I have more than a few friends in the game industry. Comes with the territory, especially when they start out, that they might be forced to look for new work when their project, or worse, the company tanks. I feel awkward about it sometimes, because I’m just the guy who periodically gets bursts of interest in working in games professionally, but lacks specific talent or drive to get noticed. People who don’t have this problem need to be employed.

Two guys come to mind, because they were respectively the project lead and lead worldbuilder for Lazarus. The latter built pretty much the entire “overworld” map for Lazarus, recreating the landscape of Britannia faithfully with few obvious differences, in Dungeon Siege. Well, that guy got a job at a company that’s still in business, but who laid off a bunch of people and he’s still in the lurch. Anyone who needs a really good worldbuilder, especially in the Seattle area, I’d be happy to give him a referral.

That guy I’m still worried about. The other guy landed at Iron Lore Entertainment, which you might have heard about closing. He worked on Titan Quest and its expansion pack, and on their last project, Soulstorm, the final expansion pack/re-release of Dawn of War, he was lead designer and producer. And he had to clear out his office before it hit shelves.

He’s also spent the past six weeks pounding the pavement looking for work. He’s struck out several places in the Boston area, where Iron Lore was, but he just told me he’s had at least one offer. So things are looking up.

Oh, and EIEIO was cold and miserable. Saw some good stuff, though. Can’t talk about it right now. I’ll probably chuck it up on my Destructoid blog when I can.