GB Feature: Iron Lore Entertainment Closure Interview
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GB: When did it become apparent that you might be forced to shut the studio down and how were the employees notified? What was the general mood around the office in the days leading up to the closure?
Paul: We kept the employees in the loop with regular meetings and special meetings whenever there was a significant event in the sales process. Our experience is unfortunately not that atypical for a developer - it can be a risky business. We all knew that, so we tried to keep everyone up to date as much as possible on the ups and downs as we went along. It was quite a roller coaster in the last few weeks, as we were pulling out all of the stops to find interim projects and any other sources of funding to bridge the gap. Our team was absolutely fantastic, as always, and stuck with Iron Lore until the very end. We didn't lose a single person, even when things were looking grim in the last few weeks. It's one of the things I'm saddest about in this whole thing - that such an incredibly talented, dedicated, and passionate team had to break up.
Given all of that, the mood of the company was all over the place. We were all hoping we could pull it out, and when we would get good news or it looked like we unearthed a project that was going to save us everyone was pumped. But then there would be a snag, or the project would fall through and we'd be disappointed. This continued right to the bitter end, as we were doing everything we possibly could to save the company. When time finally ran out, I think we were all a little bit in shock.
