Pete Fenlon

Peter C. Fenlon, Jr. is CEO of CATAN Studio, an independent content and brand development unit with the Asmodee Group. Born in Japan and blessed with a vagabond military childhood, he grew up in many places. Active in sports, Pete came to love all forms of outdoor and indoor gaming. His love for nature and adventure fostered an accompanying love for storytelling. Pete is a 1977 graduate of the University of Virginia and completed his JD at William & Mary Law School (America’s oldest law school) in 1982. Rather than practicing law, he became a full-time entrepreneur and game publisher. He has since founded and/or run five game companies. While based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Pete now serves on the board of Asmodee North America, Inc. His mission is to entertain, educate and foster curiosity through the development of great games rooted in fine storytelling. His CATAN Studio publishes CATAN, one of the world’s preeminent board games, as well as a host of other premium games and expansions. With over 45 million products sold in 44+ languages, CATAN is one of Asmodee’s key brands. Other Asmodee pillars include Ticket to Ride, Dobble (Spot It!), Azul, Carcasonne, Exploding Kittens, Pandemic, and Splendour. 

Pete’s first major game design was a role playing game (RPG) called Rolemaster, which grew out of his 1975-80 RPG campaign. His players—notably S. Coleman Charlton, Kurt Fischer, (the late) Terry Amthor, and his now-wife Olivia Johnston—helped drive the multi-year design and development process. Pete founded his first game company, ICE, while attending law school in 1980. During the next 2 decades, ICE published ground-breaking adventure games (e.g., Middle-earth, Narnia, Sherlock Holmes, Rolemaster, Silent Death, Champions, other “Hero Games,” etc.), many of which influenced the development of the broader entertainment industry. Pete created and managed ICE’s exceptionally rich and varied Middle-earth game program. Besides his designing, developing writing, and editing duties, he created a host of detailed maps and his own formative style of cartography. Proceeds from the award-winning Middle-earth Collectible Card Game enabled ICE to buy Mayfair Games in 1997. In acquiring the global English-language rights to CATAN, Pete dedicated himself to making CATAN the world’s
most successful board game brand. In 2000-01, Jordan Weisman recruited Pete to co-create the world’s first viable alternate reality game (ARG). Later nicknamed “The Beast”, this immersive, hive-driven mystery game played out over a wide array of media platforms to promote Steven Spielberg’s science fiction movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Jordan, Pete, Sean Stewart, and Elan Lee served as The Beast’s four Puppetmasters. Pete produced the game under the umbrella of his Steel Rain Studio. The Beast won a Peabody Award in 2022 for groundbreaking Transmedia Storytelling.

Pete cofounded Castle Hill Studios, LLC, an entertainment software development firm, at the end of 2001. Castle Hill succeeded Steel Rain Studio in exploring ARG tool development and massively multi-player cross-platform RPG design. While Chairman of Mayfair Games since 1997, Pete took over as CEO in 2007. He then engineered the acquisition of a majority stake in Lookout Games, GmBH. Most important, he refocused Mayfair on CATAN brand development. The Asmodee Group acquired Mayfair Games and its Lookout Games affiliate in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Asmodee became part of the Embracer Group in early 2022. An Eagle Scout, Pete has invested ≈23 years as an adult Scouter serving young women and men. He currently serves as Past President of the Virginia Headwaters Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In his spare time, Pete co-created of one of Scouting’s most recent merit badges: Game Design. Pete remains an avid outdoorsman, spending time in the backcountry on 4 continents. Pete has backpacked on the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest Trails. He’s completed the Albion Wilderness and National Outdoor Leader Training programs. He’s rowed the Colorado River through entire Grand Canyon and rafted the wild Gauley.
Like everyone in the CATAN family, Pete believes in giving back whenever and wherever he can. Together with 9 CATAN compatriots—including his wife Olivia—Pete was part of a Team CATAN that drove moto-rickshaws 3000 km across India. The “CATAN Rickshaw Run” raised money for Cool Earth and the ChildAid Network. The CATAN crew also supports the Global Crop Diversity Trust. In developing CATAN – Crop Trust, Pete had the honor of making 2 trips to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault at 78 degrees 15 minutes North. Exploration and storytelling remain true to his soul.

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