OG's BLOG

Many outlets in the game press have been showering Civ IV with accolades, including Game of the Year by several notables (GameSpy, GameSpot, Time magazine, IGN…). I’m not going to sit here in false humility and say “Aw, shucks.” To the contrary, I’m honored, and very happy that our hard work was recognized by our peers. And to be completely immodest, it is a good game.

But it’s a funny thing. I’ve released several games, and worked equally hard on all of them. Anybody in the game industry will tell you, you work equally hard on every title, whether or not it’s successful, whether or not it’s critically acclaimed. But it’s very rewarding to work on a title that is both.

In this case, as Art Lead, it’s particularly rewarding that Firaxis is beginning to lose the Bad Art stigma. Time was, every article you read about our fine company said something along these lines: “Firaxis, despite its lackluster graphics, has shipped yet another solid game…” I have yet to read negative art comments like that regarding Civ IV, and I’ll take that. We set out to elevate the graphics, and although I know we still have a long way to go, the proof is there that we’re getting away from the ghosts of our past performance.

Everybody worked really hard on this title. I’m very proud of my team.