To av Runic Games-grunnleggerne går av

I et innlegg på Runic Games' forum (Torchlight) skriver to to av grunnleggerne bak studioet, Travis Baldtree og Erich Schaefer, at de skal forlate utvikleren. Baldtree, som har hatt tittelen president i selskapet, skriver:

"I should say from the outset that this is an amicable departure, that I consider the amazing team at Runic my friends and family, and that it is a privilege that they've let me get away with running the place for this long. I love them all, and the biggest downside to all of this is that I won't get to see them every day. They are the reason that Runic has succeeded, and are the best group of people you could hope to meet or work with."

Dette betyr selvfølgelig ikke slutten for deres del, men heller begynnelsen på noe nytt. Baldtree forteller litt om hva som skjer videre for ham og Erich Schaefer.

"I'm personally excited - oh, hell, I'm SUPER-STOKED - to be getting back to smaller-scale development, where I can wear many, many hats performing many, many different kinds of tasks. Working within the boundaries of limited means and resources is the best fun I've ever had, and that sort of work satisfies me in a fundamental way - I can't wait to be working that way again."

Den nåværende Runic Games-sjefen, Max Schaefer (broren til Erich og medgrunnlegger), har fulgt opp med sitt eget innlegg hvor han forteller hva utviklerens planer er for fremtiden:

"Yes, it's true. Our beloved President and lead key-masher, Travis Baldree, is leaving us, as is Erich Schaefer, my brother and long-time biz partner. As Travis said in his statement, this is a perfectly amicable parting, and we wish them nothing but the best in their new endeavor. I'm sure we'll all be watching and waiting for what they make next. It's sure to be wonderful."

"Meanwhile, the rest of us here at Runic are excited to move on and continue to work on this crazy, cool, completely secret project we've been working on. We're champing at the bit to talk about it, but will wait until we're ready to show it off. Travis' right-hand man for over ten years, Marsh Lefler, has seamlessly moved into the lead chair at Runic, and after we've sent Travis and Erich off in a bourbon-fueled celebration/wake, you'll find that Marsh is more than capable of taking the reins, and the other 20-something Runic members all eager and able to pull the extra weight. Change is scary, but it's often good. And this is healthy for both Runic, and Travis and Erich."

Det ser altså ut til at det hele har gått fredelig for seg, og Travis' nye e-postsignatur viser til noe som heter Double Damage Games. Det kan være navnet på deres nye studio, noe vi garantert kommer til å skrive om i tiden som kommer.