Title says it all... why did Gathering of Developers fail? What led to its demise? Can the market support a publisher that looks out for the interest of developers? If so, why hasn''t a new publisher risen to fill the gap?

On avault.com (at that time) the managing director mentioned the completely the "why story". In short: The PC market was not very well, there were ony more possibilities for the console porting and the costs were too high. So for the financial stuff GOD needed and got a cooperation with Take Two. And that is why GOD isn''t independent anymore. GOD launched however some interested PC titles, that''s why Take Two was interested to took over those titles. But in the long end GOD isn''t independend and sadly "failed" to survive. If you got very much money, you got more possibilities, then someone who don''t have it in this game business. And that is the sad reality, big money counts.
So at this moment there isn''t a quality worldwide retail publisher who supports the international independend community.
The only possibility is to publish online. And that is the best possibility if you are good (or want to learn) in marketing and programming/design.

There But For the Grace of G.O.D.
Published: August 14, 2001


It’s clear, now more than ever, that the Gathering of Developers was one of the great alternative publishers in this age of industry consolidation. When the Gathering was launched in 1998, its principles of more time, more funding, and more control for game developers shamed the larger publishing houses. The opportunity for independent developers to team up and own shares in the company was meant to be the saving grace of the creative establishment. The idea was all the more exciting because of the talent rallied behind it -- 3D Realms, Pop Top Software, Human Head Studios, Terminal Reality, and others. Here was a group of people who loved creating PC games, and watching the Gathering disappear into the embrace of corporate arms is to feel the electric tingle of hope fade.
In this editorial, I will be referring to separate entities: the Gathering of Developers and GodGames. Although the press has used both interchangeably, they are not one and the same. The former was a confident trailblazer that dared to slash through the retail jungle in the hopes of making the world a better place for developers; the latter is a wearied pioneer who has stooped to the realities of the market. Although co-founder Mike Wilson and friends had been warning us for months that the end was near, official news broke last week that the entire crew of the Dallas-based publisher was packing its bags to launch a DVD-based magazine called SubstanceTV. The first sign of the times, following its sale to New York-based publisher Take Two Interactive Software, was when the Gathering officially changed its name to GodGames as a subtle tip-off that it was not the same company. Then, the Ten Commandments, self-imposed rules that guided the Gathering’s activities, soon came down from the group’s website since its members were no longer able to fulfill them. Wilson and his partners were planning for the future, and the future did not include games.

To chronicle the Gathering’s descent is to shine a spotlight on the collapse of the PC games industry, a phenomenon that both developers and consumers have been largely ignoring, even as the handful of controlling publishers shift their attention to producing titles for next-generation consoles. It also highlights depressing truths about industry consolidation. Although it boggles the mind, the Gathering was launched on nothing but pure optimism. When the publisher first announced its launch, it was $25 million in the red and several releases short of a product catalog, but the Gathering’s fold looked upon these towering obstacles as slight bumps along the road to success. When a publishing schedule appeared consisting of PC titles in development at the founding companies, a sneering Max Payne topped the list, demanding that the competition simply step aside. Ironically, the PC action hit was the first product the Gathering announced and the last title the group released before leaving to form SubstanceTV. Regardless, the Gathering got its feet off the ground, and after releasing a handful of inaugural titles, announced it would publish a pair of 3D shooters: KISS Psycho Circus from Third Law Interactive and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2 from Ritual Entertainment.

Although it’s not known how much money the Gathering invested in these two offerings and other endeavors, it was enough that Wilson and Co. were forced to obtain funding first by selling a 19.9 percent stake in their enterprise to Take Two, and then by selling itself -- lock, stock, and barrel -- to the New York-based publisher. Having a lot in common with traditional retail publishers must have also hurt the Gathering since it had to pass through a lot of uneconomical middlemen to get their games onto stores shelves. In the end, not having enough money to remain independent, coupled with having to support developers who were in the same delicate financial position, forced the Gathering to sell. It should be noted, however, that Take Two would not have purchased the Gathering had its founders not built a brand which had earned global recognition and respect among players.

The conception among the press at the time of the Gathering’s acquisition was that Take Two would wrest creative control from its newly acquired subordinate, but this would not be the case. Surprisingly, Take Two left the Gathering to its devices as a wholly owned, independent subsidiary -- a commendable, but perilous, move. So, when KISS came out in summer 2000 and bombed, and F.A.K.K.2, which also failed to connect with the gaming public, was turned in late and grossly over budget, the Gathering’s fate with Take Two was sealed. Take Two took over the reigns, spelling the end of the Gathering’s development board -- and the crusade.

