Dear forum-goers!
Those of you that frequent the site and/or follow me on Twitter will know I have left the building (so to speak). I've little desire in debating the reasons for my leaving, what did/did not happen in the Formula One series over the years and why certain decisions were taken - that can perhaps come at a much later date and outside of this forum. For what it's worth I decided to resign even though F1 could be on the cusp of being bigger than it has ever been before. I want the F1 team, in particular the guys I spent many years working with, to take future games in the direction they feel comfortable with and without me casting a distracting shadow. My talking about what might have been helps nobody. I've every faith in them creating a fantastic title on the more powerful consoles next year. I won't engage in discussion, this is a goodbye post. I'm actually very excited to play the next title as a gamer rather than the developer this time around! The handling is where I had hoped we'd have been with the initial F1 2010 game. It's typical we would (they would?) reach that point as I decided to move on. An opportunity came along and I weighed everything up, for myself and my family. It was a difficult decision to make, indeed I agonised over it for some time because I thoroughly enjoyed myself and got to work on a series dedicated to a sport so close to my heart and with wonderful people to boot. I might even invest a few hundred pounds in a wheel and pedals setup... it's that good! But enough of that romantic nonsense! I'll only be accused of promoting the next game even though I won't benefit from it.
I wanted to post one final time to thank you, the guys and gals that take the time out to post (and read) on this, the official forum. Over the years I spent countless hours reading and sometimes even involving myself in the debates that raged in this small pocket of the Internet. You are important and I tried to impress this upon people. I got to appreciate the varied views on display. I understand it's difficult to convey your point of view in text alone and never took anything personally. My only regret is not getting to the point where I'd made the game I really wanted to make - because that, I feel, is what many of you would have liked to have played. Whether or not I'd ever be entirely happy I'm not sure - it might well be an impossible goal :smile:
Please, do try to get onboard with what the team are working incredibly hard to bring to a store near you in 2015. They have an enormous amount of passion and you can help fuel their desire to make the very best Formula One game. Those that wish to follow me on the next adventure, please do so. I'd love for you to come along. Those that want to blame me for anything and everything, as you were. I promise the current issues in the real world of Formula One are not of my making.
Thank you for your interaction, commitment and time. The F1 community made everything worthwhile. Au revoir.
Jenson for Drivers Champion in 2015 (who says us designer types can't dream?)
Steve
