Ghost Recon Commander tied with Draw Something for the runner up slot in the Best Free to Play Game in the Golden Joystick Awards. Thank you to everyone who voted. Congrats to Slender which won.

Uncharted Isles, Mineshaft, Contraption…

In the industry, games are pitched every day. Some make it to the next stage, but many don’t, like those named above. We regret to announce that we’re adding Shaker: An Old-School RPG to the latter list.

We are profoundly grateful to our fans. You were as excited about this game as we were, and from the very beginning, you encouraged us to post more details about it and even sent in fan art! We have received backing from over 7,000 of you and raised a quarter million dollars in just a few days (!). That’s humbling and wonderful.

We are profoundly grateful to the press. You covered our Kickstarter’s launch and story update and gave it as much attention as you possibly could. It was through your efforts that many heard about our game.

We are grateful to our friends in the game industry who gave us suggestions, support and critique. We are a wonderfully tight-knit community, and we owe you for all your feedback and friendship.

Ultimately, our pitch just wasn’t strong enough to get the traction we felt it needed to thrive. Sure, it may have made it. We could have fought our way to a possibly successful end. In reading your feedback and talking it over internally, however, we decided that it made more sense to kill it and come back with something stronger.

In game design, mercy killing is the law.

So, please accept our thanks and apologies in equal order. Expect something more soon.

You may keep in touch by joining our forum, following @LootDrop on Twitter and friending us on Facebook. Again, thanks so much for your help and support!

- Tom & Brenda

As an indie game developer, Loot Drop is excited to once again sponsor and participate in IndieCade, the international festival of independent games. Held each year in Culver City, California, the festival features a diverse array of amazing indie games, workshops and lectures. This year, Loot Drop’s John Romero will be interviewing Spacewar! creator Steve “Slug” Russell in a conference keynote.

Brenda Garno was covered in Edge Online’s feature “Why I Make Games.” Thanks, Edge!

John Romero is often asked about a possible return to making shooters. Designer, level designer and programmer on the iconic DOOM, Quake and Wolfenstein games, Romero is known for his work in shooters more than any other genre. Here, he reveals a microscopic amount of his future plans with Eurogamer.

Loot Drop is pleased to announce that it has signed a deal with game publisher and developer Ubisoft to work on an undisclosed Facebook title. For more information, see Ubisoft Bets Big on TV Show Games for Facebook, Signs Loot Drop for Publishing Deal.

Loot Drop’s CEO John Romero was named the most influential person in Facebook and Social Games by AOL’s Games.com blog using PeekYou’s rating system. According to the article, “the service ranks people on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their influence across the Internet.”

John ranked ahead of such notables as Zynga’s Mark Pincus and Digital Chocolate’s Trip Hawkins as well as representatives from companies such as Playdom, PopCap, Wooga and Playfish.

We are grateful for the honor to be amongst such an incredible group of people. Thank you! See the entire list here: The Top 10 Most Influential People in Facebook and Social Games.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 — KansasFest 2012, the Apple II convention scheduled for July 17–22 in Kansas City, Missouri, comes just two months after the twentieth anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D, the first-person shooter that, when released for MS-DOS in 1992, defined a genre that is still popular today. Not only did the game, which was later ported to the Apple IIGS, use as its inspiration the Apple II game Castle Wolfenstein; Wolfenstein 3D’s creators got their start working at Apple II disk magazine Softdisk.

To commemorate that anniversary and heritage, KansasFest 2012′s keynote speech will be delivered by none other than Wolfenstein 3D co-creator John Romero.

Romero, whose Apple II credits include Dangerous Dave and Dark Castle, has been a pillar of the electronic entertainment industry for nearly as long as the Apple II has existed. Popular Apple II magazine inCider published Romero’s first program in 1984, with many more of his titles to appear in both inCider andNibble. Romero later joined Origin Systems, publisher of the Ultima and Wing Commander games, as a programmer, after which he co-founded Inside Out Software. At both companies, he ported software to and from the Apple II and Commodore 64. With KansasFest 2008 keynote speaker Lane Roathe, Romero also co-founded software company Ideas From the Deep, where he developed the Apple II game Zappa Roidz as well as the InfoDOS operating system for Infocom’s Apple II games.

In 1989, Romero joined Softdisk, a stint that introduced him to three important people: John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack. The four co-workers left Softdisk in 1991 to co-found id Software, which a year later revolutionized electronic gaming and demonstrated the potential of the shareware distribution model when they released Wolfenstein 3D, which sold 100,000 units in its first 18 months. Later id Software blockbusters, including DOOM and Quake, further cemented the company as an industry powerhouse. Romero has since been involved with many additional high-profile games, including Deus Ex, Daikatana, and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. He most recently co-founded social games company Loot Drop and as a consultant developed of the popular Facebook game Ravenwood Fair, which currently has nearly five million users.

Despite such overwhelming success and a storied résumé, Romero has long celebrated his roots as an Apple II programmer. In 1998, he reunited forty Apple II programmers in celebration of the Apple II turning 20 the year before. So prestigious were Romero’s invitations that in attendance was Apple II inventor Steve Wozniak, KansasFest 2003′s keynote speaker. It was this event that later inspired Jason Scott, keynote speaker at KansasFest 2009, to begin production on a documentary of the 6502 processor, which powers the Apple II. Romero appeared in Scott’s text-adventure documentary, Get Lamp, and will support Scott’s upcoming 6502 film as well.

From Commander Keen to DOOM and Quake, Romero’s games — 97 to date — regularly become household names and spawn countless imitators. Romero’s reflection on the role of the Apple II in both his and the industry’s successes will captivate KansasFest 2012 attendees.

KansasFest is an annual convention offering Apple II users and retrocomputing enthusiasts the opportunity to engage in beginner and technical sessions, programming contests, exhibition halls, and camaraderie. KansasFest was originally hosted by Resource Central and has been brought to you by the KFest Committee since 1995. Any and all Apple II users, fans, and friends are invited to attend this year’s event. Registration details will be announced on the KansasFest Web site in early 2012. For photos, videos, and presentations from past KansasFests, please visit the event’s official Web site at http://www.kansasfest.org/

Ravenwood Fair is nominated for multiple awards in the prestigious Game Developers Choice Online Awards! John Romero was lead designer on Ravenwood Fair, Brenda Garno Brathwaite was game designer and creative director and Christine MacTernan was the game’s lead artist. The awards will be awarded on October 12, 2011 during GDC Online in Austin, Texas.

Ravenwood Fair is nominated for Best Social Network Game, Best Online Game Design and Best Audio! Romero developed the game as a consultant for lolapps. It is published by lolapps/6waves.

IndieCade is a conference held annually in Culver City, California, and Loot Drop is proud to be a sponsor this year. IndieCade is held October 6 through 9th.

Now in its fourth year, IndieCade’s professional conference is by and for the independent game creator community, related industries, and their many supporters.