Zynga VP Lou Castle Leaves for Shuffle MasterZynga gained a notable games industry veteran in Lou Castle back in March of this year, and now they've already lost him. After browser-based games company InstantAction met its demise, Castle revealed that he'd gained the position of VP of Studios at social juggernaut Zynga, but ultimately, he's made a move to be closer to his family.
Castle confirmed to IndustryGamers that he's taken a job as the CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) at Las Vegas-based Shuffle Master, a company that produces electronic tables, shufflers and other products for casinos. Castle has actually been on Shuffle Master's Board of Directors for the past six years, recently serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Castle resigned from the Company's Board, however, upon taking the CSO role.
It might seem strange that Castle would leave the leader in social games after only six months, but he explained to IndustryGamers that the daily grind at Zynga was a bit too much, considering that he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family.
"The Zynga gig was clearly a 5 day a week, 24/7 requirement. [I have] twins in senior year of high school and [Shuffle Master's] a local job. Life's too short, so I couldn't resist," he said.
As the co-founder of Westwood Studios, Castle is known for creating the Command & Conquer series and has worked on numerous top franchises. It's not clear at this point if he'll one day return to video games, but we sure hope so.
