Gathering of Developers

Gathering of Developers, Inc. (also referred to as G.O.D., GodGames and Gathering) was an American video game publisher based in New York City. Founded by Mike Wilson and associates in January 1998, originally based in Dallas, Texas, the company was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in May 2000. Between May 2000 and March 2001, Gathering of Developers also operated a division, On Deck Interactive, which acted as their mass market label. In August 2001, Take-Two Interactive closed Gathering of Developers' Dallas headquarters and moved the label in-house, to New York City. The label was shut down in September 2004, with all assets consumed by Global Star Software.

History
Gathering of Developers was announced by Mike Wilson on December 30, 1997, with the official opening scheduled for January 1998. Co-founders included Harry Miller, Jim Bloom, Rick Stults and Doug Myres. In January 1998, video game developer Terminal Reality became an equity partner of Gathering of Developers, through which their vice president, Brett Combs, took a set in the publisher's board of directors. Other founding partners included Edge of Reality. On June 1, 1998, video game publisher Take-Two Interactive announced a "subsistantial non-equity investment" in Gathering of Developers, wherein Take-Two Interactive would distribute games published by Gathering of Developers. Take-Two Interactive later went on to acquire a 20% stake in the company by February 1999. Also in February 1999, Gathering of Developers co-founded the Independent Games Festival, which was to premier Game Developers Conference, and also co-hosted and funded the 1999 edition of it. In May 1999, Gathering of Developers signed an agreement with Sega to distribute eight of their games on the Heat.net platform.

During the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade shows, Gathering of Developers offered free barbecue, live music and beer to the nearly 10,000 attendees that would cross the street into their parking lot, dubbed the "Promised Lot". At the 2001 edition of the event, Gathering of Developers' booth displayed booth babes dressed up as schoolgirls to promote their adult content.

On May 1, 2000, Take-Two Interactive announced that they had acquired Gathering of Developers. The deal was signed mainly due to Gathering of Developers' financial instability. On May 4, 2000, Take-Two Interactive and Gathering of Developers launched On Deck Interactive as a publishing label for games with "a consumer friendly price point and a mass market appeal". Following the departure of On Deck Interactive's chief executive officer, Robert Westmoreland, the label was shut down again on March 5, 2001, with all of its upcoming games shifted to Gathering of Developers. On May 3, 2001, Gathering of Developers co-founder Myres unexpectedly died of an asthma attack. In his honor, Gathering of Developers announced the "Doug Myres Substance Award" in June that year, which would be handed out at the July 2001 edition of the Cyberathlete Professional League, with a donation to the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center made in the recipient's name. Gathering of Developers' Dallas, Texas offices were closed down by Take-Two Interactive on August 9, 2001, and all operations were relocated to Take-Two Interactive's headquarters in New York City. All staff were laid off or left the company, most of which were then hired by SubstanceTV, a new venture previously launched by Wilson and Myres. On September 9, 2004, following poor financial results in Take-Two Interactive's Q3 2004 fiscal quarter, Gathering of Developers was folded into Global Star Software, Take-Two Interactive's budget range publishing label.