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Warren Spector

Warren Spector

Chief Creative Officer
Warren Spector began his career in 1983 in tabletop games with Steve Jackson Games and TSR. He moved into video games in 1989 where he worked at Origin/Electronic Arts and, later, Looking Glass, Ion Storm/Eidos where he directed Deus Ex and others. In 2004 he started Junction Point Studios, later acquired by the Walt Disney Company. After 3 years teaching game development at The University of Texas, he joined Otherside Entertainment as Chief Creative Officer and Game Director. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Columbia College of Chicago, the Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement award at the Game Developers Conference and the Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Fun and Serious Games Conference.

Talks & sessions

Why Games Matter

In this talk, Warren will discuss why games can and should be more than just a way to pass some time, make money, or escape from the reality of the day-to-day. He will attempt to answer the question of whether games are "art" and what that means for developers and the medium itself. Though offering some practical advice, this is mostly a talk about how developers can think differently in the hope that the medium can be pushed forward in ways that transcend mere commercialism.