Rock Paper Shotgun

“Do questions like that create a self-fulfilling prophecy?”: Dishonored director Harvey Smith on the fear of asking if immersive sims are dead

2026-08-20

Summary

August has become a month of reflection on the fate of immersive sims. Earlier this month, one of the original designers of Thief: The Dark Project shared his view that developing immersive sims at AAA scale doesn't really work. Just yesterday, Arkane veteran and Dishonored director Harvey Smith weighed in, addressing the persistent question of whether immersive sims are dead. Smith expressed concern that such questions can become a self-fulfilling prophecy: when developers, publishers, and players repeatedly question the genre's viability, market confidence and resources may drain away, pushing the genre toward actual decline. He urged the industry to focus on concrete works and innovative practices rather than abstractly declaring a genre's death. This discussion matters because it highlights the tension between genre survival and commercial risk in modern game development. Immersive sims, known for systemic interaction, player freedom, and emergent gameplay, face high production costs and a relatively niche audience. Recent titles like Dishonored and Prey have earned critical acclaim but struggled commercially. Smith's comments underscore how media and community narratives can shape capital investment and creative direction. For players, this debate is not just about nostalgia—it affects whether we will continue to see ambitious, genre-defying games in the future. The…

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“Do questions like that create a self-fulfilling prophecy?”: Dishonored director Harvey Smith on the fear of asking if immersive sims are dead

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