Stephen Buonocore is a hobby game entrepreneur, game media personality, and game industry veteran, as well as
a former financial services industry IT professional.
Buonocore is the retired founder, owner, and President of Stronghold Games, formed in 2009, which publishes
high quality board and card games in the hobby game industry. Stronghold Games and Indie Boards & Cards
merged in mid-2018 to form Indie Game Studios, where Buonocore continued in his role as President of Stronghold Games, as well as in the role of Spokesperson for the merged company.
While President of Stronghold Games, Buonocore provided vision and guidance for hundreds of game titles, both developed within the company and in partnership with publishers around the world.
Stephen Buonocore is the host of Board Games Insider, one of the most popular and longest-running hobby game
audio and video podcasts. Buonocore has appeared in interviews on television, radio, and numerous game media
outlets to promote both his company and the hobby game industry.
In mid-2020, Buonocore announced his retirement from Stronghold Games. In retirement, Buonocore rebranded
himself with the moniker given to him by other hobby game podcasters, “The Podfather of Gaming”, and is found
as such on his active Youtube channel and other social media platforms. Buonocore remains a high-profile, vocal
advocate for the hobby game industry, and mentors individuals from underserved groups.
In early 2023, Stephen Buonocore became a board game designer as well, announcing that he had signed a board
game design with Asmodee, the largest hobby board game company in the world.
Stephen Buonocore serves as the Chairman of the Board of PLAY TO Z, a new hobby game publisher, which was founded by 15 game industry veterans. Zev Shlasinger, an industry legend, is the President of the company.
Buonocore also serves on the Board of Directors of the World Series of Board Gaming, a company created to run a
unique annual board game tournament event, which crowns a World Champion and awards large monetary prizes.
Stephen Buonocore serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Arizona Astrobiology Center for Development, the purpose of which is to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers in this country and around the world.
Buonocore has proven managerial skills and 35 years of diverse IT experience in the financial services
industry managing a global infrastructure group, project managing all Infrastructure workstreams, directing outsourced relationships, analyzing business issues, creating operational processes and solutions, and designing a wide range of systems for various Fortune 500 companies.
a former financial services industry IT professional.
Buonocore is the retired founder, owner, and President of Stronghold Games, formed in 2009, which publishes
high quality board and card games in the hobby game industry. Stronghold Games and Indie Boards & Cards
merged in mid-2018 to form Indie Game Studios, where Buonocore continued in his role as President of Stronghold Games, as well as in the role of Spokesperson for the merged company.
While President of Stronghold Games, Buonocore provided vision and guidance for hundreds of game titles, both developed within the company and in partnership with publishers around the world.
Stephen Buonocore is the host of Board Games Insider, one of the most popular and longest-running hobby game
audio and video podcasts. Buonocore has appeared in interviews on television, radio, and numerous game media
outlets to promote both his company and the hobby game industry.
In mid-2020, Buonocore announced his retirement from Stronghold Games. In retirement, Buonocore rebranded
himself with the moniker given to him by other hobby game podcasters, “The Podfather of Gaming”, and is found
as such on his active Youtube channel and other social media platforms. Buonocore remains a high-profile, vocal
advocate for the hobby game industry, and mentors individuals from underserved groups.
In early 2023, Stephen Buonocore became a board game designer as well, announcing that he had signed a board
game design with Asmodee, the largest hobby board game company in the world.
Stephen Buonocore serves as the Chairman of the Board of PLAY TO Z, a new hobby game publisher, which was founded by 15 game industry veterans. Zev Shlasinger, an industry legend, is the President of the company.
Buonocore also serves on the Board of Directors of the World Series of Board Gaming, a company created to run a
unique annual board game tournament event, which crowns a World Champion and awards large monetary prizes.
Stephen Buonocore serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Arizona Astrobiology Center for Development, the purpose of which is to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers in this country and around the world.
Buonocore has proven managerial skills and 35 years of diverse IT experience in the financial services
industry managing a global infrastructure group, project managing all Infrastructure workstreams, directing outsourced relationships, analyzing business issues, creating operational processes and solutions, and designing a wide range of systems for various Fortune 500 companies.
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