Game Developer June/July Issue Shows Some Backbone, Gets To Business

The latest issue of Game Developer magazine, the sister print publication to Gamasutra.com, and the leading U.S. trade publication for the video game industry, has now shipped to subscribers and is available from the Game Developer Digital service. The cover feature for the special June-July 2005 business-themed issue is is a studio postmortem for Foundation 9 Entertainment, the largest U.S. independent game developer, encompassing both Death Jr creator Backbone Entertainment and Star Wars Episode III developer The Collective. How did this developer conglomerate form, and what did the founders learn from the trials and tribulations of the original companies that they founded? Game Developer finds out. In addition, the 'Studio Stance' feature by The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Hyman discusses the practical considerations of a developer that's recently been acquired by a major publisher, interviewing major figures from THQ, EA, Ubisoft, and Activision regarding relative autonomy and the advantages and disadvantages of pooling resources, post-acquisition. Elsewhere in the issue, 'Playing Smart With IP' has Dan Lee Rogers considering the quandary of whether to create original intellectual property or use licensed characters from a practical and financial standpoint, looking at the state of game licensing as the next hardware generation rapidly approaches. The magazine also contains the latest news in the Heads Up Display section, its regular code, graphics, audio, design, and business columns, product reviews, a special business-themed 'Thousand Words' art layout, and much more. Worldwide paper-based subscriptions to Game Developer magazine are currently available at the official magazine website, and the new Game Developer Digital version of the issue is also now available, with the site offering a year's subscription and access to back issues for a reduced price. Newsstand copies of the magazine will also shortly be available at North American outlets including Fry's Electronics and Barnes & Noble.