Graeme "Fifth Wheel" Devine departs id

As reported by Gamasutra, Graeme Devine has left id for Ensemble Studios. This is interesting for two reasons. First, I was decidedly curious when he went to id just what his role would be. He seemed very much like a clown at a funeral at id, or maybe a jazz player in a death metal band. Suffice to say: out of place. He's a game designer. They don't design games at id. They make engines. "That's why id hired him, idiot," you say. Ok, fair enough. How did he influence the design of id games during his (4yr?) tenure? ... Yeah, I can't think of anything either. I think this is further evidence that id is a one-man tech shop. Someone of Graeme's background and capabilities can go there and have essentially no visible influence. So that's interesting point #1, that the question of how Graeme would change id software can now be answered with a resounding "not at all". The second interesting point is the natural follow-up: "How will Graeme change Ensemble?" Unfortunately, my prediction is a resounding "not at all". With the release of the gorgeous and totally uninspiring Age of Mythology, Ensemble is demonstrating that they've grown too big to take any risks. They're consciously and very carefully stepping in the footprints of Blizzard. Run your recipe into the ground. Inflate the company and the development budgets so big that nothing original can take seed. Stay the course. Publishers the world over live (and die) by this creed.

Also, I sense a major mismatch between Ensemble's gameplay preferences and Graeme's. Graeme has historically preferred strong single-player, immersive gameplay (if his Trilobyte resume is any indication). I just don't see Ensemble veering from its strict multiplayer-centric RTS focus. I'd love to be wrong, though. If nothing else, I'd like to see someone take the design helm over there who is capable of zooming out and putting a little anti-establishment perspective on their games.