Westwood Studios co-founder takes Shuffle Master post

Louis Castle, who co-founded Westwood Studios, the Las Vegas-based video game maker that created the popular Command and Conquer game series, this week became chief strategy officer for Shuffle Master Inc.

In a statement issued Monday, Shuffle Master said Castle will manage innovation, exploit interactive gaming and technology opportunities and lead research and development for all product lines.

Castle spent the last six years serving on Shuffle Master’s board of directors and recently served as chairman of the company’s audit committee. Before taking his new job, Castle was vice president of studios at Zynga, the maker of Mafia Wars and FarmVille, games that have grown popular on Facebook.

Castle started Westwood Studios with Brett Sperry in 1985; Electronic Arts acquired the company for $122 million in 1998. After the acquisition, Castle spent 11 years with Electronic Arts, most recently as vice president of creative development for the Los Angeles studio.

After working at Electronic Arts, Castle joined Instant Action, a browser-based game company, as its chief executive officer.