GOD execs found Gamecock

Mike Wilson and Harry Miller, respectively the former CEO and president of publishing house Gathering of Developers, have formed a new independent game publisher called Gamecock.

They describe the company as "a new independent artist driven" venture, and state that they believe the game industry is stale--something they want to change. Wilson said, "The major publishers have been focusing on safe bets--large budget games often attached to major licenses or sequels." The publisher announced that it has "several" titles in development, including one from Wideload Games and Alex Seropian (the creator of the Halo franchise).

Among the titles Gamecock has named are Fury and Insecticide. The first, developed by Auran, will be a PC massively multiplayer player-versus-player game scheduled for a fourth-quarter 2007 release. Insecticide, developed by Crackpot Entertainment, is a film noir action/adventure game set in a decaying world run by bugs, and it will also be released for the 2007 holiday season, on PC and at least one unspecified handheld.

Also on the slate is Mushroom Men, developed by Red Fly Studios, which is set in a future where mushrooms have taken on humanlike features and are embroiled in a civil war, and it's slated for a spring 2008 release on a console and a handheld platform. Hail to the Chimp, developed by Wideload Games, is an "impossible to classify" party game based on the politics of the animal kingdom, set for spring 2008 on consoles.

The final title announced is Hero, developed by Firefly Studios and described as "a brutal but comical romp through the 'real' world of medieval dungeons." Hero will be coming to the PC and undetermined consoles in spring 2009.

The Gamecock Media Group is based in Austin, Texas. As to why the pair decided on the unusual choice of name, Wilson describes himself as "a rooster enthusiast."