Seven years ago I got there and the future was really bright and exciting. I have the highest order of respect for the people who have worked there on Thief 3 and Invisible War, but looking back on Ion we peaked with the release of Deus Ex. I will not even begin to go into the struggles that happened, how many times Deus Ex zigged when a zag would have ended it. Somtimes I am amazed that it ever survived. The Hurdles it cleared were many and challenging.
Being in the awards ceremony pictured above has been one of the most thrilling moments in my career. I mean, I was sitting at a table in the nominee area near Will Wright and the Sims team. The Diablo II team was on the other side. It was like the Gaming version of the Academy Awards. "And the Game of the Year award goes to..." I will never forget that night.
The death of Ion was very slow and agonizing, but it was also a period of tremendous personal growth. Much good came out of that place, and I will miss it for a long time to come.
Every other day I drive by that building and it is hard to concieve that the offices are silent and empty now. At night all of the windows are dark except the lamp in one office that I guess no one remembered to turn off. (for any ex-ion guys, the lamp that still burns is in the DX3 Programmer Pit. Matt, weren't you the last one outta there?)
The office that I now work in is right across the street from the Ion corpse, and so far I have caught myself on autopilot everal times taking the Mopac exit.
There is something I learned when Origin died. All of the energy and spirit that created the great games there did not die with Origin, it just moved out of that building and spread through other teams, other projects. It continued to live and grow in new places. The same is now happeing with Ion Storm.
