John Romero has apparently taken exception to Mike Wilson’s ongoing antics at Gamecock, which he claims is emblematic of Wilson’s desire to be a jackass rather than a game producer.
In a post on Romero’s personal blog, the famed designer of Doom wrote, “Once again, just like with Godgames, Wilson is taking all the credit away from the indie devs and pasting his asinine logo everywhere.”
“People are now starting to get a clue about how Mr. Wilson operates,” he continued. “Hey everyone, he hasn’t changed in over 10 years – these are the kinds of jackass stunts he pulled at Ion Storm with Daikatana.” Claiming that Wilson was responsible for the infamous “Make you his bitch” ads, Romero went on to say it was “just the beginning of his madness.”
“It got much worse at Godgames where he pretty much just partied all the time and after the whole thing got reined in by Take 2 he went underground for awhile, waiting for his next victim/investor so he could go hogwild all over again. And thus was born Gamecock,” he wrote.
Wilson, who worked with Romero at id Software before leaving the company to join him at Ion Storm as company CEO in January 1997, left that company late the same year and formed Gathering of Developers, later known as GodGames. The company was intended to be “developer driven,” with support for independent development studios taking precedence over the publishing credit. Wilson left GodGames in 2001, following the company’s acquisition by Take Two the previous year. Gamecock Media Group, Wilson’s most recent endeavor, is also aimed at small, independent developers; the company recently released details about the 2008 E.I.E.I.O. and is now looking to establish a European presence.
