Ian Verchere: Class 6 Guest

Ian Verchere is (IMHO) the most influential active creator of games in B.C. He has been a force to reckon with for decades, and if we are lucky enough, will be for decades to come. He has been a “must-see” part of this course for many years. His talks are always deeply and passionately rooted in the ethos of the creator. It is through that core lens that Ian explores legal and normative constraints and freedoms with insight and frequent surprises.

Ian Verchere is the Co-Founder of Session Games. He was also Digital Artist in Residence at Emily Carr University of Art & Design and Founding Faculty at the Centre for Digital Media.  But there is tons more to the story. Ian’s Linked In profile (quoted below) provides a sense of it:

“Verchere is a long-time game industry executive, creative producer, game director, writer, and visual artist. He has been involved in the creation and production of some 40 video, computer, and mobile games. Over 31 million people have now downloaded Red Bull Air Race, Bike Unchained, and Snowboarding The Fourth Phase for their mobile devices. Millions more have played SSX Tricky and NBA Street V2 on their consoles, and the classic, best-selling Sega Genesis title Beavis and Butt-head for MTV.

A former professional skier and alpine coach, Verchere graduated with honours from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 1989. He was one of the founders of Radical Entertainment, and served as Studio Creative Director until he left in 1998 to join Electronic Arts (Canada) as a Producer.

Verchere sold his first feature screenplay, Mom’s Cookies (co-written with Douglas Coupland), to Buena Vista (Disney), and is a member of the WGAw. In 2007, his first non-fiction book General Deliver, Whistler BC V0N 1B0, was published by Douglas & McIntyre. He was former Chief Creative (CCO) of Roadhouse Interactive, a company he co-founded in 2009. Some months prior to the closing of Roadhouse, Verchere departed the company. In September of 2016 he co-founded Session Games, a production company specializing in creating, delivering, and operating original games.

Specialties: Creative and game direction. Game design and production. Expert in free-to-play monetization, mobile game play, and mobile narratives. Writing for film, television and interactive. Deep understanding of how brands and intellectual properties migrate authentically and successfully cross-platform and cross-media.”

Jon