I'm sure most of you heard last week that John Romero got booted out of Midway San Diego and off the Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows team. Many people thought he was booted over a power struggle with J.E. Sawyer (of Black Isle fame) on the game. Well, today comes news that J.E. Sawyer has also left Midway San Diego and the game, so the theories were unfounded.
Unlike Romero (who supposedly won't announce where he is going or went for months), J.E. Sawyer is moving directly to Obsidian to work on Neverwinter Nights 2 and join up with a lot of the old crew from Black Isle. Of course these two departures can only mean bad news for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, a game I was actually excited about for a while there. I have a feeling, even though Midway is saying neither loss will affect the game, that this game will come out at a NARC-like price point of $19.99. Even though Romero lost a lot of luster over Daikatana, J.E. Sawyer at least brought a "name" to the game. Now the game is nameless unless Tom Hall is still working on it and chances are he would go wherever Romero would.
Weep for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, but be happy that Sawyer has joined Obsidian for Neverwinter Nights 2 and future projects.