Peter made a special appearance during our podcasting track at Gen Con to subject himself to interview by Jeremiah Lynch and the live audience. We all learned quite a lot, both from and about Peter. He is a jovial and open personality, a successful business man, and a gamer like the rest of us.

Peter Adkison has been an avid gamer all his life. He started off playing family games as a child and has never lost his love of games since that time. In 1978, Peter discovered Dungeons & Dragons and has been a dedicated player of roleplaying games ever since. His favorite games are Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Formula D.

Peter’s early educational background was as a graduate of Walla Walla College in 1985 with a BS in Computer Science. After college, he worked for Boeing for six years as a systems analyst. About half way through his Boeing stint, he and some friends founded Wizards of the Coast. After Magic: The Gathering was released in 1993, Wizards had enough money to hire Peter full time and move out of his basement into a real office. Peter continued on as CEO, growing the company exponentially until January 2001 when he sold it to Hasbro.

During his tenure at Wizards, Peter earned a few design credits, including authoring of The Primal Order, some work on Magic: The Gathering in the early days, and, his proudest accomplishment, setting the overall direction and design for 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons. During this time Peter also returned to school to earn his MBA.

Since “retiring” in 2001, Peter made his debut back into the gaming industry by purchasing an entity he always favored-Gen Con a game fair from his old company, Wizards of the Coast. Gen Con, LLC produces the largest consumer fantasy, sci-fi and adventure game convention in North America. Its' operations include: Gen Con Indy, Star Wars Celebration IV, and licensees for European and Asia Pacific Gen Con shows. In addition, Peter is CEO of Hidden City Games the creator, manufacturer and marketer for the gaming industries first throwing game-Clout and an innovative new card game for girls with an electronic component called Bella Sara.

When not gaming, Peter enjoys rock climbing, dancing, snowboarding, travel, and spending time with friends and family. Peter is married to Melissa Reis Adkison and lives in Seattle.