airtightgames - Kotaku

posts about #airtightgames more →
Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Dark Void Debut

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

boopadoo
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Here's the reason everyone's asking for:
[kotaku.com]

Pay? Power? Freedom? No, it's Brad Pitt.
Reply

Edited by boopadoo at 12/07/09 11:40 PM boopadoo was starred boopadoo was unstarred

Slanzinger
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
News of Valve just always makes me wonder when we're ever going to hear any more about HL2 episode 3... It's been at least a year and a half since they've said anything about it!
Reply

Slanzinger was starred Slanzinger was unstarred

che-che
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
i love how people can criticize other persons career moves, when they know nothing, of what was offered to her.

more money, more creative freedom, and maybe free soda;s from the fridge. whatever it is i am pretty sure it was something good. or maybe just the challenge of building a studio to reach its full potential there is no telling.

i bid good luck too her.

plus the name kim swift is pretty swift to have in your staff. thats why i would have hired her.
Reply

Super Violent St. Cannon- GOTY Edition promoted this comment che-che was starred che-che was unstarred

guitarheroguru
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Eh, who are we to judge? Bottom line is that she's in the gaming industry, and she's in a position to be able to make a decision like that. Most of us are A) are on the outside looking in and B) probably wouldn't take the ballsy risk. She can do what she wants; let's face it, she's already earned a niche for herself with Portal. No matter how you feel about this move, you can't take that away from her.

Kudos to her and hope she finds success wherever she lands.
Reply

LilSpitfire promoted this comment guitarheroguru was starred guitarheroguru was unstarred

riffleraffle
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Valve is a good company and they make good games. Can we stop pretending they're the most innovative people ever though? They make first person action and puzzle games for single player and multiplayer consumption. And they've been using the same engine for 5 years.
Reply

Slanzinger promoted this comment riffleraffle was starred riffleraffle was unstarred

Slanzinger
12/07/09

@riffleraffle: The same engine... which they've built on with every new release.
C'mooooon. Saying they've been using Source for five years is like saying that Epic have been using the Unreal engine for 11.
Reply

Slanzinger was starred Slanzinger was unstarred

Mortav
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Wow. What an idiot. I would kill a human-being to work at Valve.
Reply

CustomFirmware promoted this comment Mortav was starred Mortav was unstarred

NicolasCage
12/07/09

@Mortav: Even if that person were Gabe Newell himself? That's a crazy ultimatum for you right there.
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment NicolasCage was starred NicolasCage was unstarred

deanbmmv
12/07/09

@Mortav: If I push this button, someone somewhere will die and I get to work at Valve.

And damn you Nicolas Cage, you're not part of this movie, though you have a good point.
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

Atheist Jew
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Leaving Valve to work with a 3rd party dev studio is NOT a positive career move.
Reply

Atheist Jew was starred Atheist Jew was unstarred

hot_heart
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Oh, Kim. They won't be giving you a jetpack, you know.
Reply

hot_heart was starred hot_heart was unstarred

KefkaticFanatic
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
A newly hired student. Leaving Valve.

I'm sorry, what?
Reply

CustomFirmware promoted this comment KefkaticFanatic was starred KefkaticFanatic was unstarred

sbtim
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
valve does not need kim swift, gabe will make portal 2, by himself, during his lunch breaks. and it'll be great!
Reply

syafiqjabar of Mars promoted this comment sbtim was starred sbtim was unstarred

electroshockwave
12/07/09

@sbtim: I had to post this.
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment electroshockwave was starred electroshockwave was unstarred

deanbmmv
12/07/09

@electroshockwave: See I was debating that image or the image of before n after Valve with a caption of "I don't think he develops games in his lunch break, and thats a Valve Time lunch break"
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

DRaGZ
12/08/09

@deanbmmv: Y'know, I really do worry about Gabe, or anyone else with his BMI.

I mean, he is growing a third chin, for God's sake. I'd be willing for Valve to take a hiatus on updates and any pending games if it meant he can get back in shape so he doesn't...y'know...die.
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment DRaGZ was starred DRaGZ was unstarred

Spidery_Yoda
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Hmm. An employee leaving Valve. You certainly don't hear of that very often.

I think it's because (from what I can tell), compared to other developers, valve employees have a great working environment. They get to choose what they work on, and anybody on the team is able to suggest ideas and implement them. And so on.

So yeah. Somebody leaving Valve is unusual. I hope she has a good future at whoever those people are. Portal certainly was something special after all.
Reply

syafiqjabar of Mars promoted this comment Spidery_Yoda was starred Spidery_Yoda was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
This sucks for the chances of a Portal 2.

People that put out press releases announcing that they've moved companies need to get a life, it's not like she's a CEO, or Dude Huge.

