# Anthony Castoro

> Anthony Castoro is a game designer, studio operator and entrepreneur based in Poway, California. A co-founder and founding CEO of HiDef, he now leads Simulation Theory and Protagonist Games. His career includes Origin Systems, Sony Online Entertainment, Codemasters, EA Mobile, Heatwave Interactive, MaxPlay and Daybreak Games, with credits spanning Ultima Online, H1Z1 and the WWE 2K series.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Simulation Theory; Founder & CEO at Protagonist Games
- **Organizations:** Simulation Theory, Inc., Protagonist Games, HiDef, Inc., Origin Systems, Electronic Arts, Sony Online Entertainment, Codemasters, Heatwave Interactive, MaxPlay, Daybreak Games, Castoro & Associates, NantG, University of Texas at Austin GAMMA advisory board, Icarus Interstellar gaming committee
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** The University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Producer on Ultima Online expansions during the game’s growth beyond 250,000 subscribers in 2003., General manager of H1Z1, described in conference and HiDef biographies as a top-10 highest-grossing Steam game in 2017., Co-founded HiDef, which announced more than $9 million in total funding in March 2021.

## Career timeline

- **1995-1996** — Quality-assurance credits on CyberMage, Wing Commander IV, Longbow and Privateer 2 at Origin Systems.
- **2000** — Credited as a lead designer on Ultima Online: Renaissance.
- **2002** — Returned to EA after serving as lead systems designer on Star Wars Galaxies.
- **2003** — Producer on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows.
- **2004** — Producer on Ultima Online: Samurai Empire.
- **2005-2006** — Led MMO gaming at Codemasters in England; credited on ArchLord and RF Online.
- **2007** — Co-founded Heatwave Interactive in Austin.
- **2013** — Producer credit on Heroes of Dragon Age; worked as studio director at EA/Capital Games.
- **2015** — Worked as executive producer at MaxPlay and published an essay criticizing game-development tools.
- **2016** — General manager credit on H1Z1: King of the Kill at Daybreak.
- **2018** — Founded Protagonist Games.
- **2019** — Co-founded HiDef; appeared on a multiplayer panel as acting general manager of NantG.
- **2021** — HiDef announced a $7.5 million Series A led by Wick Capital Partners; Castoro was its CEO.
- **2024** — Introduced as HiDef chairman, Simulation Theory co-founder and CEO, and Protagonist owner on the Here’s Waldo Podcast.
- **2026** — Listed as CEO of Simulation Theory and Protagonist Games; credited as CEO on WWE 2K26.

## Achievements

- Producer on Ultima Online expansions during the game’s growth beyond 250,000 subscribers in 2003.
- General manager of H1Z1, described in conference and HiDef biographies as a top-10 highest-grossing Steam game in 2017.
- Co-founded HiDef, which announced more than $9 million in total funding in March 2021.
- Founded Protagonist Games in 2018.
- Co-founded Simulation Theory with CTO Randy Culley.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — WWE 2K26 lists Castoro with a CEO credit.
- **2025-07** — Simulation Theory published an Encant video-transcoding case study reporting processing time of 22.5 seconds reduced to 1.9 seconds using Thunder SDK.
- **2024-10** — Published an essay on compute efficiency and the cost of idle CPU capacity.

## Links

- Website: https://simtheory.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/castoro
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/CastoroGamer

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/anthony-castoro
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08