| Erik Bethke | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 22, 1972 Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Game developer |
Erik Bethke is a computer games developer.[1]
Bethke worked on UV Spectrometer experiments under Dr. D.E. Shemanksy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Southern California, but did not complete his PhD studies in Space Sciences.
He began a career in the games industry working on GoPets, GoDance, Star Trek: Starfleet Command, Star Trek: Starfleet Command II: Empires at War and Star Trek: Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates.
His first book, Game Development and Production, describing the methodology of creating games; was edited by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, Co-CEOs of Bioware. A sunsequent book, Settlers of the New Virtual Worlds, co-edited with Erin Hoffman, explored human and property rights in virtual worlds, and highlighted current End User License Agreements (EULAs).
In 2003 Bethke moved to Seoul, Korea and founded GoPets, Ltd. He currently works for the social gaming company Zynga as the General Manager of Mafia Wars 2.