Not a popular man right now.

So, Damnation! Wasn't that awesome? Umm, actually, I haven't gotten around to it yet, and apparently I am not alone. The shooter with the "climb everything" claim to fame performed quite poorly at retail, which has been very bad news for developers Blue Omega - and didn't do any better with critics. Not that even universal applause would compensate Blue Omega for the lack of profit, or be likely to sway them from their recent decision to sack the entire development team of the beleaguered shooter.

It's not entirely clear what went wrong with Damnation. It had a very promising beginning, winning design competitions and intriguing gamers with its third-person action, particularly the multiplayer manifestations of the game's hyped verticality.

A bit of legal fuss between Blue Omega and Codemasters might provide a few clues. Blue Omega are suing the publisher, taking issue with the fact that subcontractor Point of View allegedly continued work on Damnation after Codemasters had already taken Blue Omega off the project, which had always been their baby. Perhaps Blue Omega consider Point of View to have spoiled their artistic vision and scuttled the title's chances of success?

Codemasters aren't the only company in Blue Omega's legal crosshairs; they're also suing Velvetelis, another sub-contractor brought in to assist on Damnation, for causing delays that caused Blue Omega to miss deadlines with Codemasters. This could certainly have been a contributing factor to the relationship between developer and publisher turning sour, and to having the not-quite-complete title wrenched from Blue Omega's loving maternal embrace to be finished off by someone else.

It's a murky and unhappy story - especially for the former Damnation developers, no doubt gloomily searching for work in the depressed employment market - but also for gamers, who have apparently been landed with yet another oh-so-promising property that didn't quite make it.