New York fashion designer and graffiti art enthusiast Marc Ecko has formed a brand new division to concentrate on investment and development of next-gen video game properties, GameDaily BIZ has learned. Ecko's first project Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure wasn't a critical or commercial darling, but it was by no means a failure either. For Ecko, Getting Up was a building block to bigger and better things.

As Ecko hinted last year, Getting Up was merely the beginning of his involvement in the gaming space. "I don't get into things on a whim... I come to work everyday to be inspired. I think the gaming space is tremendously interesting; it's creatively disruptive in a way that's exciting to be around. It's like the Wild West of entertainment and I want to be around while it's emerging and try to do something to leave an impression," he told us last March.

Now, almost a year later, Ecko has launched Marc Ecko Entertainment (MEE), headed by Marc Ecko Enterprises' veteran Mike Lynch, who will focus on initiating and identifying innovative games, and will work with publishers to bring them to market. Bolstering the new division will be Marc Fernandez, who has been appointed Vice President of Creative, and Shawn Rosen, who has been brought on to serve as Executive Producer.

Both Fernandez and Rosen have a wealth of games industry experience. Fernandez worked on key Rockstar Games titles like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Midnight Club II, and he also founded Cashmere Games, a production company focused on mobile entertainment. Rosen previously spent 10 years producing hit titles for Acclaim Entertainment (the old, now defunct Acclaim) as EP of External Development. Rosen was responsible for the popular Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX franchise and he also produced generally well received titles such as Aggressive Inline, Forsaken, and Shadowman. As for Ecko himself, he'll still have an active role, participating in the company's creative vision.

"Our goal is to expand creativity in videogames � we want to try brand new things," said Marc Ecko, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of MEE. "There are so many great ideas out there that either aren't getting the attention they need or are being completely ignored. We will work with the visionaries of the medium and get these inventive titles in the hands of gamers."

"Since the launch of Marc's first game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, last year, we have begun cultivating new game concepts, funding interesting titles that were already in development, and keeping an eye out for progressive ideas," said Mr. Lynch, President of Marc Ecko Entertainment. "One of our initial projects is with a developer that was responsible for one of the biggest hits of 2006. We'll be announcing details on this game very soon."

GameDaily BIZ has been sworn to secrecy, but trust us that this developer will be a huge asset to MEE. We'll be bringing you much more on the new Ecko venture in the near future. Stay tuned.