Video game creator to speak at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University alumnus Scott Phillips will share his experiences in the video gaming industry during a Giant Leaps Series event on Sept. 24.

The event, "Creating Assassin’s Creed Odyssey," is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. Purdue's College of Liberal Arts is bringing Phillips to campus as part of the “At the Intersection of Liberal Arts & STEM” series. Most recently, Phillips was the game director for Assassin’s Creed franchise's Syndicate and Odyssey.

This is one of many events celebrating Purdue’s 150th anniversary. The Giant Leaps celebration is highlighting Purdue’s remarkable history of giant leaps, while focusing on what giant leaps Purdue can take to address the world’s problems. The “At the Intersection of Liberal Arts & STEM” series brings in speakers each year to highlight how liberal arts and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are enriched and have greater capacity for meaningful change when the disciplines intersect.

A 2001 graduate from Purdue with a bachelor's degree in fine arts, Phillips has spoken at the Game Developers Conference, traveled the world to promote games and been a key contributor to several multimillion-selling games as an artist, animator and designer.

Phillips' talk will address the development of Odyssey, the history and research used to create the game, its relevance to modern life and will offer a peek into the future of video games. A Q&A will follow. 

Writer: Jeanne Norberg 

Media contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu  

Source: Lori Sparger, chief operating officer, College of Liberal Arts, 765 494-9314; lsparger@purdue.edu