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Blue Omega sends the Damnation devs home photo

Oh, Damnation. When I saw it in a hands-off demonstration session at E3 2008, I said that it looked good and sounded interesting, going as far as to say that it looked to be "a fresh and fast-paced take on shooters," which was promptly quoted in magazine advertisements on the game. That quote is on the wall of our Destructoid offices. I cringe when I see it now and think about how the final product came out.

Unfortunately, that rollercoaster ride for the game's devs continues with news of layoffs. Blue Omega Entertainment has laid off its games team, according to a tweet from programmer Geoff Rowland.

"The entire Blue Omega team was laid off today (well, starting Friday). If anyone has job openings, send them my way and I'll pass them on," Rowland said.

GamesIndustry reminds that Damnation won second place in the Nvidia Make Something Unreal Contest in 2004. Unfortunately, what they eventually made wasn't that unreal. Damn.








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Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools. Meet the rest of the team



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9 comments | showing # 1 to 9
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Bulkmailer's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:26
Bulkmailer
HAHA. Who put the quote up?
Deathofthedead's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:29
Deathofthedead
I still haven't played it, though I do intend to just so I can see for myself. But as crappy as the game may be, it sucks that these guys are out of jobs now.
Char Aznable's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:35
Char Aznable
Ouch, bummer that the entire team had to be axed at once.

In terms of sales figures, just how badly this game perform? I usually don't pay attention to that kind of stuff, but I'm curious to see what level of failure if required for mass layoffs like this.
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:38
Tubatic
Really sorry to hear all this going down. Especially difficult for these guys, since it seems like they had to fix other developer's work to get the product to where it ended up.

The internet's giving these guys alot of flak with a real "good riddance" sort of vibe. But, even the best devs can't overcome a tight deadline and a broken workflow.

Good luck to those guys. There are a few other Maryland-based studios, luckily, though pickings will still be pretty slim I imagine.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:47
Chronic Logic
The price for failure is unemployment.
Tye The Czar's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 09:47
Tye The Czar
DAMNATION! HOW COULD THEY SCREW IT UP!
Hammersmith's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 10:24
Hammersmith
I wonder if their sales numbers were better or worse than Bionic Commando..
Black Nexus's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 10:39
Black Nexus
Ouch, that's sad to hear.
KrazyKraut's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/01/2009 19:38
KrazyKraut
@Chronic Logic: yes and arrogance:
http://megagames.com/news/html/console/codemastersannouncesgenre-evolvingshooter.shtml from March, 8th 2008.
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