Peter D. Adkison | |
|---|---|
 Adkison atGen Con Indy 2007 | |
| Alma mater | Walla Walla College University of Washington |
| Occupation(s) | CEO, Owner ofGen Con |
Peter D. Adkison[1] is an Americangame designer and businessman who is the founder ofWizards 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 ofMagic: the Gathering, which started thecollectible card game genre. It also distributed thePokémon trading cards, and later acquiredTSR, publisher of theDungeons & Dragons role-playing game, releasing a successful new edition.
Adkison is the current owner ofGen Con, a major yearly game convention in the Midwest. In 1999, Adkison sold Wizards of the Coast toHasbro, 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 includesThe Primal Order, a "capstone system" for use with any of a number of differentrole-playing games.
As a child, Adkison enjoyed playing strategy games and war games. In 1978, he was exposed toDungeons & 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 fantasyrole-playing games titledCastles & Conquest, utilizing the "Wizards of the Coast" name as a brand.[3]: 276 In 1981, he created aDungeons & Dragons campaign titled Chaldea, which he continues to run today.[2]
As of 2002, Adkison was running twoDungeons & Dragons campaigns and playing in three.[4] He enjoys a wide variety of games includingMagic: the Gathering,Twitch,The Settlers of Catan,Robo Rally,Call of Cthulhu,Vampire: The Masquerade, and theLegend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game.[2]
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]
Adkison received aBachelor of Science degree inComputer Science fromWalla Walla College in 1985.[1] He also has anMBA degree from theUniversity of Washington.[5] From 1985 to 1991, he worked as a systems analyst forBoeing.[1]
While working for Boeing, he became involved in the founding of Wizards of the Coast.[1] Adkison suggested to his friend, Ken McGlothlen, that they start a company, andWizards of the Coast was soon founded on May 23, 1990.[3]: 276 The company immediately began working on its first project,The Primal Order by Adkison, although it was not released until April 1992.[3]: 276–277 Adkison asked game designerRichard Garfield to develop a game that would be cheaper to produce than the board gameRoboRally that Garfield had proposed; Garfield developed his idea to combine a concept like baseball cards with a card game into what would eventually becomeMagic: The Gathering (1993).[3]: 278 With that game's success, Adkison began working full-time for Wizards of the Coast.[1]TSR was facing financial insolvency in 1996, soRyan Dancey ofFive Rings Publishing Group arranged a deal for Adkison to purchase TSR, and thus Wizards of the Coast announced their purchase of TSR on April 10, 1997.[3]: 281 Adkison paid approximately US$30 million to purchase TSR, including the payment of its debts, and also purchased Five Rings Publishing as part of this deal.[3]: 30 Adkison appointedMary Kirchoff to manage the book publishing division of TSR, and madeBill Slavicsek the head of role-playing game research and development; he also madeLisa Stevens the brand manager for theRPGA andGreyhawk, and put Ryan Dancey over the business and marketing concerns of TSR.[3]: 282 Adkison improved the relationships between TSR withGary Gygax andDave Arneson by making favorable financial and legal arrangements with them.[3]: 282 Adkison also restored the relationships between TSR with the authorsMargaret Weis,Tracy Hickman, andR.A. Salvatore.[3]: 282 Adkison was planning a third edition ofDungeons & Dragons even during the acquisition of TSR, and put Bill Slavicsek in charge of the design team, later namingJonathan Tweet the new project leader for third edition.[3]: 286 Adkison was a longtime friend ofChristian Moore fromLast Unicorn Games, and when that company was having its own financial troubles, Wizards of the Coast purchased it in July 2000.[3]: 316
Hasbro purchased Wizards of the Coast in 1999.[3]: 286 Adkison began working on aDungeons & DragonsMMORPG based on a design from Richard Garfield andSkaff Elias.[3]: 290 According to game designerEd Stark, Adkison said, "Look, computer gaming is the future of roleplaying. We've got to get involved in this."[7] However, Hasbro folded up the rights forD&D computer games intoHasbro Interactive and then sold them toInfogrames, leaving Wizards unable to publishD&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 toHasbro[1] and entered "semi-retirement", engaging in rock-climbing and "lying around".[8] In May 2002, Adkison purchasedGen 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 theCEO ofHidden City Games, publishers of theBella Sara collectible card game for girls. As of 2013, he has started a production company known as Hostile Work Environment LLC.
In 1999,Pyramid magazine named Peter Adkison as one ofThe Millennium's Most Influential Persons "at least in the realm of adventure gaming".[9]