Gamecock Media Group
From Entertainment Bobber Wiki
Gamecock Media Group was a publisher of indie video games based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in February 2007 by former Gathering of Developers executives Harry Miler and Mike Wilson and aimed to focus only on innovative and original developers. Gamecock was a label of the parent company Gone Off Deep Ltd (mimicking Gathering of Developers or G.O.D.).
Right from the start, Gamecock signed several publishing deals. Including Hail to the Chimp developed by Wideload Games, Hero by Firefly Studios, Insecticide by Crackpot Entertainment, Mushroom Men by Red Fly Studios and Fury by Auran. (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12735)
July 1, 2008, Gamecock Media Group together with Valve announced an agreement to launch two Gamecock titles on Steam, Stronghold: Crusader Extreme by Firefly Studios and Insecticide Part 1 by Crackpot Entertainment. (http://store.steampowered.com/news/1669/) (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/19251/Gamecock_Adds_Insecticide_Stronghold_Crusader_To_Steam.php)
Some time later Stronghold: Crusader Extreme was removed from Steam but was still available for download to those who managed to purchase it while still possible. (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=921020)
Insecticide Part 1 was also sold through Direct2Drive, GameTap and Trygames. As of May 2010, the game is available through Steam to customers only in the selected regions, and it got removed from Direct2Drive and Trygames at some point. Part 1 is still available at Gametap as a part of their Premium Pack (games can't be purchased and will be deactivated upon cancelling subscription) and a variety of other online sellers, GamersGate being the most notable one.
Insecticide Part 2 was in development when Gamecock was acquired. According to Michael Levine, the co-creator and lead designer at CrackPot Entertainment, SouthPeak quietly cancelled the sequel. (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1010908&highlight=insecticide)
In September 2008, Gamecock Media Group has established a new casual games label called Upshot Games. Upshot's aim was to seek opportunities to reach mainstream audiences with quality offerings on all gaming platforms worldwide. The new label was to publish American Pool Deluxe developed by Blade Interactive for Wii. It was also intended to release a RealMotion Pool Cue accessory for Wii to accompany the game. Initially supposed to be released on November 18, 2008 Upshot's debut title got cancelled. (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/20388/Gamecock_Spawns_Upshot_Games_Casual_Label.php)
On October 14, 2008, the company was acquired by SouthPeak Interactive. (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20633) Numerous projects Gamecock was working on before the acquisition by the rival publishing company withered. One of such projects was an untitled military shooter developed by Croteam. As stated by Croteam's CEO Roman Ribaric on May 11, 2009, "Regarding military game we were working for some time, that development was halted some time ago by investors and publishers. We were doing a 'work-for-hire' development there, so after the game was put on hold, there was nothing more to do there and we moved back to our projects. Obviously, the above also means that our next title won't be published by Gamecock, as contrary to last year's published press release by Gamecock." (http://www.croteam.com/)
According to Mike Wilson, co-founder and former CEO of Gamecock, "It should be made clear that there has been no 'Gamecock' since Fall 2008. SouthPeak shipped Mushroom Men, Velvet Assassin, and Section 8 as SouthPeak Games... No one from Gamecock has been involved in anything whatsoever regarding any of this for the past 15 months." (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27358/CDV_Wins_Latest_Legal_Battle_Against_SouthPeak.php)
Published titles
- Hail to the Chimp. Developed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 by Wideload Games and published b Gamecock Media Group on June 24, 2008. (http://www.chimplove.com/)
- Section 8. Developed by TimeGate Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. One of the games which was published after the acquisition by SouthPeak Interactive.
