt, Greg. "Interview: Peter Adkison". The Gaming Outpost. Archived from the original on 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ a b White, Damon (2002-03-24). "Interview with Peter Adkison". GamingReport.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  5. ^ a b "Bios". Hidden City Games. 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  6. ^ State of Colorado marriage license No. 2014-1619
  7. ^ Berghammer, Billy; Biessener, Adam (2004-08-31). "Dungeons & Dragons: The Ed Stark Interview". Gameinformer. Archived from the original on June 23, 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  8. ^ a b Bub, Andrew S. (2003-07-26). "Interview with Peter Adkison". GameSpy.com. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  9. ^ Haring, Scott D. (1999-12-24). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Best "Other" Game and The Millennium's Most Influential Person". Pyramid (Online). Retrieved 2008-02-15.

External links