Prominent game writer Steve Ince has announced his retirement after working in the industry for more than 30 years. He has contributed to dozens of titles but is best known for his work on the Broken Sword series.
Steve Ince, Image: Comma Press
As spotted by GamesIndustry.biz, Ince shared the news on social media. He said that February 2024 will not only mark 31 years in the games industry for him, but he will also reach retirement age in the UK.
“I have been giving this a lot of thought over the last few months and have decided that I will retire from working on video games from that point on,” Ince announced, also thanking the founders of Revolution Software, Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody, for jumpstarting his career.
“As much as I appreciate the advances and increased sophistication, I must admit that I struggle to keep up with everything,” he noted. “I’m also a little concerned about the threat of AI and I fear that it may undermine the careers of many writers (and other creatives) in the games industry and beyond. So it may well be a good time to retire for this reason alone.”
Ince will now dedicate his time to writing books, particularly children’s books. So this doesn’t mean he is retiring from the creative field entirely.
— Steve Ince (@Steve_Ince) June 19, 2023
Steve Ince joined Revolution Software in 1993, starting by creating initial location sketches for Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. He then made some animation and graphics for cyberpunk adventure game Beneath a Steel Sky.
Beneath a Steel Sky
Revolution co-founder Charles Cecil noted Ince’s passion and organizational skills and promoted him to a producer of The Shadow of the Templars. He also produced its sequel, Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror, where he also served as one of the writers.
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
Ince then co-wrote and helped design the third title in the series, The Sleeping Dragon, before leaving Revolution in 2004.
Since then, he has mostly worked as a freelance writer, designer, and artist, helping other studios with their projects. Ince’s portfolio includes FMV horror title The Bunker and Resident Evil Village, as well as editing work on the first two Witcher games.
Some of his artwork can also be seen on his ArtStation profile.