Mike Wilson (CEO)
Encyclopedia
Mike Wilson, aka Michael S. Wilson as a filmmaker, has been a computer and video game executive since 1995, when he worked at DWANGO
as VP of Development for 6 months before being hired by id Software
to handle marketing and start up their own self-publishing.
/Hexen
series before launching the retail shareware
version of Quake via encrypted CD-ROMs and later DVDs, which (in addition to all the other major game retailers) he managed to get into 7-11 stores nationwide.
and Tom Hall
in founding and launching Ion Storm
, with the idea that Ion Storm would want to self-publish after their initial deal with Tomb Raider
publisher Eidos Interactive
. Mike was named CEO of that company in January 1997, and created an avalanche of PR for the company that year while working on the developer-publisher business plan, which was known as "Ion Strike" at the time.
In late 1997, Mike was reportedly pushed out of Ion Storm due to his volatile relationship with Eidos and Ion Storm partner Todd Porter
, who became CEO upon Wilson's departure.
, and several other independent development studios including 3D Realms
, Epic Games
, Terminal Reality
, and PopTop Software
, announced Gathering of Developers
aka g.o.d. (and later known as GodGames), in January 1998, with a front page story in the New York Times appearing the day of launch. Gathering was painted as an artist-friendly, developer-driven publishing operation which would brand its developers above the publishing label and would permit them to own their intellectual property
and thereby earn the highest royalty rates in the industry.
Funded through distribution and co-publishing deals by Take-Two Interactive
, Gathering went on to publish several top-selling PC games including Railroad Tycoon 2, Stronghold, Serious Sam
, Tropico
, Darkstone, Mafia
, and finally Max Payne
, but not until it had been fully acquired by Take-Two in May 2000. Wilson and Miller negotiated a separation for themselves and almost their entire Texas-based crew from Take-Two in the summer of 2001, after losing their best friend and Gathering co-founder Doug Myres.
, hoping he could come back to breathe some life into the label they had bought and sign on a new group of independent developers and properties. Having already started work on his first feature documentary, Wilson took up dual roles in gaming and film during 2002-2004, working for Take-Two out of a small Gathering office in Austin while producing the film Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock (released in 2006 by WEA
) out of his Gone Off Deep Productions office across the hall.
Upon the completion of his contract with Take-Two (and his non-compete afterward), and the completion of the film's production, Wilson rejoined with Harry Miller in a fundraising effort to start up another independent games publisher, codenamed "God2."
Wilson completed another documentary entitled The Temple Builder during the nearly two year process it took to raise sufficient funding for "Gone Off Deep Games", which was achieved in August 2006.
, a new video game publisher that "they hope will act as the equivalent of an independent film company for small game developers."
Gamecock was acquired by Southpeak Interactive
in October 2008, after releasing several titles including Mushroom Men
for Wii
and Nintendo DS
, Dementium: The Ward
for Nintendo DS
, Hail to the Chimp
for Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
, Legendary
for Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
, Stronghold: Crusader Extreme
for PC
, Insecticide
for PC
and Nintendo DS
, and Fury for PC. Southpeak dissolved the brand and released later Gamecock titles, such as Velvet Assassin
and Section 8
under their own label.
, creators of the Serious Sam
franchise that Wilson and Miller helped establish while with Gathering of Developers. Devolver's first release, Serious Sam HD:The First Encounter, came out in November 2009 on PC
and January 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade
. Serious Sam HD:The Second Encounter was released in May 2010 on PC
and September 22 on XBLA. The company is said to also be working with Croteam on the true sequel to the Serious Sam series, Serious Sam 3, for PC and consoles. No other titles have been announced.
DWANGO
The Dial-up Wide-Area Network Game Operation, better known by the acronym DWANGO was an early online gaming service based in the United States...
as VP of Development for 6 months before being hired by id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
to handle marketing and start up their own self-publishing.
id Software
Mike oversaw the launches of several games (sequels and add-ons) in the Doom and HereticHeretic (computer game)
Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game created by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive in 1994. It was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007....
