Industry Legend Warren Spector Announces His Retirement From Game Development

American video game developer Warren Spector has announced he’s retiring from game development, and although he’s “been here before”, this time he’s “pretty sure” he means it.

In a post on LinkedIn, the industry legend known for Deus Ex, Epic Mickey, and also his work on series such as Wing Commander, Ultima and System Shock, said the game business had changed, and admitted it’s not “as much fun” for him anymore. After 44 years in development, he also realises it’s time for a new generation, who deserve their time in the sun.

Although he doesn’t completely rule out a return to the industry, he believes now is the right time to “ride off into the sunset”.

Warren Spector: Let me cut right to the chase. I’m retiring from game development. At least I think so. I’ve been here before and changed my mind but this time I’m pretty sure I mean it.

I’ve had a great career. Wouldn’t change a thing even if I could. But the reasons to retire are simple: I’m a month away from my 44th year as a developer. I’ve had the chance to work on tabletop roleplaying games and boardgames. I’ve worked on more digital games than I can remember — 17 full games, I think, and 9 or so add-on packs. Gratifyingly, some of those games are still being played 15… 20… 30 years later. And most of them have been in a genre that has had influence beyond what I or anyone else expected. I’ve run teams as small as a dozen and as big as 800. I’ve worked for big companies and done startups. I like to think I’ve helped some insanely talented people along in their careers. (That last is the most important.)

With all that behind me and with age and health (my business) catching up with me I’m feeling like I’ve done what I set out to do. It’s time to write some books, do a lot of reading, do some lecturing, maybe do some consulting. (Feel free to get in touch about those last two.) Also there’s a keyboard here just waiting for me to get my piano chops back.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this. I mean there are three games in particular I’d still like to make. (One is very big… one is very small… and one I don’t know how to make which scares me.) But the game business has changed and it’s just not as much fun for me anymore. Plus there’s a new generation of developers coming up who deserve their time in the sun.

To all of you reading this I want you to remember that games are not a solved problem yet — there is, I hope, plenty of experimentation and innovation to come. And to all you young developers out there, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, your job is to make people forget people like me ever existed.

Will I come back? Never say never. But I think it’s time to ride off into the sunset.

Now stop reading and make great games.

THQ Nordic recently announced it would be releasing Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed on the Switch 2 this October. Deus Ex Remastered was also confirmed for the Switch last year. If we hear any significant updates about these games or Warren Spector’s plans beyond game development, we’ll let you know.