Portal lead filling Dark Void dev position

Valve's The Orange Box was notable for a variety of reason, not the least of which being the innovative puzzle game pack-in Portal. While fairly short, Portal gained notoriety for its darkly humorous storyline set in the Half-Life universe, as well as its devious puzzles. Beyond being named GameSpot's Best Puzzle Game of 2007, Portal was crowned Game of the Year at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards.

This week, Dark Void developer Airtight Games announced that it had hired away Portal design lead Kim Swift. The noted designer, who also contributed to Valve's survival horror shooter Left 4 Dead, as well as its fast-selling follow-up, will serve as project lead at Airtight, focusing her efforts on creating "games aimed at a more diverse audience." Details on specific projects were not revealed, with Airtight only noting that Swift is currently building out a development team.

Formed in 2004, Airight's first project will be Capcom's high-flying action game Dark Void, which is due for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC next year. The studio includes several key members of the now-defunct FASA Studio team, which worked on Microsoft's highly regarded Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge for the original Xbox.