An upbeat post to the Westlake Interactive web site announces that programmer (and rocket scientist) Duane Johnson is now an official employee of the company. It's great to hear a great Mac game advocate and programmer is going to find a new home after the recent restructuring at MumboJumbo and MacPlay. Duane's most recent work was on Sacrifice, though many will recognize him from his efforts with the Descent series and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force.

Here's the full scoop from Westlake:

Mac game programmer extraordinaire Duane Johnson has signed on as a full-time member of Westlake Interactive. Duane comes to us with years of Mac gaming experience, including the 3Dfx Glide and OpenGL versions of Decent 1 & 2, Decent 3, Tales of the Sward Coast (the Baldur's Gate 1 Expansion Pack), Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, and most recently Sacrifice. Duane is currently working on Project Muse, an announced game for release next year.

Westlake's relationship with Duane goes back quite a while; we've actually been trying to hire him on and off for over 3 years. And now we're very lucky to finally snag him:-) Welcome aboard, Duane!

It's also noted that Westlake's newest secret project, Muse, is set for release next year. While their project status page lists it as in "early development," this is the first date we've heard so far on the title. We'll keep you posted as anything new is announced.

Duane Johnson Joins the Westlake Team

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