The looking-back-at-2014 post

31 December 2014

It seems fitting to begin the first “real” entry of this new blog with a retrospective of the year that was 2014. You know, like everybody else. Might as well kick off the new year right.

New Year's Eve in Times Square is cold cold cold. I prefer watching it this way. On TV.

New Year’s Eve in Times Square is cold cold cold. I prefer watching it this way. On TV.

2014 was a year of adjustments. One year ago, Janet and I had recently moved to Brooklyn into a new apartment with our new baby girl, Eve. It was a huge change in many respects. Earning your living as a creative person can be a very rewarding life, but it can sometimes be a very selfish one. It requires you to spend a ludicruous amount of time living inside your own head, and it becomes very easy to neglect everything else. I have spent a lot of time over the last year struggling to make that adjustment and think outside myself. I wanted to become a better person so I could be a better dad. Eve smiles when she sees me, laughs if I make silly faces, and calls me “Daddy!” with excited eyes. So I can only assume I’ve done a good job.

Eve appearing to love me. I've been told by other parents that I have about ten years until this changes.

Eve appearing to love me. I’ve been told by other parents that I have about ten years until this changes.

2014 has been a year of endings – specifically the Blackwell series. On April 24th, the fifth and final game in the Blackwell series was launched. I released the first Blackwell game in 2006, and first conceived of the idea as far back as 2002. So these characters have been living in my head for a long, long time. It hurt to end the series – god, it hurt – but I knew it was time. I am still feeling the loss – it feels weird to hear about some arcane bit of New York history and realize that I can’t make a Blackwell game based on it – but at the same time I feel good about it. Epiphany is the game I am most proud of. It garnered the most positive reviews, has resulted in the most fanmail, and (most importantly!) had the highest profit record of any game we’ve done. If it had to end, I’m glad it went out on such a high note.

So long, you two. It was a pleasure.

So long, you two. It was a pleasure.

2014 has been a year of growing. At least, in terms of this company. One year ago we hired our first full time contractor- Ben Chandler, who did the art for Blackwell Epiphany as well as the upcoming Technobabylon and Shardlight. That worked out so well that we did it again. Francisco Gonzalez, known for his Ben Jordan series as well as the Wadjet Eye published A Golden Wake. Francisco has taken on a lot of things I would ordinarily do myself, which has enabled us to do many more things than we could do before. He’s taken on two projects and they are both in very good hands.

So what’s in store for 2015? A lot, we hope! We have plans to port more of our catalog. Janet has already pushed the first three Blackwell games onto iOS, and has been working to finish up the last two. After that she plans on starting the herculean tasks of porting Primordia and Resonance.

As for new games? We have three in the works. If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you probably know what they are. We haven’t officially announced them yet, although we haven’t been keeping them a secret. More on that in the new year!

See you in 2015,

-Dave

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2 Responses

  1. misterhaan on 20/01/15 @ 11:53 am

    i was sad yet satisfied with the blackwell ending too, and am excited to see what you come up with next! also as a fellow dad i know how great it is to have your little girl smile at you and say “daddy,” even if part of you wonders if she just called you “doggy.”

    • Dave Gilbert on 21/01/15 @ 9:14 am

      I’d say it was more disconcerting to hear her say “Dad” and wonder if she said “Dead.” But no. Couldn’t be.