 Mike Wilson’s divine
dream of a developer-owned publisher is now a reality. Combine one ego-drenched name, a
tossed salad of the hottest polygon spatterers in Texas, seven zeros of financing, and the
resulting synergy is the Gathering of Developers. Behind the primped PR-gloss of what game
companies want you to hear, GameSlice Editor-in-Chief Geoff Keighley unearths the
undeniably fascinating tale of why this We-Are-The-World-esque concoction of developers is
a suit-driven game publisher’s worst nightmare, and a hard-core gamer’s ultimate
fantasy.
Page 1 of 10
Click: Read User Fedback on this
Story Here and Mike Wilson's Response to Critics
|
 Returning from his
daughter’s soccer practice as we start to chat, you wouldn’t peg Mike Wilson as
the kind of guy who’s just about to shake up the entire interactive entertainment
industry like it’s his own personal snow-globe. Wilson’s off-the-cuff essence
might cater more to the California surfer stereotype than the usual slick,
thin-rimmed-Wall-Street-glasses look you’d expect from a man who is about to launch a
$40 million software publishing venture. Then again, Wilson is all but typical -- not many
people would dare name their new company after the Heavenly Father.
I can picture it now as I dial 411:
"For What City, Please?" the computer prompts.
"Dallas, Texas… please."
There’s a short pause as the computer registers the lapse in my voice.
"What listing please?" it asks.
"God," I say, waiting for the inevitably stunned operator to reply back with
a terse "Excuse Me?" on the line as if to suggest I’m a few degrees off to
think God lives in Dallas.
|
|
Mike Wilson is the kind of
Younker who just has "dealmaker" written all over him. First impressions aside,
Wilson is one of the most down to earth CEOs you will ever meet. Yet, the saucy Grand
Master Flash-ish cadence he speaks in instantly wins over even the harshest critics and
delights the press soliciting juicy quotes to rhyme reason into their stories. As we start
to talk, he’s quick to interject, "Can you tell how excited I am?" to make
sure his passion for the Gathering of Developers is fully understood and appreciated. One
can understand why Wilson’s so excited. In a few short years, he has risen from being
the apprentice of id Biz Guy Jay Wilbur to helming and dunking a $10 million plus deal for
John Romero’s Ion Storm. As Wilson starts to explain the dream that is coming to
fruition with Gathering of Developers – or G.o.D., the more powerful and hip acronym
– you can tell that all his previous experience was the means to justify the
ends of birthing his own publishing company. He has been pregnant with thoughts of a
developer-driven publisher for years; now they are a reality.
"In
the end, id just wanted to remain id – god bless them, so to speak."
--Mike Wilson |
It is said dreams are the children of an idle brain, but as Wilson starts to
explain the formulation of the Gathering, it is entirely obvious that this is a calculated
and strategic dream. "This really started at id Software when Jay and I put together
id Distribution," explains Wilson as he recalls his first experience with publishing.
"We did everything from ordering a UPC label to packaging and shipping the Quake
Encrypted shareware CD," which sold over half a million copies despite its annoying
credit-card registration mechanism. It was a financial success no doubt, but "at id
we had to decide if we really wanted to become a full time publisher. id was split. In the
end, id just wanted to remain id – God bless them, so to speak." |
