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Nightdive Studios Deep Dive covers OtherSide Entertainment's Paul Neurath & Warren Spector

Larry Kuperman speaks with Neurath and Spector about their history, current thoughts on the gaming industry, and where things are headed.

TJ Denzer

March 10, 2025 6:00 AM

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Nightdive Studios’ developer-focused Deep Dive interview series has put out two new episodes featuring the OtherSide Entertainment Creative Director and CEO, Paul Neurath, and the Studio Director, Warren Spector. Neurath and Spector are no strangers to the gaming industry, having worked together in various stints since the 1990s on franchises such as Thief, System Shock, and much more. These days, they’re together at OtherSide Entertainment working on new titles like Thick as Thieves, and Larry Kuperman at Nightdive sat down with both of them to talk about the past, present, and future in the gaming industry.

First up is Paul Neurath. Much of the interview with Neurath focused heavily on the quirk and specifics of developing Thief at Looking Glass. Neurath details the origin of the game, when it was first developed as a medieval action game (Dark Camelot) with a big emphasis on swordplay, the complications of developing said swordplay, and how it ultimately evolved into the working concepts of Thief. Neurath also speaks to in-depth subjects such as the transition of game design from DOS to Windows and the challenge of designing engines versus today’s trend of utilizing third-party engines.

The interview with Warren Spector focuses heavily on the deeper evolutions of game design, studio staffing, the idea of the single director’s vision versus teamwork, and game design before the internet. In particular, Spector speaks to his beliefs about the “auteur game designer,” a consideration of Sid Meyer or Will Wright games and the identity in them, and his own personal missions in making games. Side musings include chatter about the first PCs Kuperman and Spector played on, the cross-section of video games and literature, and, finally, what the future of game design looks like at AAA, AA, and indie levels.

You can learn more about Thick as Thieves on the game’s Steam page and follow Nightdive’s YouTube channel for more Deep Dive episodes. For more news and games coverage on Nightdive Studios and OtherSide Entertainment, stick with us here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.