Publish or perish. If the academic creed held true for the gaming industry, Ion Storm would be on its last life.
When John Romero left id Software in late 1996 after designing the smash hit Doom, he scored a rumored $25 million from publisher Eidos. His new company, Ion Storm, moved into the glass-roofed penthouse of the Chase Tower in Dallas and launched a publicity campaign that turned Romero into an industry poster boy. He promised that Ion's first game, Daikatana, would redefine the term "best-seller."
Three years later, Daikatana is almost 18 months late. Previews have been mixed at best, and more than 50 employees have left the company.
At the very least, a rumored $12.5 million buy-in by Eidos would've made a few employees rich. But so far that deal has failed to materialize. Now, the pressure is on. According to Romero, the game will ship this spring.
Whether it does or not, Ion Storm's most successful product to date may well be John Romero.
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