Warren Evan Spector was born on October 2, 1955. He is an American game designer, director, writer, producer, and production designer. He is known for creating immersive simulation games that allow players to make many choices about how to progress. The choices players make affect how the game plays out in later parts. He is most famous for creating the highly praised game Deus Ex, which combines elements of first-person shooter, role-playing, and adventure games. In addition to Deus Ex, Spector worked at Looking Glass Studios, where he helped create several well-received games, including Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II, System Shock, and Thief: The Dark Project. He currently works at OtherSide Entertainment, where he was part of the team developing System Shock 3, a game that was delayed for a long time.

Early life

Spector was born and raised in Manhattan, where he said it was sometimes difficult for short, round, Jewish children to be accepted. He had a strong interest in many subjects throughout his life, including dinosaurs and airplanes as a young child, and an interest in law by the sixth grade. At age 13, he decided he wanted to become a film critic. By high school, his interests also included cars and basketball.

Spector became friends with game designer Greg Costikyan during high school.

He attended Northwestern University in Illinois, where he planned to become a film critic. He said he knew more about movies than many of his teachers. Spector earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Northwestern. Later, he received a Master of Arts degree in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. His final project was a detailed study of Warner Bros. cartoons.

Throughout college, Spector enjoyed playing games. He recalls playing Avalon Hill games, as well as OGRE, G.E.V., and Rivets from Metagaming. He mainly played board games until he met science-fiction writers who played D&D. After trying D&D, he became very interested in it. Spector later taught several undergraduate classes at the University of Texas at Austin about the history, theory, and criticism of film.

Career

In 1983, after working for a few months as an archivist at the Harry Ransom Center, managing the David O. Selznick collection, Spector said he was unsure how to pay his next month’s rent. Then, Chris Frink, a writer who had previously worked with Spector in college, called. Frink had become the editor of Space Gamer magazine and asked Spector if he wanted a job. In the fall of 1983, Spector began working as an editor for the magazine. Soon after, he became the editor-in-chief for all products made by Steve Jackson Games, the company that published Space Gamer. Spector helped create role-playing games, managing tasks like game design, typesetting, and art production.

Greg Costikyan created a game called Toon (1984), based on an idea by Jeff Dee. Costikyan originally planned for Toon to be an article in Fantasy Gamer magazine, but Spector liked the idea and turned it into a full role-playing game, which became the first complete game from Steve Jackson Games. Spector also worked with Allen Varney to write Send in the Clones (1985), an early supplement for the Paranoia game. He also helped develop the GURPS role-playing game. In March 1987, Spector joined TSR, a company that created games like Top Secret/S.I., Marvel Super Heroes, and the Bullwinkle and Rocky Party Roleplaying Game. He also worked on the second edition of AD&D rules, board games, choose-your-own-adventure books, and novels. Spector helped launch projects like Spelljammer in TSR’s research and development department.

In 1989, Spector joined Origin, a video game company. There, he co-produced Ultima VI and Wing Commander, and produced Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II, Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, System Shock, Wings of Glory, Bad Blood, and Martian Dreams. Later, he became general manager of Looking Glass Austin. He briefly worked on Dark Camelot, which later became Thief: The Dark Project. However, Spector left Looking Glass before Thief was released, citing the company’s financial problems and concerns that the Austin studio might harm the overall business.

In 1996, Spector was about to sign a contract with EA for an unannounced project when John Romero invited him to join Ion Storm. Romero offered Spector the chance to create a game of his dreams with no creative limits and a large marketing budget. Spector accepted and helped start Ion Storm’s Austin studio in 1997. His dream project became Deus Ex, an award-winning action/RPG game. As studio director, he oversaw the development of Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003) and Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004). In 2004, Spector left Ion Storm to pursue other interests. Ion Storm closed in February 2005.

In 2005, Spector founded Junction Point Studios. Between 2005 and 2007, the studio worked on a third episode for Half-Life 2, but the project was cancelled by Valve. In July 2007, Disney Interactive bought Junction Point. Spector’s first project with Disney was Epic Mickey, a steampunk-themed game for the Wii, released in 2010.

Disney closed Junction Point in January 2013, and Spector left the company. After leaving Disney, he worked with the University of Texas at Austin to create a new post-baccalaureate game development program called the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy. He helped design the curriculum and plan courses and labs.

In February 2016, Spector joined OtherSide Entertainment, a studio founded by Paul Neurath in 2014. The studio includes former Looking Glass developers. Spector helped develop System Shock 3 and Underworld Ascendant, a game inspired by Ultima Underworld, which he and Neurath had worked on earlier. Though Spector had not finished his three-year commitment to the University of Texas, he accepted the job to work on System Shock. He also believed this would help improve his reputation after some players were disappointed with Epic Mickey, even though he said the game followed similar design ideas from System Shock and Deus Ex. In November 2022, OtherSide Entertainment announced that Spector was working on a multiplayer game called Argos: Riders on the Storm, based on an original intellectual property.

Personal life

In 1984, Spector met Caroline Skelley at a comic book store in Austin, Texas, where she worked. Later, Skelley began a job at Steve Jackson Games, and she and Spector started a relationship. They married on April 11, 1987. At times, they worked together, including creating additional materials for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game. The couple currently lives in Austin, Texas. Caroline is a writer who creates stories in the fantasy genre.

Credits

• Toon – Developer (1984), Steve Jackson Games
• Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game – Editor (1988), TSR, Inc.
• Uncanny X-Men Boxed Set – Editor (1990), TSR, Inc.

• Double Agent: Royal Pain/The Hollow Earth Affair by Richard Merwin/Warren Spector ISBN 0-88038-551-0

• DuckTales – Boom! Studios – (2011)

• One Thing After Another – Puffin Books – (Marvel Super Heroes Gamebook #5)