Gamecock - An Introduction to this New Publisher

Gamasutra has an interesting and entertaining interview with the founders of new game publisher Gamecock; the publishers of recently revealed new RPG Hero. Here's a couple of brief excerpts:

This week, Gathering of Developers' former CEO Mike Wilson and ex-president Harry Miller announced the formation of a new independent game publisher named Gamecock Media Group, with seemingly similar goals - promoting the rights and interests of game developers making original IP.

Miller continued: “When we speak of new IP, traditionally the best stuff has come from independent developers, but it’s incredibly difficult for an independent developer to convince a publisher to sign their new IP, since the commercial success of the game is unpredictable. The risk that the game will do well enough to meet the required margins of the publisher is really high.”

“Those developers, who do get to the negotiating table, find that the agreement includes strings which require that the developer hand over their rights to the IP, and/or agree to sell the IP or the company for a predetermined price. These added assets help the publisher offset their risk with value (real or perceived) of the acquired IP,” he added.

One more snippet I just can't resist:

One of the more interesting facets of the Gamecock unveiling was that rather than sticking with PC-centric offerings the company revealed that it had signed developers for projects across all platforms, including not only the PC, but next-gen consoles and handhelds as well.

You can find the entire article Here .
Thanks Magerette for the heads-up.
More information.

English is not my primary language, so the name of the company sounds a bit… hmm. But if you have English as your first language is there then still something "odd" about the name?

Regards Asbjørn

Originally Posted by Asbjoern
English is not my primary language, so the name of the company sounds a bit… hmm. But if you have English as your first language is there then still something "odd" about the name?

Regards Asbjørn

In a word, yes.
But it's primary definition is a real word, a fighting chicken. What symbolism the two images conjures is still as you so politely put it…hmmm

yeah, hard to take a fighting chicken seriously, horsecock on the other hand…

i think these developers should focus more on making/publishing better games than trying to catch attention with their names. i mean they had to drop using god games and revert to the gathering so there's no saying that someone will protest to this name as well. they have produced some great games but also some huge disappointments as well. firefly in particular had 3 well done games and then 3 mediocre ones so hopefully 7 will be a lucky number.

and god games…four horrible letters-- r u n e

A cock in the animal realm is just a name given poultry of the masculine gender (sex). The ord gamecock then suggest someone who's fighting…someone…

i think most people are aware of that. but imagine if shuttlecock (the name for the 'ball' used in badminton) was suddenly used as the new name for the space shuttle. imagine the reaction to that even though it would actually be a much more fitting usuage of the word than gamecock to describe a developer of games.

Originally Posted by aries100
A cock in the animal realm is just a name given poultry of the masculine gender (sex). The ord gamecock then suggest someone who's fighting…someone…

Yes, but as Dhruin pointed out elsewhere, naming your company that guarantees it to be nailed by 90% of spam filters and site blockers seems a bit … um … cock-eyed

What a strangely homoerotic name.

It reminds me of the first time I saw someone sporting a University of South Carolina hat. Their mascot is "Gamecocks"

However, their shirts and hats simply say "Cocks!"

I'm not making this up, I laughed for at least an hour.

Actually, cockfighting has been around for some time and the sport is growing, although it's a world-wide activity, asia seems the predominant area. In a fight there is one winner and one loser, an ideal situation for punters. There are the cockers (the cock handlers) and breeders.
Differing from their domestic counterparts, gamecocks are bred specific to the sport.

Seperate from this we have cockpits, as on an aircraft, which surprise..surprise, derives the name form the very activity center of the cockfighting sport, the place where the cocks are released to strike with their lethal spurs.

So, as a suitable name for a newcomer game publishing group aiming to fight for credibility in the market, i think "gamecock" is well thought out and appropriate as a challenger, it could get cruel and dangerous for as well as winners there will be losers.

I wish them well.

A publisher with such a name needs a "Richard" as CEO.

This actually sounds like some kinda new slang for what happens after a 12 hour MMO grind-athon ='.'=

I'm cock-a-hoop about all the cock and bull being posted. It's close to the cockles of my heart!!