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Portal Designer Kim Swift Giving Keynote Address at PAX Prime

Swift also worked on Left 4 Dead at Valve; she's now a senior designer at Amazon Game Studios for a secret project.

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PAX Prime organizers have announced this year's keynote speaker for the upcoming event.

Kim Swift
Kim Swift

Giving the address will be Kim Swift, who designed Portal and worked on the Left 4 Dead team at Valve. She is now a senior game designer at Amazon Game Studios, where she's working on something super secret.

"We really try to look for landmark people who have been pivotal to gaming culture to open our event, so you can understand why we are thrilled to have her at Prime this year," organizers said in a statement.

Previous PAX keynote speakers have included Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton, BioShock creator Ken Levine, and Fable designer Peter Molyneux, among others.

"We can't wait to hear the stories and insight she will share at Prime this year," PAX said.

Organizers also announced this year's concert lineup. The following performers and bands will play at PAX Prime, which runs August 28-September 1 in Seattle, Washington.

  • 7bit Hero
  • FreezePop
  • MC Frontalot
  • Returners
  • Bit Brigade
  • Protomen


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Expane

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Edited By Expane

Everyone should have cool names like Kim Swift. From henceforth, you may refer to me as Expane Strong or maybe Expane Dashing

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Xtraterry0

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Classic clickbait title from Eddie.

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Expane

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@xtraterry0 said:

Classic clickbait title from Eddie.

Clickers gonna clack!

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commanderxp90

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Edited By commanderxp90

Where is the Left 4 Dead 3? =(

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musalala

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God ...why is is wasting her talents at amazon?

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OldDadGamer

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OldDadGamer  Moderator

We can be certain of two things: One, she'll say cool things. Two, her speech will be far shorter and easier to understand than Molyneux's.

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elheber

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If the only thing she did was make the first Portal, I'd still think she deserved the keynote speech at PAX. Everything else is just a nice bonus.

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xlm1994

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So there is going to be a new IP? I don't think people working for Valve can count to 3.

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DrYuya

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Saw her front page pic and came in raring to go with this comment...then saw the picture here in the column and lost a little motivation...

But in the end I've decided what the heck, I'm desperate enough...so...

"I wouldn't mind sticking a companion cube in one of HER Portals!!!"

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40mdf0

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'Amazon Game Studios'

Fastest way to end your career

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WookiePower4K

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Edited By WookiePower4K

@40mdf0: Amazon will always need package handlers so there's still career opportunities there.

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40mdf0

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@wookiepower4k: +1

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vvulturas

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This lady's got some talent, and has shown adversity in the face of the industry's changing landscape, something most developers lack nowadays. I hope this Amazon Game Studios deal works out.

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ahpuck

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Portal and Left 4 Dead are awesome! Hopefully she can do it again.

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Scarf0

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The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt's "Summon the Bitches!"

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