Overview
- Spector posted on LinkedIn Tuesday that he is retiring from game development and has set his profile to “retired,” while noting he has left open the possibility of a future return.
- He said age and unspecified health issues, plus a feeling that he has “done what I set out to do,” prompted the decision and that he will spend time writing books, reading, lecturing and possibly consulting.
- Spector recalled nearly 44 years in the industry with roughly 17 full games and about nine add‑on packs to his name, and he explicitly named three game ideas he still wants to make — one very large, one very small, and one he does not yet know how to build.
- Coverage places the announcement in the context of recent troubles at OtherSide Entertainment, including the underperformance of Thick as Thieves, cancellation of a project codenamed Argos and multiple rounds of layoffs at the studio.
- His retirement closes a defining chapter for the immersive sim genre he helped found with Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Deus Ex, and it leaves the industry watching for his next moves as an author, speaker and potential consultant.