One of the major goals of Wilson’s new venture is to "put the breaks on this consolidation idea that is only a theory put out by those who want to control creativity. It doesn’t work in Hollwood, it doesn’t work in the music industry, and the results are often mediocre, homogenous drivel such as top 40 music and network TV." As Wilson continues to explain his position on the issue of creative freedom, a key facet of the business plan, he asks, "Who would sit there and work for a label when they could have their own company, do the same amount of work without the marketing guys looking over their shoulders, and reap the financial rewards themselves? It just doesn’t make sense. You can’t buy talent. You don’t see Capitol Records calling up to buy Aerosmith."

The analogy is interesting to say the least. You never hear of, say, Mel Gilson being "bought" by Warner Brothers, although he may sign a production deal for a number of projects. However, can we draw parallels between the motion picture industry and game development? Brian Raffel, President of Raven Software, knows from experience. We asked him for his opinion whether Activision’s recent multi-million dollar merger with Raven caused them to have less creative control. He doesn’t think so. "We decided to merge with Activision because we wanted to be freed up to focus our attention on creating games rather than worrying about contracts and payrolls," explains Raffel.

Even presented with these comments, Wilson still contends that the best environment for developers – the one in which they make the best quality product for gamers – is one independent of a publisher. Brett Combs agrees that "the Gathering supports and fosters a creative environment. The economics of business deals that current publishers offer creates a very stressful environment [for developers]."