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Warren Spector joins Otherside Entertainment (Underworld, System Shock 3)

S

shinobi602

Member
Press Release:
OtherSide Entertainment is thrilled to announce that Warren Spector, one of the leading creative minds in the game industry, will soon be joining the company.

Warren has been a producer, designer, and director behind some of the industry’s most beloved games, including System Shock, Deus Ex, and the Ultima series. He led Junction Point Studios in creating the best-selling Disney Epic Mickey and recently oversaw the Denuis-Sam Gaming Academy post-baccalaureate program at UT Austin.

Warren has acted as a Creative Advisor to OtherSide since the studio’s inception. Following the end of this semester’s classes at UT Austin, he will transition into a full-time position as one of OtherSide’s Studio Directors. Warren will continue to help in a creative capacity on Underworld Ascendant and, later this year, ramp up and lead the team developing System Shock 3.

Warren has a long history working with members of the OtherSide team, having collaborated with founder Paul Neurath on the original Ultima Underworld games, Thief: The Dark Project, and System Shock.

“I’m delighted to have Warren stepping up into a director role at OtherSide and helping lead the charge with our innovative approach to gaming,” says Paul. “I can think of no one better suited to take on this creative challenge. Warren has changed the industry before and will do so again.”

“I’ve loved working with students as Director of the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy in the University of Texas’ Moody College of Communication,” says Warren. “But when the opportunity to have a bigger role in bringing Underworld Ascendant to life, as well as playing in the System Shock universe once again, helping to bring these games to a 21st century audience, I just couldn’t say no. Working on System Shock was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in my career and it’s hard to describe how much I’m looking forward to sharing with players what SHODAN has been up to since the last game was released.”

Efforts on System Shock 3 will accelerate this year under Warren’s direction, while OtherSide continues working on Underworld Ascendant, the successor to the Ultima Underworld series.

Everyone at OtherSide is excited to add Warren to the team and System Shock 3 as the second title in the company’s growing stable of games.

https://www.facebook.com/OtherSideEntertainment/posts/1720799238132245
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-02-17-warren-spector-joins-otherside-entertainment

Veteran designer leaving academia and returning to development to work on Underworld Ascendant and System Shock 3.

Warren Spector is a full-time game developer once again. OtherSide Entertainment today announced that the veteran developer best known for his work on games like Deus Ex and Epic Mickey will be leaving his academic appointment at the University of Texas at Austin to join OtherSide on a full-time basis as a studio director.
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C

CHC

Member
Cautiously optimistic is my feeling.

Look, Deus Ex is one of my favorites of all time, if not THE number 1... but until he can prove otherwise I consider Warren Spector to be something of a has been, however sad that makes me.
 
I

injurai

Banned
8Djqh.gif
 
P

pastrami

Member
CHC said:
Cautiously optimistic is my feeling.

Look, Deus Ex is one of my favorites of all time, if not THE number 1... but until he can prove otherwise I consider Warren Spector to be something of a has been, however sad that makes me.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I don't think he's really had that many chances after Invisible War.

Fingers crossed that he does still have some of that Deus Ex magic left. I'm still blown away by that game.
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
CHC said:
Cautiously optimistic is my feeling.

Look, Deus Ex is one of my favorites of all time, if not THE number 1... but until he can prove otherwise I consider Warren Spector to be something of a has been, however sad that makes me.
Click to expand...
Because of Epic Mickey?

I feel like the guy finally "came home". He's with the good guys now, there is no way his addition (and contribution) to their project is anything other than fantastic. He's not the lead with an unproven team.
 
B

blackw0lf

Member
Awesome news.

Now if they can get Doug Church, the main brain behind the original System Shock, that would be really amazing.

Also Jordan Thomas, the designer of Shalebridge Cradle for Thief: Deadly Shadows
 
R

randomlee26

Member
I loved the IDEA behind Epic Mickey, but that camera and the various bugs were just....

Obviously he's proven he can do amazing work over the years, maybe Disney rushed him on EM.
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
injurai said:
It's mostly old guys with a bit of savings? They are probably taking pay cuts for a chance to work on a dream project.
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That would be my thought as well. Work on your dream project with your own deadlines and direction while not making as much money instead of working for a large publisher, etc.
 
A

Arulan

Member
Good. Now Looking Glass Studios Otherside Entertainment can continue its legacy on the RPG sub-genre known as the "immersive-sim". Looking forward to seeing Underworld Ascendant as it gets further in development.
 
GavinUK86

GavinUK86

Member
He's been talking about Underworld a lot in his recent talks so I'm not surprised. Always seemed like a good guy. Good luck to him.
 
Begaria

Begaria

Member
Getting pretty giddy now for what OtherSide Entertainment can do. The return of PC RPGs makes me sooooooo happy :D
 
D

DocSeuss

Member
blackw0lf said:
Awesome news.

Now if they can get Doug Church, the main brain behind the original System Shock, that would be really amazing.

Also Jordan Thomas, the designer of Shalebridge Cradle for Thief: Deadly Shadows
Click to expand...

I don't see Doug Church leaving Valve, but that would be fantastic. Jordan Thomas is indie right now. Randy Smith's the same. They've both made great stuff (Magic Circle, Spider) too.
 
G

Gurgelhals

Member
vwMin.gif


Best news of the week. I've been hoping that, after the Epic Mickey debacle, Warren Spector would go Kickstarter in some form or other since Kickstarter started being a thing.

Man, the thought of him working on both the spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld and motherfucking System Shock 3... :-D
 
Y

Yukinari

Member
Maybe now Warren Spector will make something worth his fame.

I know hes an acclaimed game developer but what has he done recently that got great reception? Epic Mickey 1 and 2 were mediocre/buggy.
 
B

blackw0lf

Member
DocSeuss said:
I don't see Doug Church leaving Valve, but that would be fantastic. Jordan Thomas is indie right now. Randy Smith's the same. They've both made great stuff (Magic Circle, Spider) too.
Click to expand...

What's Doug doing at Valve? I didn't even know they were developing a game.

And in a way Otherside is indie, in that they don't have the limitations that come about through working with a publisher.

I could see them both decide to help out. Randy might not want to though as it could affect Tiger Style adversely.
 
E

exoddus21

Neo Member
Someone hold me, I think I'm fainting!

I don't want to set my hopes too high, but SS2 being one of my favourites games, I really want this to end being a worthy sucessor. The things games like SS2 and Deus Ex made me feel are hard to recreate.

So, I'm very happy about this! Wish the team the best.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Oh yes, becoming very glad I backed this. Prototype has been interesting to mess with too, though it's a long long road for really polished mechanics.
 
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