/Hexen
Hexen
Hexen is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive beginning on September 30, 1995. It is the sequel to 1994's Heretic, and the second game in the Serpent Riders series...
series before launching the retail shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
version of Quake via encrypted CD-ROMs and later DVDs, which (in addition to all the other major game retailers) he managed to get into 7-11 stores nationwide.
Ion Storm
Mike left id Software at the end of 1996 to join John RomeroJohn Romero
Alfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
and Tom Hall
Tom Hall
Tom A. Hall is a game designer born in Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he received a B.S. in Computer Science. In 1987, he worked at Softdisk Inc., where he was both a programmer and the editor of Softdisk, a software bundle delivered monthly...
in founding and launching Ion Storm
Ion storm
Ion storm may refer to:* Ion Storm, a defunct games software company.* An interplanetary coronal mass ejection , a disruption of the fast and slow solar winds, often called "ion storm", "solar storm" or "space storm"...
, with the idea that Ion Storm would want to self-publish after their initial deal with Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
publisher Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. Mike was named CEO of that company in January 1997, and created an avalanche of PR for the company that year while working on the developer-publisher business plan, which was known as "Ion Strike" at the time.
In late 1997, Mike was reportedly pushed out of Ion Storm due to his volatile relationship with Eidos and Ion Storm partner Todd Porter
Todd Porter
Todd Mitchell Porter is a computer and video game developer who has also written the children's book Firefly Fred. He is married to Dallas attorney Liz Porter and lives with his wife and children in Highland Park, Texas.- Game development history :...
, who became CEO upon Wilson's departure.
Gathering of Developers
Mike, along with Harry Miller, CEO of Ritual EntertainmentRitual Entertainment
Ritual Entertainment was a computer game software developer established in 1996 by Robert Atkins, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Richard 'Levelord' Gray, Michael Hadwin, Harry Miller and Tom Mustaine...
, and several other independent development studios including 3D Realms
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
, Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
, Terminal Reality
Terminal Reality
Terminal Reality is a video game development and production company based in Lewisville, Texas. Founded in 1994 by ex-Microsoft employee Mark Randel and former Mallard Software general manager Brett Combs, Terminal Reality develops a variety of games including racing games , 3D action games , and...
, and PopTop Software
PopTop Software
PopTop Software was an American video game developer. It was known as the publisher of several strategy games including Railroad Tycoon II and the Caribbean island simulation Tropico . They are not to be confused with PopCap Games, which is a casual game developer.-History:PopTop Software was...
, announced Gathering of Developers
Gathering of Developers
Gathering of Developers was a Texas-based PC and video games publishing company, founded in January 1998 with the mission to bridge the gap between publishers and independent game developers, allowing independent developers creative control over their projects, ownership of their IP, and...
aka g.o.d. (and later known as GodGames), in January 1998, with a front page story in the New York Times appearing the day of launch. Gathering was painted as an artist-friendly, developer-driven publishing operation which would brand its developers above the publishing label and would permit them to own their intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and thereby earn the highest royalty rates in the industry.
Funded through distribution and co-publishing deals by Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
, Gathering went on to publish several top-selling PC games including Railroad Tycoon 2, Stronghold, Serious Sam
Serious Sam
Serious Sam is the first game in the Serious Sam series. It is a first-person shooter created by the Croatian development house Croteam...
, Tropico
Tropico
Tropico is a series of construction and management simulation computer games developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2001...
, Darkstone, Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, and finally Max Payne
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
, but not until it had been fully acquired by Take-Two in May 2000. Wilson and Miller negotiated a separation for themselves and almost their entire Texas-based crew from Take-Two in the summer of 2001, after losing their best friend and Gathering co-founder Doug Myres.
SubstanceTV
Wilson took 28 of the 30 Gathering employees on with him to a new startup dedicated to his lost friend, a videomagazine on DVD called SubstanceTV, which was aimed at Gen-X friendly, non-mainstream content such as music videos, short films, original short documentaries, and other content not available elsewhere. Unable to make the venture work commercially, Wilson winded it down in August 2002 after publishing seven issues.Take-Two Interactive
Wilson was then lured back into gaming by Take-Two Interactive, who hired him as Executive Vice President of A&RA&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
, hoping he could come back to breathe some life into the label they had bought and sign on a new group of independent developers and properties. Having already started work on his first feature documentary, Wilson took up dual roles in gaming and film during 2002-2004, working for Take-Two out of a small Gathering office in Austin while producing the film Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock (released in 2006 by WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
) out of his Gone Off Deep Productions office across the hall.