Maybe Dudette Hugette?
Reply

Edited by Omnimon at 12/07/09 3:59 PM Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

GohanGVO
12/07/09

@Omnimon: Airtight Games put out the press release, not Ms. Swift.
Reply

GohanGVO was starred GohanGVO was unstarred

ssh83
12/07/09

@Omnimon: best post ever. keep it up. earn your star.
Reply

Omnimon promoted this comment ssh83 was starred ssh83 was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

@GohanGVO: Fair enough, but she still supplied and approved a quote for use.

Maybe in the games business a project lead moving is worthy of a press release, but it still seems rather Dude Hugeish to me.
Reply

Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

@ssh83: I agree, a pissy post worthy of some criticism.

It still seems odd to me that a person that's not 'executive level' gets a press release. Good for her though, working with friends is always fun.

The more important, and first point of my post, is that this sucks for any chances of a Portal 2. Even if it does come to be, will the game grow in a direction as innovative as the first? My guess is no.
Reply

Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

@ssh83: I think this sums up pretty well what I'm getting at: [monkeypressbutton.wordpress.com]
Reply

Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

bboyser8
12/07/09

@Omnimon: I actually think it might be a good thing for Portal 2. Why? I have a hard time believing that she'd leave Valve during development of Portal 2. Which means Portal 2 is probably almost done. I hope. D:
Reply

Omnimon promoted this comment bboyser8 was starred bboyser8 was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

@bboyser8: Highly doubtful, if we get a Portal 2, I am guessing we'll get a good load of hype.

But, I like your optimism. To the contrary, it's just as possible that she's fed up with how the game's coming along and decided to join her friends at Airtight.

I like your version of the story better.
Reply

Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

GohanGVO
12/07/09

@Omnimon: I think it is nothing more than a multi-faceted promotional tactic.

Those who knew of her work on Portal -- or recently learned of it through posts like this -- could be intrigued as to what Airtight Games are up to. "What is this studio doing right that lured her away?" one may ask.

From there, a website or two will be visited and Dark Void will inevitably be found. "Oh, this is from the Crimson Skies guys? Interest get!" one may remark.

BAM! PR at work!
Reply

GohanGVO was starred GohanGVO was unstarred

Omnimon
12/07/09

@GohanGVO: Which is exactly what the blog I linked to earlier laments. I fear you're probably right, sir... and that's depressing.
Reply

Omnimon was starred Omnimon was unstarred

deanbmmv
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
I guess we have to wait a while to see if she is moving up, down or across. Portal 2 seems to be a nothing but glimmer in fans eyes currently, so getting to take on work at a studio that hasn't become infamous for release dates could be a good thing. But the raw innovation at Valve may be something that you wouldn't want to leave behind.
Time will tell.

Video added cos its both cool, and seems to wind up a certain someone for some reason.
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

BubbleF**kingBuddy
12/07/09

@deanbmmv: Valve? Raw innovation? You almost sound as if you walked in here from 2004.
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment BubbleF**kingBuddy was starred

deanbmmv
12/07/09

@BubbleF**kingBuddy: Yeah, I guess raw innovation isn't the correct word.
But they have something, you know...
I dunno, someone can probably fill me in before i settle on 'x-factor'.

Oh I also looked up on 2004's games, daaaamn that was a good year.
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

sereal
12/07/09

@deanbmmv: I always wondered why modders never got ahold of portal and went nuts making lots and lots and lots of maps?
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment sereal was starred sereal was unstarred

deanbmmv
12/07/09

@sereal: There are several if you know where to look.
Though modding Portals into other games is a PIA. But obviously cool when you done it.
Gmod after several years still doesn't have it for example.
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

sereal
12/08/09

@deanbmmv: I was never a big portal fan my self. but I thought due to the mass popularity it would of exploded in the mod community with hundreds of level packs.
Reply

sereal was starred sereal was unstarred

fernandosolano
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Oh nice, I'll actually be able to play her games on my PS3. I can get behind that...
*goes back to giant sandwich*
Reply

fernandosolano was starred fernandosolano was unstarred

BubbleF**kingBuddy
12/07/09

@fernandosolano: Uh... Portal was on the PS3.
Reply

Vecha: One more Month promoted this comment BubbleF**kingBuddy was starred

ithyphallus, bonks morrigan
12/07/09

In reply to Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio
Airtight games must've given a heafty price to get someone from Valve, especially someone who worked on portal.
Reply

deanbmmv promoted this comment

deanbmmv
12/07/09

@ithyphallus, bonks morrigan: Portal, while great, wasn't a huge Valve project. More of an experiment, a play about with the Source engine.
So it wouldn't be too hard to poach that talent from Valve.
Its the guys who work on TF2 who you want to be acquiring.
Reply

deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#airtightgames

Kotaku

SUBSCRIBE TO Kotaku

Portal Designer Heads To Dark Void Studio

Dark Void Debut

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment