Mary took this on, “Probably not this year. We were going to unveil the game at Comic Con, but we’ve since decided that if we can’t show it all, we’d rather not show anything, because we know that whatever we show, it won’t be enough for some people and too much for others. So we’re going to sit on it for a while longer, let it gel.”

I asked if postponing the unveiling meant that the game was delayed at all.

“We’ve built our schedule around a December, 2010 launch.” Mary replied, “That has not changed.”

“Bob will be writing a prequel book for the launch of the game.” Mary revealed, “A lot of his energy, in addition to crafting the larger story that drives the IP, will go into telling the introductory story before launch.”

“There will be other novel lines that will support the content that Steve and others are writing,” she continued, “Characters that provide the infrastructure of the game will appear in a variety of novel lines, led by the prequel novel.”

I immediately wanted to know how they planned to market the novels, whether they’d be sold independently along traditional publishing markets, or tied in with game sales (particularly for the prequel).

“All of the above.” Mary said, “We will follow the traditional channels, but the appealing thing to me as a publisher is that this product line has the online experience to tie these things together within the game itself. We’ll use a mixture of the existing and new book models for publishing.”

38 Studios is happy to unveil our shiny new home on the web! As we move into our second year, the site reflects this transition by trading paint splatters in a blank room for a sleek design with improved functionality. Of course our company mascot, Munch, demanded a facelift, too.

Congratulations to artists Josh Singh, Billy Ahlswede, and Minoh Kim for their performances in the prestigious Dominance War III art competition. Josh and Billy finished 7th and 11th respectively in the 3D character competition, and Minoh placed 12th in the 2D category. 700 game artists submitted character concepts in this battle between eight gaming art communities from around the world. As outlined in the official rules and regulations, the challenge was to create a powerful, magical artifact user to do battle with evil mechanical creatures.

Jennifer MacLean

Vice President of Business Development, 38 Studios

Career overview
United States' largest cable TV company, Jennifer MacLean is no stranger to high-powered positions within the games industry.
Now the Vice President of Business Development at 38 Studios, a company focused primarily on MMORGs, McLean began her career in online game content in 1992, when she joined Micropose Software. In 1996 she became the product manager of AOL's Game Channel, then Programming Director.
Before joining 38 Studios, she spent four years at Comcast Interactive Media, where she oversaw all production and business relating to games. She also spearheaded many Comcast game programs including the PlayGames casual gaming website and Game Invasion service. Games MacLean oversaw delivered more than three million client downloads.

Major accomplishments
Brett Close, CEO of 38 Studios, recently said of MacLean, she brings "impeccable credentials, strong relationships, and impressive knowledge of the industry" to her new job. In addition to her years of experience, MacLean is the chair of the IGDA's Board of Directors and a frequent speaker at industry events.

Innovation
As part of 38 Studios, MacLean will be combining her experience with some of the most important entertainment companies in America with a new, creative company -- bringing the structure of her expertise to an innovative environment.

What her peers say
Sheri: "What can you say about someone who started as a game tester and quietly worked her way up to a position of power in one of the most influential game distribution companies in the world?

Jen's looks can be deceiving; she is a beautiful, petite, blond... with one of the sharpest game industry business minds around. I so respect what she's done and look forward to seeing where she's going to lead the industry in the future!"

Ten Ton Hammer: From more of a community development standpoint, there really isn’t much information to work with on the product 38 Studios is building just yet. How do you work on developing a community that’s out in limbo? There are people that are excited about the game and want to talk about it….

Steve: My experience is that doing too much too early can be just as detrimental as not doing enough when the time is right. Based on watching how other games have handled that sort of scenario, we’ve decided to be very low key and talk about the studio rather than what the game is and the features in it. I’m really more in the belief that we should give players something that they can sink their teeth into and react to that rather than reacting to the things we say we’re going to do.

From day one, I got emails talking about doing a fan site for our upcoming game, and I was really forthright with those people and said, “Look, I think it’s great that you’re enthused about what we’re doing, but it’s just too early to talk about this sort of thing. We’ll by no means stop you if you want to put up a message board.” I was just very open with those individuals and let them know that we can’t talk about the game. We’ll remember that they were dedicated, but we’re just not going to be able to give you the insider information you want.

A project like this is all about looking at the long term strategies and making sure that when you release information, it gets the most bang for the buck. As much as you’d like to embrace the fan site people right from the get go, you have to measure it against the fact that will giving this particular person insider information going to be ultimately as valuable as giving one to Ten Ton Hammer or to a magazine?