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Postmortems worth reading

What a game postmortem is, the classic "what went right, what went wrong" format, how to read one as an artist or designer, and an annotated list of written and GDC postmortems, from Deus Ex and Thief to Spider-Man and Destiny, plus art-focused talks.

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A postmortem is a developer's own account of a finished project: what they set out to do, what worked, what failed and what they would change. Game Developer describes the classic pieces as developers writing about "what went right (and wrong)" during development, many first "published in the pages of the much-loved Game Developer Magazine" (Game Developer: 10 seminal game postmortems every developer…).

For artists and designers, postmortems describe another studio's production decisions and the reasons behind what appears in the screenshots.

#The standard structure

The magazine format was strict enough that a piece could be praised for stepping "outside of the established postmortem format" (Game Developer: 10 seminal game postmortems every developer…). Warren Spector's Deus Ex postmortem (2000) shows the classic shape (Game Developer: Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex):

  1. Introduction and a short description of the game.
  2. What Went Right: five numbered points (for Deus Ex: a clear vision, preproduction, design as a process, scheduling around prototype missions, licensed technology).
  3. What Went Wrong: five numbered points (team structure, unrealistic goals, unaddressed risks, the prototype-mission decision, publicity).
  4. What I'm Not Sure About: open design questions, such as whether to let players name their character.
  5. The Bottom Line, plus a Game Data sidebar with team size, development time and tools.

GDC postmortem talks follow the same logic in spoken form, usually with more pictures and numbers.

#How to read one as an artist or designer

  • Read the "wrong" list first. It contains most of the transferable lessons. Spector's advice on proto-missions applies to any blockout: "Get this mission working as early as possible, so you can see all the things you thought would work that didn't" (Game Developer: Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex).
  • Look for pipeline decisions. Tools, kits, texture strategies and team ratios matter more to your daily work than the story of crunch.
  • Check the game data. Team size and schedule tell you what scale a lesson applies to.
  • Remember who is writing. A postmortem is written by the team, after release. Treat it as an honest but partial account, and compare it with interviews and talks from other team members.
  • Play or watch the game alongside. Find the level or asset being discussed and look at it with the lesson in mind.

#Classic written postmortems

Game Author, outlet Why read it
Deus Ex Warren Spector, Game Developer, 2000 (Game Developer) Vision, preproduction and prototype missions; Spector's "rules of role-playing" include "Tunnels that go direct from Point A to Point B are bad" . Recommended for level designers.
Thief: The Dark Project Tom Leonard, Looking Glass Studios, Game Developer (Game Developer) The chief programmer on what worked and what didn't while trying to create "a totally different first-person gaming experience" (Game Developer). Good on systems that shape level design (light, sound, AI).
Octodad: Dadliest Catch Phil Tibitoski, Game Developer, 2015 (Game Developer) A small indie team's multi-part postmortem; Part 1 introduces separate production, design and tech parts . Read the production and tech parts.
Among Us Innersloth blog, 2018 (innersloth.com) Not a classic postmortem but a data review of over 15,000 games, which found "the vast majority of games are played locally with friends" . A short lesson in letting data correct assumptions.

Game Developer's own list of ten "seminal" postmortems adds System Shock 2, Diablo II, Baldur's Gate II, Myth, Unreal Tournament, Age of Empires II, Rainbow Six and Black & White (Game Developer: 10 seminal game postmortems every developer…). The Baldur's Gate II piece covers environment design among other topics (Game Developer: 10 seminal game postmortems every developer…).

#GDC postmortem talks

Talk Speaker, year Why watch it
'Into the Breach' Design Postmortem Matthew Davis, Subset Games, GDC 2019 (GDC Vault) Design iteration on a small tactics game that took "four long years" after FTL .
The Casual (but Regal) Swipe: Creating Game Mechanics in 'Reigns' François Alliot, Nerial, GDC 2017 (GDC Vault) How one swipe-based core system was stretched into a full strategy game .
'Marvel's Spider-Man': A Technical Postmortem Elan Ruskin, Insomniac, GDC 2019 (GDC Vault) The technology behind "Insomniac's biggest game to date" ; useful context for open-world art budgets.
Engine Postmortem of inFAMOUS: Second Son Adrian Bentley, Sucker Punch, GDC 2014 (GDC Vault) An urban open-world engine at the start of a console generation .
Lessons from the Core Engine Architecture of Destiny Chris Butcher, Bungie, GDC 2015 (GDC Vault) Building an engine meant to last "just as long as the Halo engine had" . Advanced; for technically minded artists.

The technical talks are programming sessions. You do not need to follow every detail; listen for the constraints (streaming, memory, frame time) that shaped what artists could build.

#Art and level design postmortems

These talks are not always titled "postmortem", but each looks back at how a shipped game's art or levels were made.

A studio talk on the materials of The Last of Us, free on YouTube; a good companion to the Uncharted 4 Substance talk above. Watch on YouTube

#Further reading and watching

GDC Vault
search for "postmortem" and filter by track (Visual Arts, Level Design). Mixed free and paid.
TalkFreePaid

References

  1. Alex Wawro · 10 seminal game postmortems every developer should read · Game Developer, 2015 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  2. Warren Spector · Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex · Game Developer, 2000 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  3. Tom Leonard (Looking Glass Studios) · Postmortem: Thief: The Dark Project · Game Developer · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  4. Phil Tibitoski · Octodad: Dadliest Catch Post-Mortem Pt. 1: Summary · Game Developer, 2015 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  5. Innersloth · The Data Among Us · innersloth.com, 2018 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  6. Matthew Davis (Subset Games) · 'Into the Breach' Design Postmortem · GDC Vault (GDC 2019), 2019 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  7. François Alliot (Nerial) · The Casual (but Regal) Swipe: Creating Game Mechanics in 'Reigns' · GDC Vault (GDC 2017, Independent Games Summit), 2017 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  8. Elan Ruskin (Insomniac Games) · 'Marvel's Spider-Man': A Technical Postmortem · GDC Vault (GDC 2019), 2019 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  9. Adrian Bentley (Sucker Punch Productions) · Engine Postmortem of inFAMOUS: Second Son · GDC Vault (GDC 2014), 2014 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  10. Chris Butcher (Bungie) · Lessons from the Core Engine Architecture of Destiny · GDC Vault (GDC 2015), 2015 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  11. Morten Olsen (Insomniac Games) · The Ultimate Trim: Texturing Techniques of Sunset Overdrive · GDC Vault, 2015 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  12. Joel Burgess (co-presented with Nate Purkeypile) · Skyrim's Modular Approach to Level Design · Game Developer (from GDC 2013 Level Design in a Day), 2013 · article · accessed 2026-10-21
  13. Sebastien Deguy (Allegorithmic), Rogelio Olguin and Bradford Smith (Naughty Dog) · Texturing Uncharted 4: a matter of Substance · GDC Vault, 2016 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  14. Adobe Substance 3D · The Material Art of The Last of Us | Substance Days at GDC 2023 · YouTube, 2023 · video · accessed 2026-10-21
  15. Miriam Bellard (Rockstar North) · Environment Design as Spatial Cinematography: Theory and Practice · GDC Vault, 2019 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21
  16. Harvey Smith (Arkane Studios) and Matthias Worch (LucasArts) · What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling · GDC Vault (GDC 2010), 2010 · talk · accessed 2026-10-21

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Last updated 2026-10-22