Warren Spector: 100-hour games are on the way out

Speaking at the Games Education Summit in Dallas this week, Warren Spector told the crowds of designers and general on-lookers that he thinks that games with lengthy singleplayer campaigns are on the way out and that he now questioned whether 100-hour games still have any place in the market.

Spector, who is one of the most respected game designers in the industry for his work on Thief, System Shock, the Ultima series and the original Deus Ex, has made it clear in past interviews that his aim going forward is to make games that will make people smile and to move away from games like Deus Ex.

"One-hundred-hour games are on the way out. How many of you have finished GTA? Two percent, probably," said Spector, according to Kotaku.

Spector then admitted that the reasons for this had roots in the selfishness of game designers, saying that "If we're spending $100 million on a game, we want you to see the last level!"

Honestly, it's a little odd to hear the designer of the lengthy Deus Ex say that considering that members of the bit-tech team (i.e. Me) have replayed that game dozens of times. That said, the man does have a point - but the question should be whether that's the fact that the attention spans and priorities of gamers are shifting, or whether game designers are artificially inflating their games and losing the audience along the way.

What do you think? What's the longest time you have spent on a single game? Let us know in the forums.