Harvey Smith | |
|---|---|
 Smith inSeoul, 2006 | |
| Born | 1966 (age 58–59) |
| Other names | Witchboy |
| Occupation(s) | Video game designer, writer |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Employer | Arkane Studios |
| Known for | |
Harvey Smith (born 1966) is an Americanvideo game designer and writer, working atArkane Studios.
Smith has lectured in various places around the world on topics such aslevel design, emergent gameplay, leadership, game unit differentiation,[1] future trends and interactive narrative.[citation needed] At theGame Developers Conference in 2006, Smith won the Game Designer's Challenge:Nobel Peace Prize, for his design featuring a mobile video game that facilitates political social action.[2]
Smith was born and raised on theTexas Gulf Coast.[3] He grew up playing games likePong[4] as well asDungeons & Dragons.[5] He read books byUrsula K. Le Guin,William Faulkner,Vladimir Nabokov andRoger Zelazny, among others.[6] He served six years in theU.S. Air Force, including tours in Germany and Saudi Arabia.[3] Smith moved toAustin at the behest of a friend to try his hand at video game design.[7]
Early in his career, Smith worked inquality assurance (QA) at the Austin-basedOrigin Systems, where he became the QA lead for games includingSuper Wing Commander andSystem Shock.[8] In 1995, Smith became an associate producer forUltima VIII, working with co-founder of Origin, Richard Garriott. Smith then pitched his own game,Technosaur, areal time strategy game inspired byDune that would have featured "cybernetically augmentedvelociraptors". The project was canceled by publisherElectronic Arts after 18 months of work.[9]
After leaving Origin in 1996, Harvey Smith went to work at Multitude where they releasedFireTeam.[10]
After Multitude, Smith's game development career continued in Austin, Texas working withWarren Spector atIon Storm as lead designer onDeus Ex as well as its sequel,Deus Ex: Invisible War.[11] After this he unsuccessfully pitched a further game in theThief series, to be calledThief: Modern, in which central character Garrett lived in modern-day New York.[11]
Smith then left Ion Storm to work atMidway Games, originally to work on a title calledCriminal with "immersive sim values" inspired byMichael Mann's 1995 crime filmHeat, but shifting ultimately to work as lead designer onBlackSite: Area 51.[11][10][8] On November 29, 2007, Smith came out publicly to announce how unrealistic theBlackSite: Area 51's development schedule was and through mutual agreement left Midway a day later. He claimed the schedule caused the low reviews due to the fact they were not able to test the game properly.[12]
In 2008, Smith became partner and co-creative director of Arkane Studios in Austin alongside the company's president,Raphaël Colantonio.[10] They went on to release the stealth-action gameDishonored in 2012, which won many Game of the Year and Best Action/Adventure accolades including the 2013 BAFTA award for Best Game[13] and 2012 SPIKE VGA for Best Action/Adventure Game.[14] Smith also directed the sequelDishonored 2 and its standalone expansionDishonored: Death of the Outsider.[15] Smith is co-director on Arkane Austin'sRedfall, anopen-worldfirst person shooter, which released on May 2, 2023.[11][16]
Smith's semi-autobiographical novel,Big Jack is Dead, was released on April 2, 2013, by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.[17] That same year it was on Kirkus Review's list of "Best Indie General Fiction".[18]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Super Wing Commander | Quality assurance |
| System Shock | ||
| 1995 | Ultima VIII: Pagan (CD-ROM version)[19] | |
| BioForge | ||
| CyberMage: Darklight Awakening | Producer, game designer, writer, voice actor | |
| Technosaur (cancelled)[20] | — | |
| 1998 | FireTeam | Game designer |
| 2000 | Deus Ex | Lead game designer |
| 2003 | Deus Ex: Invisible War | Director |
| 2004 | Thief: Deadly Shadows | Game designer |
| 2005 | Area 51 | Game designer, writer |
| 2007 | BlackSite: Area 51 | Executive creative director |
| 2009 | Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor | Quality assurance |
| KarmaStar | — | |
| 2012 | Dishonored | Creative director, game designer, writer |
| 2013 | The Novelist | Quality assurance |
| 2016 | Dishonored 2 | Creative director |
| 2017 | Prey | Quality assurance |
| Dishonored: Death of the Outsider | Creative director | |
| 2023 | Redfall | Studio director |
| Year | Title | Category | Publisher | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Big Jack is Dead" | Fiction | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | ISBN 1482563657 |
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