Here’s some news that comes as absolutely no surprise. Days after discussing what a cluster f*** developing Blacksite: Area 51 turned out to be at the Montreal International Game Summit 2007, Harvey Smith is leaving his post as the creative director of Midway Austin, which he has held since November 2004. A senior member of the Austin Team confirmed the departure with GameTap, and while no specific reasons were cited, they explained that the departure was “by mutual agreement between Harvey and the studio.” Of course that could mean anything from exclaiming, “My job here is done!” and rushing boldly out the door to, “You’re not going to work here anymore, okay?” “Okay.”
While Smith obviously was unhappy with the working conditions at the company, I’d daresay the sudden drop off in sales once the game’s designer badmouthed the project was an equally determining force. Fear not for Harvey, however. As the lead designer on the original Deus Ex, I can think of any number of projects he’d be perfect for. Harvey Smith and Midway Austin Part Ways [GameTap] More »
In case you were still on the fence about whether or not to pick up a copy of Midway’s Blacksite: Area 51, lets see how the game’s designer Harvey Smith feels about the game. “This project was so fucked up”
So that’s probably a no. The comment came during a speech at the Montreal International Game Summit 2007 earlier this week, where Smith took the last few minutes to deliver a post-mortem on the game, which has been less than favourably received by critics and gamers. He explains that he wasn’t all that excited about the project in the first place, and the lack of enthusiasm led to a lack of polish. With a year to go, the game was disastrously off rails.” There were long delays just getting Blacksite playable, and once it was he says, “it went straight from alpha to final.”
Okay, definitely a no. Hit the link for more on a shining example of game development gone awry.
Blacksite’s Harvey Smith Asks, Why The Low Scores [Wired's Game | Life via GamesIndustry.biz] More »
