Erik Asorson

Erik Asorson (born June 16, 1980 in Yucca Valley, California) is a computer graphics artist, art director, game producer, businessman, video game developer and writer.

Career

Asorson began studying computer graphics in 1994. His professional career as a video game artist began in 1998 when he was hired by startup video game developer Loki Software in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2000 he was hired by Liquid Entertainment in Thousand Oaks, California to develop graphics for the ground-breaking real-time strategy game Battle Realms. In 2002 he returned to Las Vegas to work for 3d6 Games developing graphics for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance platform while continuing his relationship with Liquid Entertainment as an outside consultant on the games The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring and Dungeons and Dragons: Dragonshard. In 2004 Asorson worked onsite at Electronic Arts on The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth and as an external contractor on Microsoft's Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends. Asorson has also contributed artwork to several independently developed video games including Radioactive-Software's Urban Empires and Phosphor by Rasterwerks. He is the founder of ; a computer graphics outsourcing firm, based out of Big Bear, California.

Writing

Asorson has written several articles, usually with a philosophical or subversive tone. In 2003 he authored seven articles for the online column Game Artist’s Perspective where he attacked standard video game industry practices and closely held beliefs like mandatory unpaid overtime, commonly known as "crunch time" and the over-hyped value of a college education. His article entitled: “The Zen of the Professional Artist” was published in the February 2004 issue of Game Developer Magazine. It recommended an attitude of detachment toward one’s work as opposed to the zealously passionate approach commonly cited as a prerequisite for success in creative careers.

Pacific Crest Trail Atlas

Asorson hiked the 2,660 mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2007. After his return he began development of a new series of map-centric guidebooks entitled , scheduled for release in 2008.

Major Works

(Spring 2008)

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (2006), Microsoft Game Studios

Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard (2005), Atari, Inc.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth (2004), Electronic Arts, Inc.

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring (2003), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms (2002), SEGA Corporation, THQ, Inc.

Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf (2002), Crave Entertainment, Inc.

The Revenge of Shinobi (2002), SEGA Corporation, THQ, Inc.

Battle Realms (2001), Crave Entertainment, Inc., Ubi Soft Entertainment Software

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