Portal Designer Leaves valve for Airtight Games

Kim Swift, the designer behind Valve’s Portal, has left the developer to join Airtight games, the developers behind the upcoming Dark Void.

Aside from her work on Portal, Kim Swift was also did important work on both Left 4 Dead games.

“I’ve learned so much and had some amazing experiences at Valve. But when I heard I had the opportunity to work on innovative titles with my friends over at Airtight, I couldn’t pass it up.”

Airtight is, of course, glad to have her, as President Jim Deal explained:

“We are thrilled to work with Kim. Her addition to the team represents a strategic move by Airtight Games into new and broader gaming markets.”

Valve is easily one of my favorite developers, and while there are obviously a lot more talented people working there, it still pains me to see the mind behind Portal jumping ship.