Last week, veteran game developer Warren Spector announced that he would be joining Otherside Entertainment to work on System Shock 3, the third game in a series he had originally helped create in 1994. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Spector explained why he had decided to leave his faculty position at the University of Texas in Austin and return to game development.

“There are a bunch of reasons,” Spector said. “You know, the first thing is, when I first started talking to the university, I told them I’d take a three-year commitment, because the game industry changes so quickly. I was worried that after three years, y’know, the relevance of what I know would start to diminish.”

He added, “And I wanted to make sure I didn’t become one of those teachers who used to make games, who used to know how games were developed and why.”

Spector did say, however, that he would continue to work with the game development program at the university, saying, ” I’ve told the folks at the University of Texas, I’ve told them I’m not leaving. I’m just changing my role. I’ll be volunteering as long as they want me.”

You’d have to blast me out of Austin

Spector said that the major reason he decided to join Otherside Entertainment specifically, aside from wanting to continue the System Shock series, is the fact that he would once again be working with Paul Neurath, Otherside’s founder who had also worked with Spector on the original System Shock in the early 1990s.

While Spector will now be a full-time developer with Otherside, this will not be his first collaboration with the studio. He had previously served in an advisory role on Underworld Ascendant, a spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld series, which Spector had also worked on many years ago.

When asked if he would be moving to Otherside’s headquarters in Boston, Spector responded, “Oh no, no no. You’d have to blast me out of Austin. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave, but that’s my home. I’ve been lucky enough that various publishers and partners have indulged me, and allowed me to build studios there.”

Spector said that he would be forming his own small Otherside studio in Austin.

“I’m trying to find people who get the concept of what I call ‘playstyle matters,’ where what you do actually creates a unique experience for every player. So I’ll be looking for people who get that, and building a team in Austin, starting this summer.”

According to Spector, the studio will house about 10 to 20 developers.

You can read the full interview with Spector at Gamasutra.

Photo by Official GDC