Sega Alliance launched, will provide marketing and production support for indies

Sega has announced a mobile initiative that it's calling the Sega Alliance, which seems like a publishing division of Sega Mobile.

Sega says the Alliance will "provide participating developers with comprehensive marketing and production support as well as creative consultation." In other words, this is Sega's version of Chillingo, where the company will find indie developers doing good work and back them up with production and creative support, as well as partnering in the revenues when the apps are released.

For a lot of indie devs looking for a spotlight, this is probably good news. As open as the App Store is, it can be hard to get seen by users and the press, and teaming with Sega is a good way to do so.

Jack Lumber is a new $.99 game on the App Store, and it's the first release through Sega Alliance. The game was created by Owlchemy Labsthe folks behind Snuggle Truck, and it's a game along the lines of Fruit Ninja, where you have to draw lines across your iPad or iPhone to cut wood instead of fruit. The game looks interesting, and we'll have to see how this Sega partnership helps its chances.