Or any other big company.
Ive had a very successful life where Ive earned enough and gotten enough stability.
And so I’m really happy with my choices.
But you know, Im content.
Ive had enough people play my games.
Like Larian, Vogel makes acclaimed Ultima-style RPGs.
As we speak, its 2am in Seattle, but that doesnt bother Vogel.
To his credit, Vogel still gets dressed for the occasion.
I could work in my pyjamas or in a robe if I wanted, he says.
But for some reason, Ive just always been able to concentrate better with clothes on.
In 1999, he worked in a temp position for Microsoft as a designer on Mechwarrior 4.
It didnt work out, and he was fired.
It was the right choice for everyone.
Today, Vogel is working on the remaster of Geneforge 2.
Its a dense and atmospheric western RPG with shades of early Fallout.
To them, his independent-mindedness is a virtue, not a flaw.
They find that the Geneforge games supporttheirindependence, too.
And you walk across the island and finally meet him, and he explains where hes coming from.
These are games in which every ending is achievable without ever throwing a fireball or firing a dart.
I love putting choices in my games, Vogel says.
Even if most people won’t take them, because players appreciate knowing they had a choice.
When the first Geneforge came out, it was unheard of for RPG developers to support pacifist playthroughs.
No one had ever done anything like it before, that I know of, Vogel says.
Its undeniably fascinating to look at the histories of Larian Studios and VogelsSpiderweb Softwarein parallel.
Larian launched its debut game, a Commander & Conquer ripoff named The L.E.D.
Wars, in 1997 to no notice.
He had earned enough to hire a team and build a company.
I thought about it a long time, Vogel says.
And finally, I was like, I dont wanna do that.
Its very important to kill your ego.
By contrast, Larian fought to make RPGs at scale.
Had Vogel taken the same route, its overwhelmingly likely that Spiderweb Software would no longer exist today.
Larian had so many years where they could just barely keep the lights on, Vogel says.
At any moment, with a flip of the coin, theyre out of business.
Ive made less money, Ive gotten less fame.
But in return, Ive had a great deal more tranquillity in my life.
Sitting here at age 53, looking back, thats been valuable.
That said, its not always romantic to be, as Vogel puts it, a bottom feeder.
Even in the best possible time its a cutthroat, bloodthirsty business.
Youll also feel it in his games, which cant help but be a reflection of him.
Ive been fascinated with politics since I was 14, Vogel says.
Even when its really painful to read the news, I still do it.
As I get older, I see that everythings complicated.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs.
You just muddle through and pick the least bad thing.
And its a flavour he suspects might be too sharp for some.
The Queens Wish games are nowhere near as popular as the older games, he says.
This is what life is like.
And so you really can hack out a happy ending for yourself.
I really want in these games for you to be able to feel you got away clean.
A lot of these games I spent a year and a half writing, he says.
And honestly, thats not quite enough time.
It gets the game off the ground, but it doesnt make it shine.
Before retirement, Vogel intends to bring the Queens Wish series to a meaningful conclusion.
But mostly, hell be remastering past work.
So he hopes to spruce them up and enjoy a further trickle of back catalogue sales into old age.
Some of Vogels friends, fellow designers and artists, cant understand his choice to revisit old work.
They talk to me like I just said that I have a fatal disease, he says.
And I dont look at it that way.
Vogel is a huge fan of Billy Joel, like all right-thinking people.
And like his idol, hes content to tour the hits.
Especially when Larian has just introduced a whole new generation to the joys of Ultima-influenced RPGs.
Theres a lot of people who are gonna play Baldurs Gate 3, Vogel says.
And a few of them are gonna come to papa.
