From The E3 Floor - TMO Confirms Gathering Of Developers Is Exiting Mac Game Market (With Pics)

by , 5:45 PM EDT, May 18th, 2001

The Mac Observer confirmed today that game publisher Gathering of Developers is dropping the Macintosh. In an interview with producer Josh Galloway, we found that Take Two Interactive (GoD's parent company) is probably planning to get Macsoft to publish the ports of the PC titles that Gathering is bringing to market.

Why does Mr. Galloway suspect Macsoft? The company, which is a leader in publishing Mac ports of PC games, recently announced a mammoth deal with Take Two. It will publish Tropico, Fly! II, and Myst III, among other highly-anticipated titles. While most Mac Web sites reported this as a major coup for Macsoft, few immediately realized that it probably heralded the end of Mac titles from Gathering.

However, assuming Mr. Galloway's predictions about Take Two's plans turn out to be correct, it will have little effect on the average consumer. Mr. Galloway assured us in our interview that Take Two wants Mac ports of its properties, and Take Two will find a willing customer in Macsoft: in a separate interview with Macsoft Product Manager Al Schilling this morning, we learned that Macsoft is delighted with the deal it has struck with Take Two. More importantly, Mr. Schilling said he "absolutely" wants to sign on to publish future ports of Take Two's properties.

"We really want to be the premier PC developer," said Mr. Galloway. "We've always respected and wanted the support of the Mac community, and we think we're doing [a better job of that] by finding a strong Mac publisher." When asked if Macsoft would be publishing ports of Gathering's titles, Mr. Galloway immediately answered, "If they're interested."

It seems Macsoft is indeed interested. Gathering of Developers will publish the Mac port of Myth III: the Wolf Age late this year.

Next week we will begin more complete analysis of our exclusive E3 interviews, including Macsoft, Gathering of Developers, Bungie, and more.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It's sad to see GoD games go, but it's good to know they are still publishing Myth 3 themselves. That should ensure that we have few, or no, delays for this game, whose predecessors were just as big in the Mac world as the they were in the PC world, despite the MUCH smaller Mac gaming market. It's also good to hear that Take 2 Interactive is still committed to getting their games to the Mac market through a Mac publisher. Working through the auspices of Macsoft, or Aspyr or MacPlay for that matter (though nothing was said of these companies), will help make for a stronger Mac publishing market. The more money any individual Mac game publisher makes, the more clout and resources they have to buy retail shelf space, always a challenge for ANY software publisher that doesn't begin with an "M," end with a "T," and have a "icrosof" in the middle.

GoD Games