‘Portal’ lead designer Kim Swift joins Xbox Game Studios

Kim Swift, a designer best known for her work on Portal and Left 4 Dead, has today (June 21) joined the team at Xbox Game Studios.

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In a Tweet posted earlier this afternoon, Xbox Game Studios confirmed that Kim Swift would be joining them “to accelerate our innovation and collaborate with independent studios to build games for the cloud.”

Our team focuses on three pillars in our games: Community, Innovation and Inclusivity. Today, @K2TheSwift joins us in XGS Publishing to accelerate our Innovation and collaborate with independent studios to build games for the cloud.

Welcome to the team, Kim! pic.twitter.com/pM3E5Xxyrt

— Xbox Game Studios Publishing (@XboxPublishing) June 21, 2021

This news follows a recent announcement from Microsoft (June 10) stating that they are currently working to create a “console free” streaming device and are planning to expand cloud gaming software to PCs this year. 

Kim Swift landed her first major title when her 2005 demo Narbacular Drop was noticed by Valve at a career fair. From there she was hired by Gabe Newell personally to create Portal, a spiritual successor to Narbacular Drop.

As well as her leading work on the Portal series, Kim Swift has also worked on a number of Valve titles including Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 and the first two episodic sequels of Half-Life 2. 

Portal 2. Credit: Valve Corporation

More recently, Swift has worked on a variety of projects at places such as Amazon, Google Stadia and EA – including on 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Earlier this month, Microsoft expressed plans to increase the amount of first-party games they would be releasing for the Xbox Game Pass service, which will include “role-playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more.”

Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty said earlier this month: “We know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content. So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows.”

In other news, Abandoned – a game currently at the center of an extensive Hideo Kojima themed conspiracy – has received a delay to the launch of its trailer app. 

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