Deus Ex, System Shock, and Thief Developer Legend Warren Spector Announces Retirement

Video game developer legend Warren Spector has announced his retirement from video game development.

The 70-year-old founding father of the immersive sim genre announced his retirement in a post on LinkedIn, saying he felt he had done what he set out to do over the course of his glittering career. He now plans to write a book or two and do some lecturing or consulting.

Spector announced his retirement admitting there are still a few games he’d like to make, but said the video game business had changed and he doesn’t find it fun anymore. He also left the door open to a return to development at some point in the future.

Here’s Spector’s statement in full:

While Spector is perhaps best known for his work on Deus Ex and Thief at Ion Storm, he also founded Junction Point Studios, developer of Disney’s Epic Mickey games. Spector retires as chief creative officer of OtherSide Entertainment, developer of a spiritual successor to Looking Glass's Ultima Underworld series called Underworld Ascendant. Spector's latest game, Thick as Thieves, failed to find an audience, and OtherSide suffered a round of layoffs.

Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.