Warren Spector Leaving Ion Storm

Gamespot has the story that after months in limbo, Warren Spector has left his role as Studio Director at Ion Storm. Despite his disconnection from Ion Storm, he will apparently still have ties to Eidos. From the Article: "Warren has chosen to pursue personal interests outside the company, but he will continue to work for Eidos as an IP consultant."

Comments

Mixed feelings

[LordOfYourPants]

"The "new role" mentioned by Edios' rep will likely be his further advice on the upcoming Tomb Raider game, the development for which he was reportedly overseeing at another Edios-owned studio, Crystal Dynamics. The new Tomb Raider, the seventh in the series, is due out next summer."

I dunno whether that's a good thing or a bad thing as I'm not really a big Tomb Raider fan. I always felt like it cashed in on horny gamers.

Bad: he might be "selling out."

Good: he could make that franchise into something truly great.

For the "who is this guy and why should I care" crowd, Warren Spector has worked on Deus Ex, System Shock, Thief, Ultima Underworld and Ultima VII part II. If that isn't a hell of a gaming resume I don't know what is.

Hopefully he'll move on to great things wherever he goes.

Re:Mixed feelings

[secolactico]

I think he was also involved in the World of Ultima games (Savage Empires and Martian Dreams), which were offshoots of Ultima VI.

Or at least, he was a character in both games, and not exactly a cameo part. He was the avatar's sidekick in Martian Dreams (a great game) and I think he was a villain in Savage Empire (didn't play it).

Great, now I'm nostalgic...

Re:Mixed feelings

[Doctor Cat]

The first game I recall Warren being Producer on at Origin was Ultima VI, which I was head writer on. I believe Jeff Johannigman was producer on Worlds of Ultima: Savage Empire and Warren was producer on Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams but I'm not totally sure I'm remembering that right. I'm pretty sure Warren was producer on Ultima VII as well as its spinoff. I think he produced some of the earlier Wing Commander titles too, not as sure on those (I never worked on any of them myself). He was definitely the producer on both of the Ultima Underworld games, 1 and 2. Before coming to Origin and getting into computer games, he worked at Steve Jackson Games, where he was heavily involved in the development of the pen & paper RPG Toon, and he worked at TSR, where he was involved in editing/managing on at least one edition of Advance Dungeons & Dragons. I think he was involved in some RPG project involving Rocky & Bullwinkle too. Before that he got his Masters degree at University of Texas in the Radio/Television/Film department with a thesis on something Warner Brothers cartoons, and he used to write movie reviews for the Austin Chronicle (the cool free weekly newspaper). He used to have a board-gaming marathon at his house every Labor Day, for as long as the Jerry Lewis telethon was on.

This concludes this installment of "more than you wanted to know about Warren Spector". I hope Uncle Warren will do great at his new job. :X) (Does anyone besides me find it an ironic coincidence that Romero and Hall were at Ion Storm, then Warren joined it, and now Romero and Hall are at Midway, and Warren joined that too? Or is there a conspiracy theory to be hatched here? More likely Romero just told his bosses "Warren does great work" or something.)

Re:Was console development the reason?

[TheLoneDanger]

OH SHIT! I listed Tom Hall as lead designer on DX: IW, whereas you correctly pointed out that it was Harvey Smith. A terrible brain cramp on my part... But you're right that without Warren Spector and Harvey Smith, Ion Austin is pretty much moot.