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An interesting second half of a chat with Warren Spector of Ion Storm was posted recently at RPG Vault. In the interview, Spector talks about the success of Deus Ex and the state of role-playing video games in general. As you may know, Ion Storm's Austin branch is now taken over by Spector's two huge projects: a Deus Ex sequel and a third title in the Thief series. Both games are using the latest version of the Unreal Tournament engine, so we're hoping Mac versions will be forthcoming. Here's a clip from the article explaining what his goals for the company now are:

Jonric: What are your goals for ION Storm Austin to grow or evolve during the next two or three years? For example, how likely is it that you'll move into developing different types of games?

Warren Spector: Hm, well, to be honest, just yesterday I got back to work on our studio manifesto - a statement of purpose I started working on several months ago about who we are, what we do, how we do it and why. I'd rather not tip my hand just yet!

What I can tell you is that anyone who expects us to do sports games or puzzle games or straight shooters is probably doomed to disappointment. I don't particularly want to be diversified - I want to be a part of a studio that's known for making the best immersive sims in the world. We're always going to emphasize player experience over developer creativity. We're always going to simulate as much as we can and emulate as little as possible. If we ever make a game that fits neatly into some marketable category - unless it's a new one we've created ourselves! - I'll probably consider that to be a failure on my part. (Eidos is probably loving this! Oh, yeah...)

Warren Spector Interview at RPG Vault

Ion Storm

Westlake Interactive

Aspyr Media

Deus Ex

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