Romero leaves Midway

By Games Industry.biz Published 13 July, 2005

No longer running the Gauntlet.

Doom co-creator John Romero has confirmed rumours that he is no longer working for Midway, where he was working as project lead on the latest incarnation of the Gauntlet franchise at the company's San Diego offices.

In a short post on his personal website, Romero says that he "can definitely confirm that I have left Midway - I've been gone for about 3 weeks."

He was hired by the Midway San Diego studio in October 2003, along with fellow Ion Storm founder Tom Hall - with whom he had also founded Monkeystone Games in July 2001 following the closure of the Ion Storm Dallas office. His stint at Ion Storm was marked by controversy, with the much-hyped first-person shooter Daikatana eventually flopping after countless delays and almost embarrassingly brash marketing.

According to Romero, the development schedule for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows is unaffected by his departure. "Midway says that development of Gauntlet hasn't been impacted by my departure and is scheduled to ship this fall," he commented. "I can't say anything more about the situation and hope you all understand."

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows is set to launch on PS2, Xbox and PC in October. As for Romero himself, he says that he is "currently looking at lots of exciting developments right now and it'll be a couple months before I can announce my next destination.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jumpdeveraux #1 7 years ago

    I imagine development was unaffected even when he was actually there.

    I knew he couldn't run the gauntlet... pfft.

  • drumbaby #2 7 years ago

    "...currently looking at lots of exciting developments right now and it'll be a couple months before I can announce my next destination."

    Daikatana 360!!

  • Eldritch #3 7 years ago

    Checkout Romero's website. Hilarious. Even better: His wife's website.

  • asphaltcowboy #4 7 years ago

    That man is a walking disaster...

    EDIT: Link Eldritch?
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/05 @ 15:30

  • Thamuhacha #5 7 years ago

    http://www.rhaluka.com/
    It's absolutely brilliant.

    And he is a complete tool. In the right place at the right time back in the bedroom programmer days, and bugger all since.

  • marilena #6 7 years ago

    Not exactly the type that can hold on to a job, is he?

  • MikeD #7 7 years ago

    "currently looking at lots of exciting developments right now and it'll be a couple months before I can announce my next destination."

    Back to monkeystone, eh?

    Hyperspace delivery boy 2!

  • Eldritch #8 7 years ago

    I love the photos on their websites. Pure genius.

  • Eldritch #9 7 years ago

    It's like something straight out of "Charmed".
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/05 @ 15:54

  • kangarootoo #10 7 years ago

    Romero leaves dessert. "I'm full" he said. Again, no one cares.

  • Kiigan #11 7 years ago

    Just out of interest, why the nasty comments? Do any of you actually know him and have some reason to dislike the guy (or his wife), or have any of you worked with him and have something to relate?

    I'm not saying he's not a tool (he may be, I don't know) but I just don't get the hostility... is it still cool to slag off Daikatana then? Shit, some gamers would prefer it if nobody ever tried anything.

  • kangarootoo #12 7 years ago

    Fame and talent are not the same thing. Some people think they are. Some people dislike that attitude. I think that about sums it up.

    We probably are being a bit harsh, but that is the perogative of the public when commenting on celebrities. And when you say "nobody ever tried anything", what exactly did he try?

    Edit. Crap, I feel all petty now. He's probably a very nice guy. There, all better.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/05 @ 17:03

  • Gurgeh #13 7 years ago

    He was a decent level designer. He probably could be a decent level designer still, but I guess that's behind him now.

    "Have you got this in a size 8?"
    "No we ain got any of that."

  • ukdm #14 7 years ago

    Everyone is quick to forget he did the design for Commander Keen, Doom, Doom II and worked on Quake. His stint at Ion Storm solied his reputation quite a bit but you can't say he has never done anything. True, John Carmack was the brains of the operation producing the engines but he can't design a game to save his life. At the time Carmack + Romero = Brilliant ground breaking gaming. Please think before you speak people :-) Kangarootoo's dessert comment was very funny though hehe

  • sephy #15 7 years ago

    with the much-hyped first-person shooter Daikatana eventually flopping after countless delays and almost embarrassingly brash marketing.That and the fact the game was utter shit....

  • technos #16 7 years ago

    Heh. Here's what Romero did for Midway; First Monkeystone worked on the Area 51 multiplayer and multiplayer maps, then he initially was lead design on Gauntlet, but he found another guy to fill that position after a while. Basically he helped build up the Gauntlet team and did some other small design and programming tasks. But please, the hate is good. Keep it up.

  • Donglebomb #17 7 years ago

    Caught sight of Romero on When Games Attack the other day, they were doing a Behind The Scenes thing for Doom or something. He was wearing glasses and didn't have long hair. When did this happen? How long has he been trying NOT to look like a Poison groupie?

  • Tyronne #18 7 years ago

    Can this bloke actually finish any game aside from doom ?

  • kangarootoo #19 7 years ago

    I really want to leave him alone now, but I feel I have to post this anyway purely for the comedy value.

    http ://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=205

    I thought exactly the same thing when I heard the names of your sidekicks.

  • Martin #20 7 years ago

    What's up with the Rhaluka wife? Wasn't he married to Killcreek (y'know - with the horrible boob job?)

    And say what you want about Romero - he has a lot of good stuff to fall back on, even if it's back in the "glory days".

  • rocketScience #21 7 years ago

    having seen Doom III, maybe Romero was the real talent after all

  • inpHilltr8r #22 7 years ago

    Quite some time ago he claimed he was going to make me and every other gamer, his bitch. Since he has failed to follow through on that, his reputation must be considered to be in doubt.

  • spillz #23 7 years ago

    From Rhaluka's site: "I was born on 17th january 1985 and i finished highschool at the Nicolae Iorga High school. In the last few years of high school i began chatting with the one who ended up being my husband - John Romero"

    likes em young doesn't he?

  • technos #24 7 years ago

    "Quite some time ago he claimed he was going to make me and every other gamer, his bitch. Since he has failed to follow through on that, his reputation must be considered to be in doubt."

    You're bitching, aren't you?

  • speedjack #25 7 years ago

    Suggest you all read 'Masters Of Doom' - I've a new respect for the guy after reading it, and he played a far bigger part in making Doom what it was than most people give him credit for.

  • hulahoops #26 7 years ago

    He definitely seemed to be the lifeblood of design innovation at id. Since he's left they don't seem to be able to do anything but improve the engine.

  • Hunam85 #27 7 years ago

    Yeah, unless you realise that Quake 2 was infact an ingenius FPS and a landmark title, Quake 3 being one of the best multiplayer games ever, ok, doom 3 was abit dry in terms of level design, but no need to sully Q2/3 on that games account

  • kururin #28 7 years ago

    Yup, I remember reading a interview with Romero after Quake 2 released, and he was really surprised at how good it was even without him. :)

    "Suggest you all read 'Masters Of Doom' - I've a new respect for the guy after reading it, and he played a far bigger part in making Doom what it was than most people give him credit for."

    Definitely.

  • jlaakso #29 7 years ago

    So Romero botched Daikatana and spent a lot of money, making brash statements along the way. I don't know, it looks like to me that he's learned his lesson (grown up, maybe?). Maybe we all oughta cut him some slack. After all, his past accomplishments are not small. At least I'm actually interested in what he'll be up to next.

  • sumanai #30 7 years ago

    I honestly thought that no gamer wanted to even mention Daikatana? Maybe the shock has worn off. I've not played it, but given chance will. Anything that was so beaten to the ground by people, must be so bad it's worth a try.

    Don't see how his leaving will affect the development of Gauntlet. From what I've heard Gauntlet hasn't been actually developed for... well, ever.