Austin Seth Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American author and video game designer. He has contributed to The New York Times and has written for a number of video games, most notably Deus Ex and Dishonored.
Life
Grossman was born in Concord, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1991 and pursued a graduate degree in English literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the twin brother of writer Lev Grossman and brother of sculptor Bathsheba Grossman, and the son of the poet Allen Grossman and the novelist Judith Grossman.
Grossman's father was born Jewish and his mother was raised Anglican.
Grossman started his career in the game industry by replying to a classified ad in The Boston Globe in May 1992 that led him to Looking Glass Studios, where in System Shock he pioneered the audio log technique for storytelling in narrative games. Grossman has worked with DreamWorks Interactive, Ion Storm, and Crystal Dynamics, and served as Director of Game Design and Interactive Story at Magic Leap until April 2020. He currently teaches writing and narrative design at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.https://www.linkedin.com/in/austingrossman/details/experience/
Novels Grossman is the author of the novel Soon I Will Be Invincible, which was published by Pantheon Books in 2007. His second book, entitled YOU, debuted in April 2013. His third novel, Crooked, came out in July 2015. In 2021, he co-wrote an original audiobook for Audible called New Found Land: The Long Haul with Neal Stephenson and Sean Stewart, which the trio had developed as a story for AR company Magic Leap. In June 2024, Grossman published his fourth novel, Fight Me.
Works
Books Soon I Will Be Invincible (2007) You (2013) Crooked (2015) Fight Me (2024)
Audio Original New Found Land: The Long Haul (2021), co-written with Neal Stephenson and Sean Stewart.
Short stories "The River Gods of Mars" in Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom (2012) "Professor Incognito Apologizes: an Itemized List" in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination (2013) "The Fresh Prince of Gamma World" in Press Start to Play (2015)
Games Year Title Developer 1993 Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds LookingGlass Technologies 1994 System Shock 1995 Flight Unlimited 1996 Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri 1998 Trespasser DreamWorks Interactive 2000 Deus Ex Ion Storm 2001 Clive Barker's Undying EA Los Angeles Battle Realms Liquid Entertainment 2004 Thief: Deadly Shadows Ion Storm 2006 Tomb Raider: Legend Crystal Dynamics 2008 Frontlines: Fuel of War Kaos StudiosN-Fusion Interactive 2012 Dishonored Arkane Studios 2016 Dishonored 2
References
External links
Profile of Austin Grossman from Wired.com "Star Spangled Schlemiel," The New York Times editorial on death of Captain America 1998 Editorial on Interactivity and Content Short story, "Top Secret", at Granta