It would be misguided to place the Gathering’s problems squarely on the shoulders of two shooters, but these productions highlight an inherent weakness in the publisher’s approach that a carnivorous market pounced on with tiger claws: the lack of original console game development. Hindsight is 20-20, and if Wilson’s troops had it to do all over again, they would no doubt focus more on console titles. However, when the group was in need of funding, high-end PC game developers rose to the occasion, and the shoe followed the shape of the foot: The Gathering’s product slate was aimed at the PC, with console ports announced almost as an afterthought. As numerous companies have learned, high-end PC development is an expensive proposition; the technology bar is so high that publishers are forced to spend untold sums of money to find an audience. This, coupled with declining sales for all but a handful of successful PC franchises, spells d-o-o-m for ambitious startups, of which the Gathering was a prime example. Even the Gathering’s moderate success in 2000 with Rune and 4X4 EVO, both of which sold enough copies to spawn additional products, was too little, too late, because it had become overly difficult to earn a profit in the PC games market.

It would be all-too simple to misread the impact of the Gathering shutting down. I could easily pound out an emotionally charged conclusion that laments the loss of another smaller publishing house, but the facts are, several Gathering titles did not sell well, and with rare exception, those that did succeed would have been published through other companies. Take Two will continue to sell products under the GodGames label, so in the grand scheme of this consolidation-obsessed business, little has changed. The Gathering of Developers is now GodGames -- another subsidiary label in an industry chock-full of slick, glossy brands, only now without its “substance.”

The real loss is what the Gathering was able to accomplish for game creators. At least 20 independent developers directly or indirectly benefited from their existence, either through better publishing arrangements, or learning things from the Ten Commandments, or through a deal with the Gathering. Case in point, Serious Sam seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was in various stages of development for what seemed an eternity until the Gathering snapped it up. With the Gathering dead and control of the industry whittled down to handful of major players, who stands in support of the developer? Who exists to further their cause and not that of the fellowship of publishers and shareholders?

In the wake of the Gathering, and under the specter of consolidation, design houses still face monumental challenges. First, there is no developer’s guild or union. In addition, most developers have no representation. Since the games industry has become at least as politicized as Hollywood, most studios are at the mercy of the handful of large companies with controlling interests. Such a climate makes innovation difficult. The exciting thing about this business in the mid- to late-nineties is that it was growing fast enough that the Gathering could come in, make new rules, and play by them. It’s even becoming harder to launch an Eidos Interactive, which emerged out of nowhere with Tomb Raider and became a big player for a short time. As soon as a company succeeds, a mega-publisher swoops in and takes control, further limiting the number of people who decide which games get made and putting a choke-hold on creativity.

Aside from this, what I find most disheartening about the death of the Gathering is how a group of people who three years ago were on fire to change the industry -- people who had no money to get their venture off the ground, but who had enough hardwired drive to get several quality products on retail shelves -- are tossing up their hands and leaving PC gaming behind. True, they’re being forced out by circumstance, but their complete loss of love for this industry says more about the sad state of PC gaming than the shutdown of another publisher. Shamefully wild press junkets aside, what will be missed most is how the Gathering placed the developer on a pedestal, and the passion this brash, independent label brazenly exposed to a jaded industry.

Wilson tried to make the world a better place for game developers, but unrelenting financial realities forced a sell-out. Since Take Two''s goals are different compared to the Gathering''s, the buyer''s culture and the policies it dictates easily won out over idealism. The Gathering of Developers, had it survived, would have been a sanctuary for independent game creators who wanted more control and freedom. It was a good idea, but a difficult one to pull off without proper initial funding, and that was the downfall, said 3D Realms president Scott Miller in a recent e-mail to me. Perhaps, one day, it will be tried again.

I hope so, because now more than ever, we need people who love creating PC games.

David Laprad
Editor in Chief

I think the PC games market in going through a period where the quality of games made by the leaders is too far ahead of the quality of those made by the followers. This raises the bar for everyone, making it less profitable for most. However I feel that several of these developers are largely benevolent, and their donated engines, source code, and middleware will eventually close this gap.

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