The Guild: Now Sponsored by Xbox Live, Sprint

Season two of The Guild kicks off tomorrow, but there's one major change. The web show will now be brought to you by Xbox Live and Microsoft and sponsored by Sprint! Here's some details straight from Felicia "Codex" Day (her full post can be found here or after the jump):

For those who know and love our indie production, you know it’s been tough to keep the cameras rolling. ... For Season 2 we decided to look for a production partner to help us release episodes quicker and be able to pay our cast and crew in advance.

For those with Xbox Live, you will be able to download Season 2 episodes every week starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25th for free in HD quality on the Video Marketplace. For those only on the web, episodes will be streaming on MSN Video in a world-wide release, subtitled in 8 different languages across the world. You will also be able to download episodes in the Zune Marketplace for your mobile viewing pleasures.

The Guild crew will retain ownership and creative control, so you can expect more of the same from them in the 12 new episodes coming your way, all for free. We're big fans of the show, as shown in our interview with the cast at BlizzCon, so we'll definitely be watching tomorrow's season premiere.

We at The Guild are very excited to announce that we have found a partner to help us make our show: Season 2, starting Tuesday November 25th, we will be brought to you by Xbox Live and Microsoft and sponsored by Sprint!

For those who know and love our indie production, you know it’s been tough to keep the cameras rolling. For Season 1 we were funded by our donors, and we are eternally grateful for that. It’s only because of you, the fans, that we finished the season at all. But with donations, we were only able to release one episode a month. For Season 2 we decided to look for a production partner to help us release episodes quicker and be able to pay our cast and crew in advance.

I don’t exaggerate when we say that we had DOZENS of offers for the show. But I was adamant that we be able to retain ownership of the show and have the creative freedom to keep the show close to its roots and to our fans. We started filming Season 2 on DVD proceeds and my own money, but in the middle of filming the first few episodes, Scott Nocas from Xbox Live approached us and they proved the perfect fit. They will be helping us reach out to new audience, as well as allowing the show, through the Microsoft network, to be seen by anyone across the globe who wants to: Still for free!

For those with Xbox Live, you will be able to download Season 2 episodes every week starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25th for free in HD quality on the Video Marketplace. For those only on the web, episodes will be streaming on MSN Video in a world-wide release, subtitled in 8 different languages across the world. You will also be able to download episodes in the Zune Marketplace for your mobile viewing pleasures. Season 1 is being re-released today across all those platforms, with subtitles in some regions, and we put together an additional Season 1 gag reel to celebrate the occasion, which you can watch in our new, revamped player on The Guild site. Thanks to David from Microsoft, Edgar Garcia, Webmasta and Kirstin from England and WooThemes Ninja for making the site happen this weekend!

We’re very excited and I hope you are too. This is a unique and a fantastic opportunity to make the world our audience and be able to fund our web show and make it bigger and better! Gamers and internet users don’t know the boundaries of continents, why should our web show :)

We will keep you posted through this site and through our MySpace, Facebook and Twitter every week a new video goes up on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and link you to the MSN Video site and Zune download. If you have a chance to check it out, our new Forums and Community Site are a great place for us to allow our audience to blog, upload photos and chat with cast and other fans, so check it out!

Episodes will be released once a week for the whole 12 episode season, so we hope you enjoy them! XOXO
Felicia

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