Stewart Kosoy

Stewart Kosoy (March 29, 1950 – October 4, 2015) was a pioneer in the video game business who worked in almost every capacity from making animation to being a designer, producer, developer, agent, and most recently, publisher and financier. After holding a number of high-profile positions for some of the biggest game makers in the industry, he retired as an agent and Senior Partner of the Interactive Studio Management (ISM) Agency to co-found Digital Capital Corporation.[1] He died[2] in October, 2015.

Stewart Kosoy
Born
Stewart Eugene Kosoy

March 29, 1950
Chicago, Illinois, USA
DiedOctober 4, 2015 (aged 65)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEntrepreneur, game financier, & publisher
Years active1985–2015
Notable work
Unreal, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past, Duke Nukem 3D

Career

Kosoy got a job doing design consulting for NovaLogic on the game Wolfpack. He was employed by Taito Corporation as a producer. He joined Sega of America where he became Manager of Developer Relations.[3] In 1991, while working for Sega, Kosoy produced Clutch Hitter, followed in 1992 by Disney's Ariel the Little Mermaid, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and Toxic Crusaders. In 1993 he produced Dinosaurs for Hire and The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. The 1994 production of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past completed his tenure at Sega.

Kosoy held the position of Executive Producer at Novalogic and established the company's UK office. Kosoy returned to California and became Director of Development for Warner Music Group. As Vice President of Product Development at GT Interactive Software, during the time classic titles such as Doom II, Duke Nukem, Quake, and Unreal[4] were published.

He left GT to become and Executive Producer for MGM Interactive, where he was the Executive Producer on Tiny Tank: Up Your Arsenal.

In 2002, Kosoy became an agent, where he began to find and represent talented development studios, eventually becoming a Senior Partner at ISM. One of his most noteworthy projects was putting together the Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE) - Electronic Arts (EA) deal for Battlefield 1942,[5] which eventually led to the acquisition of DICE by EA for $24.5 million.[6] At ISM he represented clients working on such titles as Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare until he retired in December 2011, relinquishing his senior partnership.

In 2012, Kosoy and Todd Tribell co-founded Digital Capital Corporation (DCC).[7] The company raises financing for game developers [8] by acting as a matchmaker between investors and developers. At DCC, Kosoy takes a primary role in choosing projects to receive private equity placement.[5]

Selected games
Year Game Role Developer Publisher
1990 Wolfpack Designer NovaLogic Brøderbund
1991 Clutch Hitter Producer Sega of America Sega of America
1992 Toxic Crusaders Producer Sega of America Sega of America
Ariel the Little Mermaid Producer Sega of America Sega of America
Captain Planet and the Planeteers Producer Sega of America Sega of America
1993 Dinosaurs for Hire Producer Sega of America Sega of America
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin Producer Sega of America Sega of America
1994 Streets of Rage 3 Business Developer Sega of America Sega of America
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past Producer Sega of America Sega of America
1995 Comanche 2 Designer NovaLogic NovaLogic
1996 9: The Last Resort VP of Product Development Tribeca Interactive GT Interactive Software
1997 Duke Nukem 3D VP of Product Development 3D Realms GT Interactive Software
1999 Tiny Tank: Up Your Arsenal Executive Producer Appaloosa Interactive Sony Computer Entertainment
2000 Bass Masters 2000 Agent Mass Media THQ
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness Agent Mass Media Namco
Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas Agent Mass Media Fox Interactive
2001 Pac-Man Collection Agent Mass Media Namco
Namco Museum Agent Mass Media Namco
2003 Will Rock Agent Saber Interactive Ubisoft
Muppets Party Cruise Agent Mass Media TDK Mediactive
2005 Full Spectrum Warrior Agent Mass Media THQ
2006 Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers Agent Mass Media THQ
2007 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Agent n-Space Activision
2008 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Agent n-Space LucasArts
2009 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Agent n-Space Activision
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized Agent n-Space Activision

Further reading
  • Staff, Edge (August 3, 2012). "Stewart Kosoy on the business of videogames". Edge Online. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  • Martin, Matt (April 30, 2012). "Digital Capital: Mind on the Money". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved September 19, 2012.

References
  1. "Digital Capital: Leadership". Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  2. "Stewart Kosoy passes away after a long career making and financing games". Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  3. Cow, Peter (February 27, 1994). "Games People Play Over Phone Lines". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  4. Martin, Matt (April 30, 2012). "Digital Capital: Mind on the Money". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  5. Tipps, Seth (February 8, 2012). "Stewart Kosoy to head Digital Capital product dev". Develop. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  6. Graft, Kris (2006-10-02). "EA Officially Picks Up DICE". Next-Gen.biz. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  7. Takahashi, Dean (February 1, 2012). "Digital Capital wants to play matchmaker for investors and digital entertainment startups". VentureBeat. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  8. Andrew, Keith. "Swiss investor Digital Capital unveils plan to finance smartphone studios". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
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