Upon the completion of his contract with Take-Two (and his non-compete afterward), and the completion of the film's production, Wilson rejoined with Harry Miller in a fundraising effort to start up another independent games publisher, codenamed "God2."
Wilson completed another documentary entitled The Temple Builder during the nearly two year process it took to raise sufficient funding for "Gone Off Deep Games", which was achieved in August 2006.
Gamecock Media Group
On February 12, 2007, Mike Wilson and his partners Harry Miller and Rick Stults announced the formation of Gamecock Media GroupGamecock Media Group
Gamecock Media Group was a video game publisher based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2007 by video game industry veterans Mike Wilson, Harry Miller, and Rick Stults, original founders of Gathering of Developers. They used a more hands-off approach and allowed developers creative freedom with...
, a new video game publisher that "they hope will act as the equivalent of an independent film company for small game developers."
Gamecock was acquired by Southpeak Interactive
SouthPeak Interactive
SouthPeak Games is a video game publisher of titles in Europe and North America.-History:SouthPeak Games, which was originally a subsidiary of SAS Institute, has been publishing games since 1996 and has worked with multiple development studios, including EAI Interactive, Psyonix Studios and...
in October 2008, after releasing several titles including Mushroom Men
Mushroom Men
The Mushroom Men video games were developed for Nintendo on the Nintendo DS and Wii systems. Both games were developed by Red Fly Studio and published by Gamecock Media Group. The story revolves around a civil war between Mushroom Men in a human world...
for Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, Dementium: The Ward
Dementium: The Ward
Dementium: The Ward is a Nintendo DS survival horror first-person shooter game developed by Renegade Kid and published by Gamecock. Dementium was released in North America on October 31, 2007.-Gameplay:...
for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, Hail to the Chimp
Hail to the Chimp
Hail to the Chimp is a video game developed by Wideload Games and published by Gamecock Media Group. The game was released on June 23, 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was later added to the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store in European and Australian markets on April 10, 2009...
for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Legendary
Legendary (video game)
Legendary is a first-person shooter video game developed by Spark Unlimited and published in the United States by Gamecock Media Group and in the United Kingdom by Atari....
for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Stronghold: Crusader Extreme
Stronghold: Crusader Extreme
-Reception:The game's new features for the original Stronghold Crusader, including new characters, campaigns, and other features, were generally well-received by the public, but game critics criticized the game for difficulty, lack of new audio, and not having graphical quality up to par for a game...
for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, Insecticide
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, and Fury for PC. Southpeak dissolved the brand and released later Gamecock titles, such as Velvet Assassin
Velvet Assassin
Velvet Assassin is a stealth action video game for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, released in North America on April 28, 2009. Velvet Assassin's working title was Sabotage....
and Section 8
Section 8
Section 8 or Section Eight may refer to:*Section 8 , a United States military form of discharge due to mental illness and/or problems*Section 8 , a U.S...
under their own label.
Devolver Digital
In late 2008, Mike Wilson rejoined Harry Miller and several other former partners to form Devolver Digital, a producer/publisher hybrid initially working with CroteamCroteam
Croteam is a video game developer established in Zagreb, Croatia in 1993, initially as a "garage games" company. They only had six employees and four contractors for the development of Serious Sam in 2001.-Company history:...
, creators of the Serious Sam
Serious Sam
Serious Sam is the first game in the Serious Sam series. It is a first-person shooter created by the Croatian development house Croteam...
franchise that Wilson and Miller helped establish while with Gathering of Developers. Devolver's first release, Serious Sam HD:The First Encounter, came out in November 2009 on PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and January 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
. Serious Sam HD:The Second Encounter was released in May 2010 on PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and September 22 on XBLA. The company is said to also be working with Croteam on the true sequel to the Serious Sam series, Serious Sam 3, for PC and consoles. No other titles have been announced.