Gathering of Developers (or GoD for short) is a Texas-based computer and video game publishing company. The company was founded in January 1998 with an unusual mission: a publisher solely devoted to supporting independent computer game developers, retaining their freedom and allowing them an avenue through which to publish games.
Their business model at the time was unique. Rather than creating games in-house, the company instead supports small independent development houses and ties them together in a network, allowing each group to retain much of their freedom but connecting them to resources and a publishing network that they wouldn't otherwise have.
The company made a big splash in 1998 with their earliest title, Railroad Tycoon II. It was a monstrous hit for Pop Top Software (the original developer) and GoD and it proved that the GoD business model could indeed work. Shortly afterward, the company was purchased wholely by Take Two Interactive, though it remains to this day a largely independent entity.
Mike Wilson, former CEO at ION Storm, serves as the current CEO at Gathering of Developers. He left ION Storm to be involved in the formation of the new company.
Games published by Gathering of Developers include:
- 4x4 EVO, an off-road racing game developed by Terminal Reality and Talonsoft
- Age of Wonders, a turn-based strategy game with a heavy RPG element developed by Triumph Studios
- The Blair Witch series, a three game series revolving around the film The Blair Witch Project, developed by Terminal Reality, Human Head, and Ritual
- Darkstone, a pretty immense RPG, developed by Delphine Software
- Duke Nukem Forever, a highly anticipated first person shooter in the Duke Nukem series, developed by 3D Realms
- The Fly! series from Terminal Reality, a series of flight simulator games
- Grand Theft Auto: The Director's Cut, an expansion of the shoot-em-up driving spectacle from Rockstar
- Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2, a first person shooter set in the Heavy Metal universe created by Ritual Entertainment
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2, a very clever scrolling platform game, done by Epic Infogrames
- Kingdom Under Fire, a mix of RPG and real-time strategy from Phantagram
- KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child, a first person shooter based on Todd McFarlane's successful Psycho Circus comics based on the music group KISS, done by Third Law and Tremor
- Max Payne, a very successful third person action game with a strong storyline brought to you by Remedy and 3D Realms
- Myth III is the third in the very successful Myth line of computer games, this one developed by Mumbo Jumbo
- Myth: The Total Codex is a repackaging of all of the games and expansions in the Myth series from Bungie Software
- Nocturne is a gothic horror action adventure game set in the 1930s, produced by Terminal Reality
- Oni is Bungie Software's anime-styled mix of a first-person shooter and a fighting game
- Railroad Tycoon II and its expansion Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century are together one extremely fine railroading simulation set in real time by Pop Top Software
- The Rune series is a 3D action game set in Viking mythology by Human Head Studios
- Serious Sam is a slightly off-kilter but gorgeous first person shooter from Croteam
- Stronghold is a mix of a real-time strategy game and a city building game in medieval England, made by FireFly Studios
- Tropico is a city building game with a strong Caribbean theme from Pop Top Software
Due to the company's wide success and large library of titles, many more will probably be released soon through their network.