Classic Game Fest is incredibly proud to announce our keynote speaker for this year’s CGF – legendary game designer, Warren Spector!  Mr. Spector will speak about the Austin, TX game development scene with his talk, “Austin Game Development: How We Got Here” – from the earliest tabletop game days to the emergence and proliferation of digital game studios of today.

Warren Spector has been attached to some of the most high profile and influential games of the last 30 years, and we are honored to have him preside the biggest Classic Game Fest yet!

Spector started in tabletop game design, working with the likes of TSR and Steve Jackson games, before moving into the electronic side of game development in 1989.  Working for Electronic Arts, Origin, Eidos, Looking Glass Studios, Junction Point Studios, and more, Spector created some giant gaming franchises – Deus Ex, System Shock, Ultima Underworld, Thief, Epic Mickey, and more.  If you have played video games in the last 30 years, you’ve either played a game he helped design, or played a game influenced by his creations.  Spector recently revealed that he is back in game development and working on the highly anticipated System Shock 3 as studio director for OtherSide Entertainment.

Along with his game development work, Warren Spector is a published author (The Hollow Earth Affair, 1988) and comic book writer (DuckTales: Rightful Owners, 2012) and prolific educator.  From 2013 to 2016, he was the Director of Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at the University of Texas Austin.  He has also been awarded the Pulcinella lifetime achievement award at the Cartoons on the Bay conference in 2011, and received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2012.

See keynote speaker, Warren Spector, and other special guests, a loaded musical lineup, a variety of vendors, free play arcades, panels, cosplay, tournaments, and so much more at Classic Game Fest.