Gamebook Friday: DestinyQuest - Unlucky for some

It can't have escaped your notice that today is Friday the 13th, and for one gamebook series, this week certainly seems to have come with more than its fair share of bad luck.

On Wednesday, Michael J Ward announced that Gollancz have called time on his DestinyQuest series, and that development of Book 4 is now enjoying an indefinite hiatus. DestinyQuest had been one of the gamebook success stories of recent years, re-inventing the genre for the Xbox generation and securely a print publication deal with a major genre publishing house.

But what does the cancellation of the DestinyQuest series mean for the future of gamebooks and print gamebooks in particular? While my forthcoming YOU ARE THE HERO looks back to the creation of the gamebook genre, it also considers its future. And as I have various interactive fiction ideas in development, I have a vested interest in what DestinyQuest's fate means for the future of gamebooks.

Can print gamebooks only work now as crowd-funded projects, supported by a small, but loyal and dedicated, fanbase? Does their future lie in apps only, such as Warlock's Bounty , and Temple of the Spider God ? What do you think?

And while we're considering the future, consider this.