[Ganondorfo]

This is all your fault GAF, the second darksiders game wasnt even in the top 30 of goty 2012 from the official neogaf goty list...

[Lostconfused]

This is all your fault GAF, the second darksiders game wasnt even in the top 30 of goty 2012 from the official neogaf goty list...

How is GAF responsible for the quality of Darksiders II?

[Derrick01]

This is all your fault GAF, the second darksiders game wasnt even in the top 30 of goty 2012 from the official neogaf goty list...

Well yeah, it was one of the worst games to come out last year.

[Sober]

This is all your fault GAF, the second darksiders game wasnt even in the top 30 of goty 2012 from the official neogaf goty list...

Didn't really deserve to be any higher than top 25, really.

[zkylon]

Maybe I'm missing something but isn't there still chance for Vigil to be bought?

In any case, I didn't get to play their games yet, but sucks for everyone that's gonna lose their job and everyone that's not gonna be able to enjoy any more games.

[Tensketch]

Darksiders was the only game I really cared about in this whole auction. It's a complete joke that people were willing to pay for yet another military shooter but no one was willing to throw down the cash for a decent game with some original ideas.

I'm really sorry to hear this has happened. I hope for the best for everyone involved.

[Bpatrol]

Really? so ex-Vigil devs are willing to work for free now? I have some art they can make me, for free, if it's the case. ;) I do agree that it would be great to see some at Retro. Vigil had an incredible art team.

Payroll is not quite the same as buying out a studio. If every single person from Virgil were to get hired at Retro, it would still be cheaper than buying them out, and they would have spent nothing on a studio to shut down and combine. I would say if Retro hires Virgil people, that basically is getting people for free because you don't have to deal with their former studio baggage.

[IdreamofHIME]

So shit. The 1st game ended in the best cliffhanger ever and instead of going forward with that, they made a side game for the sequel.
Now we'll never get to see what happens next.
Fuck. Fuck.

[dmr87]

End on an era, thanks and best of luck.

[shinkansen.3000]

I'm so sad to hear about this, I really liked the first Darksiders and was looking forward to playing the second one and most of all the third one that was supposed to have the girl protagonist :(
Even though when I heard that Madureira left I knew that the tale was over....

RIP :(

Sad... so sad... :(

[sono]

I played Darksiders and absolutely loved it - I sunk hours and hours into it. I bought the disk and the digital download version when it subsequently came out.

I am really sorry to see Vigil go, best wishes to everyone that worked there

[Speedy Blue Dude]

Terrible. Vigil was very talented. Shame no one was smart enough to grab them. I wish the team best in bouncing back on their feet.

R.I.P Vigil.

[scitek]

I liked Darksiders 2 until it hit a wall and really sucked near the end. They were still a talented studio, though, so this really stings to hear.

[farnham]

nintendoooooo

[Boerseun]

I like the mechanics but dislike the settings, characters, art design and storytelling of the Darksiders series. These games will not be missed by me, and, unfortunately, they are the only games these guys ever made as a distinct development group. Sadly, now we'll never know just what they were capable of.

[tipoo]

This may be sacrilegious, but...So what? Both Darksiders (esp 2) were pretty boring imho. They took the worst parts of every genre and shoved them into one game.

[GraveRobberX]

The lack of support Darksiders II got from gamers still baffles me to no end. People complain about games not having enough content in them, and Darksiders II handled that and then some. Loot, leveling up, leveling up of loot, sidequests, side-dungeons, a combat system that's nearly as good as dedicated 3D action game, fantastic voice-acting, and freaking New Game Plus. ... We did this, you guys. ... It's our fault.

Well the Game didn't have enough content to satiate the appetite of people who paid for this game

The middle of the game felt tacked-on and just stretched out the story just to hit a bullet point of 10-20 hours of gameplay

World 3.5 was an abomination of taking all the mechanics you learned and throw that shit out the window and go for a third person shooter approach... why?

Loot got boring due to the same stats appearing on and on
You had maybe what 5-7 different weapons and then abilities thrown in at random
It really wasn't the "phat l00t" most expected, it was just a mirage made you to believe it

Most side-quests were fetch quests, nothing ground breaking there
Kill this, get that, do this, do that
Side-Dungeons by the time they became accessible you were to high-level

The "Limited Edition" was just a coy to get you to buy real early, then stagger the release of the content not by by the 30, 60, 90 day release schedule, but more so for to make gamers hold onto their copies and no second-hand sales.
It was almost a fucking hostage situation.
The DLC when released was so archaic to unlock/get, once you got it (by that time most had finished play-through one and were on two) you were to far ahead for it to be a challenge

Also New Game+ wasn't really NG+, it was just to stretch out your time in the game, make you hold your copy
There's a reason once you hit level 20 in Playthrough 1, all XP monsters gives, goes to shit aka non-existent, you have to finish and restart the same storyline over again
Most had to play through up until end of World 2 or start of World 3 just to finish off to get to level 30
Hell if you beta the game a second time, you were assed out from doing anything

They teased about level 40 gear and cap raises, most waited patiently, but with the THQ situation the way it was, it was no wonder why none of it came to fruition
(I left, maybe they upped, but it took too long)

Hell the Weapon Smithing gave me more joy then anything else
Look at my earlier post

I like the game dearly, but it was fucking flawed as hell
It showed by word of mouth, and the title didn't sell what they thought it will sell
Part 1 was a refreshing game, even if it gets labeled a Zelda clone, it was enjoyable and had decent tone, setting
2 was suppose to take that and refine it and make gamers feel that Vigil could evolve
They did so in some parts, but in other parts devolved/regressed

[PhoenixSFT]

While it sucks that the folks at Vigil will lose their jobs, I was never a huge fan of both Darksiders games. I struggled to finish the first, and couldn't even get halfway through the second. I know they have huge appeal here on GAF, so it sucks that the trilogy (?) won't be completed.

