Warren Spector

Ion Storm

In 1996, Spector was about to sign a contract with EA to do an unannounced project (which was revealed to be a "Command & Conquer Role-Playing Game") when he got a call from John Romero to join him at Ion Storm; Romero persuaded Spector by offering him the chance to make the game of his dreams with no creative interference and a big marketing budget. In 1997 he founded Ion Storm's Austin development studio, and his "dream project" later became the award-winning action/RPG called Deus Ex. Ion Storm was closed by owners Eidos Interactive in February 2005.

Disney

In 2005 he established Junction Point Studios. Somewhere between the end of 2005 and mid-2007, Junction Point Studios and Spector worked on a third episode for Half-Life 2; this was ultimately cancelled by Valve. In July 2007, Disney Interactive acquired Junction Point Studios. His first project with Disney Interactive was a project involving Disney characters, titled Epic Mickey. The game is steampunk-themed and designed exclusively for the Wii; the game was released in 2010.

Disney closed Junction Point Studios in January 2013, and Spector left the company.

University of Texas After leaving Disney Interactive, Spector worked with the University of Texas at Austin to build a new post-baccalaureate game development program – the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy. He worked with UT staff to create a curriculum and plan out courses and labs.

OtherSide Entertainment In February 2016, Spector announced he had joined OtherSide Entertainment, a studio formed by Paul Neurath in 2014 and includes several previous Looking Glass developers, as their Studio Director, after having been in an advisory role from its inception. He will be helping the studio with their current development of System Shock 3 and Underworld Ascendant, the spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld which both Spector and Neurath worked on in the early 1990s. Though Spector had completed only two-and-a-half years of a three-year commitment to the University of Texas, he jumped at the chance to work on System Shock when Neurath approached him with the offer. He also believed the opportunity would help garner good favor from players that had been disappointed by his choice to work on Epic Mickey, even though he states that game had still been based on his past design philosophy used in the development of System Shock and Deus Ex. OtherSide Entertainment announced in November 2022 that Spector is working on a multiplayer game with immersive sim elements entitled Argos: Riders on the Storm, based on an original intellectual property. However, OtherSide announced in June 2026 that development of Argos would be canceled, laying off 17 employees.

On August 18, 2026, Spector announced his retirement from game development, citing his age, health, and the state of the industry as factors.

Personal life Spector met Caroline Skelley in 1984 at a comic book store in Austin, Texas, where she was employed. After Skelley got a job at Steve Jackson Games, she and Spector began a relationship. They were married on April 11, 1987. The couple sometimes worked together, such as on game supplements for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game. Producer Megabit Publishing

Awards On 2016, Spector won the Honorific Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival.