3DR, R.I.P.  

This has been an absolutely shocking week. To think that after all these years 3D Realms is just gone...poof...it's just absurd. It's a bit like the feeling you might have if someone told you the sun wasn't going to come up tomorrow. It's not that the industry revolved around 3DR, but they were such an institution. The studio shutting down helps you to realize how vulnerable we all are, really.

3DR was always a bastion of developer-centric thinking and George and Scott have always advocated strongly for the rights of developers to be masters of their own destinies. Given how generous they have always been with their own time and advice, it's a real shame for it all to come down to this -- shuttered doors.

I was officially a 3DR employee for about 6 months back in 2007, while I was working with Scott to start up the company that would eventually become Radar. Even though I was working out of Vancouver at the time, I had an opportunity to visit 3DR in Dallas a few times, and hang out with George and some of the rest of the dev team.

One thing that was painfully clear from the minute you walked through the studio doors was...this was a company that loved games. Absolutely loved games. And there was a history there on the walls that would make any developer...hell, any publisher...proud. A legacy of innovation and quality and pushing the boundaries in business and design.

The people were extremely friendly and open, even given that I wasn't working on DNF and had very little interaction with any of them. You immediately had a feeling of walking into a tight-knit family that really believed in each other and really just wanted to make a great, great game.

It's a sad day. It's often easy to forget all the emotion and personal sacrifice that goes into developing a game. Then, to see that all dissipate into the ether with nothing to show for it, and on top of that to have to say goodbye to the company you built with your own hands, and your friends that are more like family...well.

I can imagine that heartbreaking doesn't really do justice to how it must feel. Words fail, really.

You'll be missed. All the best. Good night, and good luck.