The Second-party developer reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Second-party developer

In the video games industry, a second-party developer is a developer who, while being a separate entity from any console manufacturer, is tied to a specific one to the exclusion of others. Examples:

• Sony
  • Naughty Dog

• Nintendo
  • Silicon Knights
  • Factor 5
  • Retro Studios

• Microsoft
  • Rare (formerly a second-party developer to Nintendo, until acquisition by Microsoft)

Compare to first-party developer, third-party developer.

(To be honest, the line between first- and second-party developers is a blurry one - the defining characteristic is that second-party developers stand out from the manufacturer, while first-party developers are considered to be more or less a "division" of the console maker itself.)

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