However their first games got mixed results in sales and in reviews which is perhaps the reason why it was announced this week that another publisher, Southpeak Games, would be buying out Gamecock and ending the Austin, Texas based team's second major bid to be an alternative publisher.
Big Download managed to get Southpeak Games' CEO Melanie Mroz to answer a few questions about the new Southpeak-Gamecock deal and but as you can see there's still some unknowns that have yet to be addressed, including whether or not the Gamecock brand you see above will survive.
First, how did the deal for Southpeak to acquire Gamecock come about?
Both SouthPeak Chairman Terry Phillips and I have known Mike Wilson and Harry Miller for some time. While I can't say when our discussions began, once they did, they presented us a solid product plan that fit our goals. We look forward to helping bring their products to market.
Gamecock was formed as a way for developers to express themselves with original titles. Does this new acquisition by Southpeak mean that mission has been curtailed or expanded?
Absolutely not. SouthPeak's foundation is built on the independent developer with unique IPs. We don't have any internal development, so we live and die by the indie and their ability to innovate. That's why the Gamecock stable of developers was so attractive to us.
What will this mean for the actual Gamecock brand? Will it be used anymore or will all games that would have been published by Gamecock now just have the Southpeak name?
We are still very early in this process and we have not made any decisions on their brand. That should get sorted in the next few weeks.
Will Mike Wilson and the rest of the Gamecock exec team remain with the new Southpeak and if so what will their duties be?
We are currently working with Mike and his team on this very issue. However, at this time, no decisions have been made.
Will the Gamecock offices in Austin be shut down and will we see layoffs as a result of this deal?
Thats TBD at this point.
Legendary and Mushroom Men are due out this year but what about the games that were previously announced that are due in 2009 (Velvet Assassin, Dungeon Hero, Section 8 and the unnamed Croteam game)?
For right now, I'm very focused on making sure Legendary and Mushroom Men make it out this quarter.
Gamecock's marketing and promotions were among the most over-the-top in its short history as a indepdendent game publisher. With the acquistion by Southpeak, is that era over?
We'll see. :)
Finally is there anything else you wish to say about this week's business deal?
No. Thank you for your support!
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