Mark of the Ninja LAUNCHED!

I woke up this morning like I always do, walked the dog, fed him, showered and shaved. It felt like any other day, but sometime in the night, the game I'd spent the last year and a half working on had been made available for purchase. The review embargo isn't up for another hour as I'm writing this (although it will be up by the time this is posted), so I'm not sure what the critical reaction will be yet, but I'm feeling optimistic.

But in this brief calm before the storm, I just wanted to give my profound thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point. I was the lead designer on a game I'm incredibly proud of, but I didn't get here alone. To start, the team is Klei is simply amazing and every single one of them was instrumental in Ninja's success. I'm so lucky to be able to work with some amazing people. As you see their names in Ninja's credits, know every one of them is seriously phenomenal.

More broadly, thanks to all my colleagues, both local and afield, for your amazing insight and work. Even if you didn't directly comment on Ninja during a playtest, your games, writing and GDC talks all helped me possess the (admittedly, still quite limited) understanding of design I needed to make Ninja what I wanted it to be. And to everyone who has written something thoughtful about games, thank you. You made me want to aspire and reach further that I would have otherwise.

Especially, thank you to Michael Abbott, whose writing basically started me down a path of consideration and thoughtfulness when it came to looking at games as a form of creative expression. Plus, and I was only reminded of this last night, it was an invitation to a dinner that set up the partnership that led to Chris writing Ninja, so doubly thanks for that. Michael actually did something very special for us as well, expect it soon.

And yes, of course, a tremendous thanks to Chris Dahlen, Ninja's writer and a vital part of establishing the game's tone and atmosphere. Without doubt, the game would not be what it was without Chris' significant contributions.

To all my friends who supported me through some late nights, tolerated my absences from our usual activities and kept me sane through the process, thank you.

Finally, my wife, for her endless love and support during some stressful and busy times. I love you more than anything, bright-eyes.

Alright, enough being sentimental (but seriously, thank you all so much).

Now go play my video game!