We’re excited to announce the formation of a new publishing initiative, called SEGA Alliance.  The SEGA Alliance will focus on publishing mobile games made by independent developers, and will provide participating developers with comprehensive marketing and production support as well as creative consultation.  SEGA Alliance’s first title, Jack Lumber, developed by Owlchemy Labs, launched today on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch worldwide. Jack Lumber will also be shown in the SEGA booth at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA.

Jack Lumber tells the tale of a supernatural lumberjack out to exact revenge on the forest after a tree killed his granny. Players will massacre the forest in this time-warping, line-drawing, pun-filled mash-up from Owlchemy Labs, the scientists of mobile gaming who create award-winning absurdist mobile hits like Snuggle Truck.

“SEGA has been a major player in the mobile games landscape for years, and we’ve had tremendous success bringing our iconic franchises to smartphones and tablets,” said Chris Olson, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA. “With SEGA Alliance, we’re looking forward to sharing that success with talented developers like Owlchemy Labs by introducing new and unique games, such as Jack Lumber, to the market. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some trees to destroy.”

“We’re very excited about being the first developer to partner with SEGA Alliance,” said Alex Schwartz, Chief Scientist at Owlchemy Labs. “We’ll be able to introduce Jack Lumber to a much wider audience than we’d originally hoped thanks to the resources provided by SEGA Alliance. Working with SEGA has been the opposite of dealing with a lumbering bureaucracy. We just focused on making a great game. Now Jack Lumber is branching out across mobile devices and players worldwide can show those treacherous trees who’s boss!”

Jack Lumber is available on the iTunes App Store for $1.99, with a special launch price of $0.99 (£0.69, 0,79 €) for a limited time.