Austin Seth Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American author and

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...

. He has contributed to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and has written for a number of

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s, most notably ''

Deus Ex ''Deus Ex'' is a series of role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technologies in a ...

'' and ''

Dishonored ''Dishonored'' is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Set in the fictional, plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, ''Dishonored'' follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to th ...

''.

Life

Grossman was born in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1991 and is currently a graduate student in English literature at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He is the twin brother of writer

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), ''The Magician King'' (2011), and ''The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology ...

and brother of sculptor Bathsheba Grossman, and the son of the poet Allen Grossman and the novelist Judith Grossman. Grossman is currently working at Impossible Industries, LLC as a Freelance contractor on various projects. Despite popular belief, Grossman was never employed by

Arkane Studios Arkane Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Lyon. It was founded in 1999, and released its first game, ''Arx Fatalis'', in 2002. Besides the Lyon studio, Arkane Lyon, Arkane Studios operates Arkane Studios LLC ( trading as Ark ...

. Grossman's father was born

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and his mother was raised Anglican. Grossman started his career in the game industry by replying to a classified ad in ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' in May 1992 that led him to

Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Produ ...

, where in '' System Shock'' he pioneered the audio log technique for storytelling in narrative games. Grossman has worked with

DreamWorks Interactive Danger Close Games (formerly DreamWorks Interactive LLC and EA Los Angeles) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in March 1995 as joint venture between DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft (later moved to Mi ...

Ion Storm Ion Storm, L.P. was an American video game developer founded by video game industry veterans John Romero and Tom Hall, both formerly of id Software. Despite an impressive pedigree and high expectations, the company only produced one commercial ...

, and

Crystal Dynamics Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the '' Gex'', ''Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy L ...

, and served as Director of Game Design and Interactive Story at

Magic Leap Magic Leap, Inc. is an American technology company that released a head-mounted virtual retinal display, called ''Magic Leap One'', which superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real world objects, by "projecting a digital light field ...

. He is the author of the novel '' Soon I Will Be Invincible'', which was published by Pantheon Books in 2007. His second book, entitled ''

YOU In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

'', debuted in April 2013. His third novel, '' Crooked'', came out in July 2015.

Works

Books

* '' Soon I Will Be Invincible'' (2007) * ''

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

'' (2013) * '' Crooked'' (2015)

Short stories

* "Professor Incognito Apologizes: an Itemized List" in '' The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination'' (2013)

Games

* '' Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds'' (1993) * '' System Shock'' (1994) * '' Flight Unlimited'' (1995) * '' Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri'' (1996) * ''

Trespasser In the law of tort, property, and criminal law a trespasser is a person who commits the act of trespassing on a property, that is, without the permission of the owner. Being present on land as a trespasser thereto creates liability in the ...

'' (1998) * ''

'' (2000) * '' Clive Barker's Undying'' (2001) * '' Battle Realms'' (2001) * '' Thief: Deadly Shadows'' (2004) * '' Tomb Raider: Legend'' (2006) * '' Frontlines: Fuel of War'' (2008) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

Dishonored 2 ''Dishonored 2'' is a 2016 action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2012's '' Dishonored''. After Empress Emily Kaldw ...

'' (2016)

References

External links

Profile of Austin Grossman from Wired.com

''The New York Times'' editorial on death of Captain America
1998 Editorial on Interactivity and Content

Short story, "Top Secret", at Granta
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Austin 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American video game designers Jewish video game developers Video game writers 20th-century American Jews Harvard Advocate alumni University of California, Berkeley people Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American twins 1969 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews