President, Heatwave Interactive, Inc
Austin, Texas Area
- Current
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- President & Founder at Heatwave Interactive, Inc
- Past
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- Director, Massively Multiplayer Online Games at Codemasters
- Producer - NextGen Online at Electronic Arts
- Producer - Ultima Online at Electronic Arts
- Lead Systems Designer at Sony Online Entertainment
- Lead Designer at Origin Systems
- Unix/Distributed Networking Consultant at Distributed Computing Specialists, Inc.
- AIX Graphics Specialist at Decision Consultants Inc.
- Quality Assurance Tester at Origin Systems
- Co-Owner, Managing Partner at Integrated Visions
- Owner at The Internet Booksource
- Education
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- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Recommended
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33 people have recommended Anthony - Connections
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500+
connections
- Industry
- Computer Games
- Websites
Anthony Castoro’s Summary
I co-founded Heatwave Interactive on the premise that interactive entertainment is more than a way for young men to combat boredom; games are an important medium that can challenge individuals on multiple levels and tell stories that matter. Stories about ourselves, and stories about people we may otherwise never have the opportunity to understand.
I believe that by providing an environment that fosters not only creativity, but also respect for the individual and the highest of expectations, we can create powerful experiences, and be an example for the rest of the industry.
Anthony Castoro’s Specialties:
Game design, management, production design, online and multiplayer games, massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), Virtual Worlds, game production, virtual world design, online business models, game publishing, project finance, entertainment contracts, business planning, consulting and team building.
Anthony Castoro’s Experience
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President & Founder
Heatwave Interactive, Inc
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Games industry)
February 2007 — Present (1 year 6 months)
Located in Austin, Texas, Heatwave Interactive is an entertainment software company whose mission is to create original, character-based games that unite the power of online gaming with the excitement of traditional video games.
In addition to original products, Heatwave consults with a select few in the online and virtual world space.
If you're a talented artist, designer or engineer, please feel free to get in touch at jobs@heatwaveinteractive.com! -
Director, Massively Multiplayer Online Games
Codemasters
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)
December 2005 — January 2007 (1 year 2 months)
As Director, I was responsible for the overall Production of Codemaster's MMO projects.
In a one year period, I worked with a fantastic team to build the services and operations platform for multiple MMORPGs and casual games including, RF Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, ArchLord and Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. -
Producer - NextGen Online
Electronic Arts
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; ERTS; Computer Software industry)
April 2005 — December 2005 (9 months)
As Producer in the Online Studio I partnered with some of EA's top teams to deliver compelling online experiences on NextGen consoles.
Responsibilities:
- Help develop the strategic vision of the Online Studio
- P&L Performance
- Budget and Resource Planning
- Team Management
- Contract negotiation and management
- Online Business Development/Analysis
- MMOG/Asia analysis and planning
- Production of online features and business plans for several NextGen titles -
Producer - Ultima Online
Electronic Arts
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; ERTS; Computer Software industry)
September 2002 — March 2005 (2 years 7 months)
Accomplishments
- Outperformed P&L targets all 3 years
- Shipped 2 expansions, Age of Shadows and Samurai Empire on time and budget
- Achieved record numbers in both Active and Paying subscribers
- Partnered with Marketing team to create new pre-sale promotion that is now EA standard
- Moved the UO service to a new billing platform
- Moved entire UO Dev team from Austin to Redwood Shores without service interruption
Awards:
- Team won 2 EA ACTION Awards (2003 & 2004)
- Runner-up for Origin MVP of the Year 2003 -
Lead Systems Designer
Sony Online Entertainment
(Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Computer Software industry)
June 2000 — September 2002 (2 years 4 months)
Responsible for managing the systems design team and overseeing all aspects of game design systems (rules) for Star Wars Galaxies. EA recruited me away 9 months before Galaxies shipped.
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Lead Designer
Origin Systems
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; ERTS; Computer Software industry)
September 1998 — May 2000 (1 year 9 months)
After a 2-year hiatus from the game industry I couldn't resist the opportunity to come work on a groundbreaking new game called "Ultima Online."
Accomplishments:
- After 9 months, promoted to Co-lead Designer
- Worked with Marketing to create new website strategy
- Shipped Ultima Online: Renaissance
- Promoted again and worked on unannounced project -
Unix/Distributed Networking Consultant
Distributed Computing Specialists, Inc.
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)
August 1997 — August 1998 (1 year 1 month)
My Unix knowledge opened up an opportunity to work more independently as a networking consultant at the IBM/Motorola joint operation called "IBMOTO" in Austin Texas. I helped set up and operate a DCE/DFS networking environment for IBMOTO wafer design engineers.
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AIX Graphics Specialist
Decision Consultants Inc.
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)
November 1996 — June 1997 (8 months)
I worked in the IBM AIX Support group, specializing in graphics hardware and X-windows software support.
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Quality Assurance Tester
Origin Systems
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)
October 1995 — October 1996 (1 year 1 month)
Tested the following games:
Cybermage: Darklight Awakening
Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom
Jane's Combat Simulations - AH-64D Longbow
Privateer 2: The Darkening
I also worked in Customer Service, where I did game tech support and trained new CS reps. -
Co-Owner, Managing Partner
Integrated Visions
(Partnership; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)
September 1993 — December 1995 (2 years 4 months)
This was a start-up I co-founded with a brilliant fellow I met at the University of Texas. Self-funded, the company eventually dissolved, but not before we produced an alpha version of a game I designed called 'Hoverblades."
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Owner
The Internet Booksource
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Internet industry)
May 1994 — December 1995 (1 year 8 months)
The Internet Booksource was created as a marketing & promotional site for published authors. It provided custom websites for up to 30 authors.
Anthony Castoro’s Education
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick
1993 — 1994
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The University of Texas at Austin
Molecular Biology, Astronomy 1992 — 1994
Additional Information
Anthony Castoro’s Websites:
Anthony Castoro’s Groups:
IGDA, Certified AIX 4.2 Systems Administrator, Castoro Family
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Ex-ORIGIN member -
Association of Virtual Worlds member -
Game Designers Workshop member -
World Gaming Executives member -
Game Designers Network member
Anthony Castoro’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
