SouthPeak gobbles up Gamecock

In February 2007, two former Gathering of Developers executives cofounded Gamecock Media Group, a company aimed at promoting independently developed games and tackling what it saw as a "bloated and originality-starved industry." Mike Wilson and Harry Miller based Gamecock in Austin, Texas, and announced that such games as Fury and Insecticide were in development.

The company built on Gathering of Developers' legacy by hosting events such as a "funeral" for E3 after the 2007 show. Gamecock has several titles on its publishing roster, including Spark Unlimited's Legendary (in the US), Red Fly Studios' Mushroom Men games for the Wii and DS, and Wideload's Hail to the Chimp.

Today, SouthPeak Games, part of SouthPeak Interactive Corporation, announced that it has acquired Gamecock Media Group. The Virginia-based publisher, which published Two Worlds, Monster Madness: Grave Danger, and B-Boy, said in a statement that, "Gamecock brings us a solid slate of upcoming titles...and supports our strategy of working with independent developers."

Mergers have been commonplace in the games industry of late. Koei and Tecmo recently announced that they were to combine their businesses, and the coming together of Activision and Vivendi (owners of Blizzard) has created a gaming behemoth. Although Take-Two has decided to repel EA's advances and go it alone, many other gaming companies may be looking to mergers to shore up their finances, especially as market declines have hit shares in games firms.

No financial details of the deal were released, but Mike Wilson, CEO of Gamecock, said that, "combining our team with theirs results in a very strong and well-rounded force in the market."