by De’Juan Galloway
Anthony Castoro is a seasoned video gaming executive, who developed his career at EA, Sony Entertainment Online, and overseas in the popular international gaming scene. He co-founded Heatwave Interactive in 2007 with Donn Clendenon shortly after meeting him.
The Austin-based entity isn’t your average gaming company. Rather than competing with other forms of entertainment, Heatwave subscribes to the idea of media convergence–combining music, public figures and technology to deliver products such as the hip-hop inspired Platinum Life and the iSamJackson iPhone application.
In 2008, computer and video game software generated profits of $11.7 billion illustrating the economic promise of the industry. Castoro realizes this market opportunity and continues to build the framework to ensure Heatwave’s tide is riding high.
How did you get your start in video gaming?
I have been in the gaming business since 1993. I have worked at a lot of the major gaming and tech companies, including Sony and IBM. I left the University of Texas to start a video game company. My first venture failed and ever since then I’ve been planning how to start another video game company. I have had many different positions in the industry from marketer to producer to game designer. Those positions and my role as a divisional leader in international business equipped me with the tools to be successful in the video game business. I had the opportunity to work in places such as Europe, Korea, China and Japan.
While I was doing that I was always thinking ‘what is going to be my next start up’, ‘how am I am going to be successful?’ I learned a lot in that fifteen year period. I was eventually introduced to Don Clendenon, who is someone with similar interests and who believes in the power of video games. After knowing Don for about 6 months we began doing business together and started Heatwave Interactive.
What is a typical day like for you as an executive in the video game industry?
I prepare and send my kids go off to school, go to the gym and go into the office. My days are sort of split between two things; as the CEO I am in charge of the business and what the company is doing and I am involved creatively. I am either involved in the initial development [of projects] or their execution. My day can include creative meetings, project management and travel. I usually travel to the West Coast, Atlanta or New York for the commercial products we have, like Platinum Life. It’s a very capital intensive business, so I’m always fund raising.
What is the creative inspiration behind the games?
In terms of general inspiration, my mother is a romance novelist and my father was a chemist, so I have a signal of influence from them. What I try do in our video games is not only make them fun but also make sure the games mean something. For example, everything that Pixar does has a story or message you can relate to;it makes you think. That it is what we aspire to accomplish in the gaming community.
What is the process of an idea getting the green light to be produced into an actual game?
We have a process called the “H.I.P Process.” In this process everything is stage-gated and there is risk litigation in the quality control process. Teams start out small and with a limited amount of time to pitch ideas. We assess the ideas and the best ideas float to the top. Donn and I decide which ideas we want to pursue and each one of these stage-gates require extensive approval. This way, we have identified all the risks in the early stages which saves time and money. It also allows us to have working knowledge of everything in pre-production, understand the technology and the kind of expertise we need to recruit. Secondly, you have to identify strategic partners and find capital to fund the project. The process can be extensive but one of the main purposes of Heatwave Interactive is to lessen the time typically required by using our unique strategy. Getting to the production phase requires very ordered steps. I have learned the importance in such undertakings from my experience with larger companies that have green-lit some [projects] that should have never been developed in the first place.