Hopefully the folks at Vigil will end up at other studios continuing to work on games that inspire them.

[Gaogaogao]

wish nintendo could have bought them, and help change zelda.

[Goldenroad]

Threads like this make the words Rest in Peace completely lose all their meaning.

[CoolMarquis97]

Fuck man. Just got Darksiders for free with PSN Plus and was really enjoying. Hopefully every Vigil employee can stay safe and gain jobs else where.

[grandjedi6]

Honestly I think Nintendo might have bid for them if they were anywhere else but Texas. You don't need two separate Texas studios.

And to make matters worse, its the same city. No one wants that.

[Coconut]

Very creative studio hopefully they all land on their feet. Thanks for making the legend of Zelda game Nintendo couldn't.

[Net_Wrecker]

Ugh, this sucks. DSII wasn't as good as the first, but they were still a really talented studio.

C'mon Nintendo, work some magic.

[tragic]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet.

The seats are empty.

We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen.

Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination.

Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times.

... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that.

Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone.

Their seats are empty.

It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun.

So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did.

I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time.

In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games.

And with that... my seat is empty.


Ben Cureton
Lead Combat Designer
Vigil Games


P.S. This is no place for a horse.

[PoweredBySoy]

Darksiders was excellent. This makes no fucking sense.

[ezekial45]

Take care and good luck, Ben.

[Infinite Justice]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

*pours 40*


Good luck in your future endeavours man and that goes for everyone else as well.

[GraveRobberX]

Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

Hope you land on your feet, good sir

To Arms!



Thanks for DS1 and DS2

Can you speak if there would have been a DS3? =3

[GuitarAtomik]

Darksiders 2 was pretty awesome. Not perfect, but still awesome. Better than the first game even. I don't care what anyone says.

[Glass Rebel]

Man, that was heartbreaking to read. Best of luck to you, Ben.

[-PXG-]

Damn.

[grandjedi6]

I hope you all manage to get new jobs in the Austin market.


I still maintain that Vigil not getting bought has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with location. The company had talent.

[Ricker]

Why did no one picked them up with a great IP like Darksiders that still had a lot to say...instead of freakin Homefront...shouldn't say that but man I loved Darksiders.

[NullPointer]

So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did.

[shagg_187]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

NO, NO, NO! Good God no! I stopped reading at Codename: Crawler. I can't read anymore. It's just too heartbreaking.

EDIT: Now my boss has left. Now I can shed a tear gracefully, yet you stated not to do so.

:(

[2San]

Damn, best of luck tragic.

[Black Republican]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

havent played D2. but i really enjoyed the original, god speed man :)

[Coolwhip]

snip

Thanks for sharing and good luck finding a new job.

What do you think went wrong exactly? Did Darksiders just not appeal to the mass market, or were the costs just too high to make the games?

[Nokterian]

Best of luck sir,hope will find a way.

[V_Ben]

Shit man, reading stuff like that is so hard. Best of luck to all you guys :/

[Leviathin25]

Good luck Ben! Cant believe you guys didnt get picked up. I enjoyed Darksiders one and two.

Keep your head up.

[DieH@rd]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

:(

[Oersted]

Ugh, this sucks. DSII wasn't as good as the first, but they were still a really talented studio. C'mon Nintendo, work some magic.

nintendoooooo

Again, they hired some Vigil guys.

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

Damn it, i´m close to tears. We wish you all the best luck.

[Dizastah]

I wish someone would just snatch them up. Nintendo? Sony? MS? COME ON!

[SpacePirate Ridley]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

This nearly made me cry :(
Hope it all goes well in the future for you and all the people that worked at Vigil

[Mavromatis]

My name is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat Designer at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet. The seats are empty. We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood light, but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen. Am I sad? Well yea. I've been in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination. Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times. ... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that. Vigil was filled with people that I would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are gone. Their seats are empty. It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doing what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun. So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game players. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, our goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did. I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. They do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time. In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive and negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games. And with that... my seat is empty. Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games P.S. This is no place for a horse.

Good luck in future. Hope that game idea somehow makes into reality.

[Fireblend]

(...) Ben Cureton Lead Combat Designer Vigil Games

You helped make one of my favorite games and franchises this generation. I truly thought Darksiders was meant to be a lasting franchise, and even though I never got around to playing the second one, I still kept updated with most news coming out from Vigil. It's a shame that's now gone, and although I know it's something that happens all the time, it's hard not to feel discouraged at the lack of enthusiasm for such a promising franchise and development team from the rest of the industry. Thanks for the hours of fun though, those are never going away.

I truly hope you and the rest of the extremely skilled team at Vigil go on to even better things. Keep up the brilliant job!

[Coolwhip]

Would be nice if people stopped quoting a huge post in it's entirety.

[Zoibie]

Man, that was a heartbreaking read. I always considered Vigil to be up with the best of them so this news was really shocking. Best of luck to you and everyone else at the company.