Looks like Felicia Day has finally decided on a way to monetize The Guild.  Reuters is reporting that The Guild will debut today on the new Independent Video channel on Xbox.  The entire 12-episode run of season 2 will be shown distributed first on Xbox 360’s Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune, and will also be ad-sponsored by Sprint.  After 4 weeks, the episodes will also be uploaded to the original website for the show, WatchTheGuild.com, embedded in an MSN video player so that Microsoft can control ads.  After February, the show can pursue non-exclusive deals. 

Some “fans” are already whining about selling out and so forth.  I’ve supported the show by buying the DVD and a nice t-shirt, but I know monetizing a show through things like that and donations through PayPal are tough, and cast and crew need to get paid, despite what the internet leechers think.  According to Reuters, Day had numerous offers but accepted the one that allowed her to keep the creative and business rights to the show.

Aside from the financial aspect, it’ll be interesting to see if The Guild gains or loses momentum from the deal.  On the one hand, The Guild was previously distributed through YouTube and widely embedded in blogs and so forth, which helped it gain it’s initial fame.  It looks like they will lose that with this deal, at least in the short term.  On the plus side, though, is that the show will be distributed in 9 languages in 26 countries through Xbox, reaching a potential 14 million viewers domestically and internationally.

Tune in starting today!