Garry Kitchen is a well respected industry consultant and President & CEO of AppStar Games Inc. AppStar Games is a startup digital publisher founded by Garry with his long time partner, David Crane, co-founder of Activision.
Prior to AppStar Games, Kitchen was the Chief Operating Officer of Skyworks, a leading independent publisher of games on the iPhone App Store. His career in
interactive entertainment spans 30 years, initially as a toy designer and
quickly transitioning into a pioneer in the launch of the video game
industry.
From 1981-1995, Kitchen was an industry leader in the development of home video games, generating over $300 million in retail sales. His 2600 adaptation of the hit Nintendo arcade game Donkey Kong, published by Coleco, was one of the top selling games on the Atari platform, selling over 4 million units. In 1983, Kitchen followed up the success of Donkey Kong with his hit title Keystone Kapers, published by Activision and a nominee for Video Game of the Year.
Kitchen went on to found Absolute Entertainment, Inc., building it into one of the leading video game developers in North America. Under his leadership, Absolute created more than 120 software titles while working with such leading entertainment companies as Nintendo, Sega, Sony, 3DO, Paramount Pictures, MCA, 20th Century Fox, and Acclaim.
In 1995, with the founding of Skyworks, Kitchen applied his gaming expertise to online marketing, launching the innovative LifeSavers Candystand, hailed by experts as the premier example of brand-sponsored gaming, or Advergaming. Skyworks went on to supply advergames to many world-class brands, including Nabisco, Pepsi, BMW, ESPN and Ford. In 2008, under Kitchen's leadership, Skyworks expanded its focus to the emerging downloadable games market, initially targeting the iPhone App Store. Before leaving Skyworks, Kitchen built the iPhone line to over 30 titles, with 15 titles reaching Top 100 status in the Apple App Store.
In addition to Kitchen's work in multimedia, he is an experienced Expert Witness in the areas of Video Game Design, Software Development, Internet Technologies and Patent Infringement. Kitchen has received numerous awards and is well respected by the media with appearances on CNBC, CNN and the NBC Today show.