Deus Ex designer Warren Spector says “its become challenging to use a controller” as the game dev legend now suffers from tremors

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March 19 2026

Veteran game designer Warren Spector has announced that he now suffers from frequent tremors in his hands following his attendance at GDC.

In a post on LinkedIn, the Deus Ex and System Shock designer confirmed that his right hand frequently tremors with occasional tremors in his left hand. As a result, the 70-year-old game designer and writer is now training himself to become left-handed.

“My right hand goes crazy if I try to do… well… anything with it,” the iconic game developer said. “My left hand occasionally goes wonky too but I can control that (and am training myself to do some things left-handed, which as an adult is a wee bit challenging)”.

Spector, who is currently working on System Shock 3, Thick as Thieves and Argos: Riders on the Storm, explained that it’s now becoming harder to do everyday activities, including using a game controller as well as mouse and keyboard.

“I’m posting this because it’s become challenging to use a game controller, a mouse or keyboard and at times I even have trouble hitting the icons on a phone,” Spector continued. “Needless to say this isn’t good.”

The video game designer explained that the public admission of his medical situation is not to garner “sympathy”, saying “unlike my posts about mental health I don’t expect a flood of responses from fellow tremor-ers”. Instead, the game designer wants to know about any accessories that may help users with tremors.

Over the years, accessibility has become a much more important part of game design as the medium has become more popular. Both PlayStation and Xbox offer their own accessibility controllers which, while not designed for players with tremors especially, have helped many to experience (or re-experience) gaming again.

As for general PC use, there are a number of additional tools, including the SteadyMouse software which is designed to detect shaking motion and block accidental clicks. Accessibility is still a clear barrier for many when it comes to gaming or even the basics of computer and internet use, but it’s still getting better bit-by-bit.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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