POW! Interactive focuses on community over bottom line
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Gaming, like most industries, has its share of industry-specific terms. While most of them are neutral or positive, there are a number that have stigma attached. Terms like “loot box,” “play to win,” and “cash grab” are all too common when discussing games and their publishers.
When Paul Wharshavsky and Luohan Wei kept hearing these terms, they decided to do something about it. In a recent release, the partners laid out their mission for their new company:
At POW! Interactive, we acquire, fund and operate creatively-driven companies with a vision to build an entertainment group run on long-term community building rather than short-term bottom line return.
Their first acquisition, Jasco Games, makes a card game from the popular My Hero Academia IP. My Hero Academia is currently one of the most popular anime IPs worldwide. Using the Jasco UniVersus framework for future expansion, the company hopes to add other IPs for some cross-universe action.
Recently, we sat down with the folks in charge of POW! Interactive to talk about the new company, My Hero Academia, and card collecting. Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.
GamesBeat Summit 2022
GamesBeat: For a lot of people, gaming is a lifelong hobby and passion. How did you folks get into games?
POW: We’ve been part of this community for as long as we can remember. Paul grew up playing video games, collecting Warhammer figurines, and buying Pokémon cards. Previously, Paul was an Associate at SpringOwl Asset Management LLC, investment management firm whose notable investments in the entertainment space include: Yahoo!, Viacom, The Stars Group, Bwin.party
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