Warren Spector - Devs must define Success for themselves

Warren Spector told Gamesindustry:

Devs must define success for themselves

Ahead of his keynote address at Pax Dev, the Deus Ex and System Shock designer warns that it simply isn't enough to "make a fun little game"

Like many entertainment sectors, the world of video games is a business. But it's a business ultimately driven by passionate and creative individuals. And that matters… a lot.

It's especially important to OtherSide Entertainment's Warren Spector, the industry veteran famous for designing Deus Ex, among other classics. Spector will be giving the keynote address at PAX Dev later this month (a conference that excludes the press), and he spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about the message he aims to deliver to his fellow developers.

At the heart of Spector's talk, called "Developer, Know Thyself", is the notion that creators shouldn't let the commercial side define their success. Moreover, developers should be making games that actually mean something to them.

"The big point I'm trying to make is that it isn't enough just to think, 'Oh I'm going to make a fun little game.' For the sake of developer sanity and also for the medium itself we need to be thinking a little bigger than that, and really think [about] what success means.

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Kind of true of life in general.

Everybody should have a little Epic Mickey in them.

Shocking this stuff isn't common knowledge.

Like anything in life, feel free to create your own definitions in your head of what you think success is….
But don't rant and throw a tantrum when the consumers tell you your product is a giant pile of scrap.

Actually, The abysmally moronic team at Shroud has this mantra down pat. Beers and cheers every time they "succeed" at creating another store item. "Consumers be damned! We are success incarnate!!!"

But it's a business ultimately driven by passionate and creative individuals. And that matters… a lot.

It certainly does matter, since this is the only computer skills-intense industry where people get absolutely milked for their talents by large companies depending on that passion, and end up making minimum wage, or less, pushing out product.

Then there's the complete lack of job security and decent benefits. But hey, you get to make games!!

Originally Posted by screeg
It certainly does matter, since this is the only computer skills-intense industry where people get absolutely milked for their talents by large companies depending on that passion, and end up making minimum wage, or less, pushing out product.

Then there's the complete lack of job security and decent benefits. But hey, you get to make games!!

It would ALMOST be worth it sometimes.

'nut IT minion for a Mega-Corp