http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Selection_2
I think they pulled it off because of the strong reputation of the original Natural Selection (which was a Half Life mod). Still pretty amazing, especially considering they developed the 3D engine from scratch.
IIRC they had a build out and no one cared too much - until one of their fans started putting out gameplay videos on youtube, every single day.
The firm recruited him to be their head of marketing after that.
I suspect rock paper shotgun had done the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Selection_2
I think they pulled it off because of the strong reputation of the original Natural Selection (which was a Half Life mod). Still pretty amazing, especially considering they developed the 3D engine from scratch.