Warren Spector returns to full-time game dev to make System Shock 3

Game industry veteran Warren Spector is taking up a full-time role as a studio director at OtherSide Entertainment later this year, where he expects to ramp up development on System Shock 3.

The news is remarkable because it seems to herald a return to form in multiple respects for Spector -- back to full-time game development, back to a franchise he helped create (he's credited as producer of the original System Shock) and the people he created it with, most notably Looking Glass cofounder Paul Neurath, who went on to found OtherSide in 2014.

"When the opportunity to have a bigger role in bringing Underworld Ascendant to life, as well as playing in the System Shock universe once again, helping to bring these games to a 21st century audience, I just couldn’t say no," Spector stated in a press release announcing the move. 

"Working on System Shock was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in my career and it’s hard to describe how much I’m looking forward to sharing with players what SHODAN has been up to since the last game was released."

This is par for the course for OtherSide, a Boston-based studio that takes "rebooting classic game franchises" as its remit. The studio acquired the rights and (via crowdfunding) the cash to develop a new Ultima Underworld game, Ultima Ascendant, in 2014, and Spector has been serving as a creative advisor on the project while overseeing the University of Texas' Denius-Sams Gaming Academy.

The academy's current semester is expected to be his last before he transitions to full-time work at OtherSide.