Sawyer W.’s Post

Three cultural values for game dev studios that are usually absent or insufficient: 1. Humility - Be Humble, both as an individual and as a studio. Your ego is not your friend. Dream big, but dream big on behalf of the player, not on behalf of yourself. 2. Do less work that matters more, not more work that matters less. The focus of leadership and every person should be to do LESS work and achieve a good result. Avoid the trap of always wanting to do more. Spend time talking about how little you could do and still be successful. 3. Prioritize People Management. Our bosses tend to be untrained individuals thrust into the role without training, or with training on the process (perf management, PIPs, hiring management forms, etc.) but not on actually being someone's superior. You are the representative of the direct report to the company, and the representative of the company to your direct report. This is a very important position for developing talent and helping individuals reach their potential. We've figured out "Player First" as an industry (mostly). Now it's time for the next level up. #gameproduction #gamedevelopment #gameindustry #culture

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Roll7 and Intercept are both good developers with cool people, the kind you want making games. Take Two didn’t *need* to do this unless something major changed recently and someone in finance had to reconcile new information, then searched for the most vulnerable people to easily cut. Implies a strong imbalance on their balance sheet - a new “glitch.” These decisions get made by pub-side bankers removed from the details of quality and morale, without respecting or caring about downstream effects or quality of life, these are good jobs for sociopaths and order-followers, and then HR gets to clean up. I think we need a new kind of accountability and measuring stick for behavior.

Quick quiz: What #entertainment #industry generates about $185 billion worldwide per year; creates jobs that attract people with creative skills, technical expertise or both; is generally loved by its customers; and already has a small but vigorous toehold in #Wisconsin? If you answered film, television or music, you’re at the right theater but in the wrong seat. The correct answer is #videogaming, which by most global revenue estimates is bigger than all three of those sectors combined. #Jobs needed to produce video games can be done by people in studios or by developers working at home; the jobs usually pay well; and Wisconsin already has some established studios and about 1,000 developers with a good chance to attract more. Article: 'Inside Wisconsin: Gaming industry #tax incentives should be on the screen for Wisconsin' https://lnkd.in/gV5zwesm via Tom Still

Developing a game is no easy feat. Here are three common challenges game studios face and how we can help you navigate them. 1) Long Development Period: Small teams or lack of expertise can prolong development times. Our experienced team can streamline your process. 2) Limited Engine Specialization: Most studios specialize in one engine. We bring versatility with expertise in multiple engines. 3) Resource Constraints: Managing multiple projects? We can offer the extra manpower you need, easing the burden of hiring and onboarding. Let’s work together to overcome these challenges and bring your vision to life: www.astrogamestudios.com #GameDevelopment #GameDev #IndieGameStudio

Confessions of a Game Producer: What is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my career? Set clear expectations. Sounds easy right? I still remember my professor in school saying these words over and over. So I learned early on to set clear expectations with my teams (see visual from my rapid prototyping class in grad school). An important part of any project includes setting clear expectations around roles and responsibilities from the start. As the needs of the project evolve, so do the needs of the team. By setting clear expectations, you know how to help your team evolve together (like a pokémon ;)). I’ve frequently started working at studios mid-development and this process has really been helpful to me. The first thing I do right after meeting a new team is set up a short follow up conversation with each individual. Before we talk, I set expectations by letting them know the purpose of the meeting and the topics I’d like to discuss. My goal with these meetings is to learn about their role on the team, and how the work they do fits into the overall pipeline. I also make sure to set expectations around my role and ask what I can do to improve processes or communication on the team. Through these conversations I’ve been able to identify and solve issues quickly. I’ve also received overwhelmingly positive responses from team members after we’ve had these conversations because they are able to see an immediate impact from my quick integration into the team. This is just one example of how setting clear expectations is crucial to quality product development. What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in your career? I’d love to hear in the comments. If you enjoyed this, check out the featured section of my profile to see more posts.

🚀 Calling all Game Producers & Art Directors in the gaming industry! 🚀 We all know that game development is a complex & dynamic process. One of the biggest challenges we face is project delays. But what are the leading causes of these delays? Is it the difficulty in finding the right talent? Or perhaps issues with reliability & consistency? Maybe it's something else entirely, like scope creep or technical hurdles? At Devoted CG, we’re always looking for ways to streamline our processes & enhance collaboration. We believe that understanding these challenges from different perspectives can help us all improve and innovate. 🔍 We’d love to hear your experiences & thoughts! What do you think are the main causes of delays in game development? How have you tackled these challenges in your projects? Let’s share insights & strategies to help our industry thrive. Drop your thoughts in the comments below! #GameDevelopment #ProjectManagement #ArtDirectors #GameDevChallenges #DevotedCG #Collaboration #TalentManagement

Today's post is dedicated to the excellent feature from Jason Schreier about games industry team sizes (via Bloomberg) https://lnkd.in/ePTPNegF In a world of never-ending layoffs and unwieldy corporate oversight, many studios have popped up from industry veterans with smaller, focused teams that can do a lot more for a lot less. I've seen some speculation that this will lead the industry to follow in Hollywood's footsteps where a handful of seniors on staff direct projects while everyone else constantly moves from project to project, company to company. And I cannot see a world where that's successful for the simple truth that game development is fundamentally different from television and movies. The best, most successful games and series are crafted by teams that stick together (look at Capcom, Nintendo). If the industry moves towards a Hollywood style of development, I can only see worse quality games being made and audiences unhappy with the results. And this is happening right now with studios that rely on a majority of contract workers that churn over every year or so. Outsourcing isn't inherently a bad thing either -- it's necessary for a lot of games -- but when the scales tip to favor it, you're getting teams that take longer to ramp up on projects and aren't able to pass that knowledge onto the next group for the next project. You need people embedded in the team long-term to thrive. Related, the brain drain we've seen from these layoffs the past two years will be felt for years to come. I'm glad to see many of these newer studios embrace remote work (as they should) and I hope this is a turning point for the better. That we learn the correct lessons from *waves hand* everything that's happened. #gamesindustry #games #gamedevelopment

The number 1 reason Game Studios fail to find people and deliver on time They focus on building a perfect team, not releasing a game. •⁠ ⁠Trying to create a game making machine before creating one game •⁠ ⁠Interviewing 10+ candidats before making a decision •⁠ Trying to find someone that could handle ANYTHING •⁠ ⁠Dragging candidates through a 3-5 step process •⁠ ⁠Only looking for people locally The result? Unpredictable productions and lost opportunities Here's what you do instead: 1.⁠ Zoom in on what you need solved 2.⁠ ⁠Go for it if when you find someone that can get the work done 3. Use the probation period / notice period for contractors to evaluate fit 4.⁠ ⁠Leverage the possibilities with Remote 5.⁠ ⁠Laser-focus on releasing the game Stop trying to find the perfect person at the cost of your game. Start building your game with available people while you build your perfect team. Getting your game out is how you get ahead of 99% of studios.

I managed studios for 25 years. From Blizzard Korea to Huuuge Games. Operations can quickly fall apart.. - Admin - Hiring - Training - Delegating - Management - Company growth IF you are not careful. As a CEO you have to manage all of them. On top of picking up the kids and tying your shoes. It is a lot. Here's what I learned about inefficient operations: 1/ Lost money When operations are off track, resources bleed. I've seen medium studios lose $100k+ monthly. Due to bottlenecks and poor processes. 2/ Slow decisions Every delayed decision = missed opportunity At Gameloft, we scaled from 1 to 150 people. Quick decisions were our edge. 3/ Team burnout Bad operations create chaos. Your best people get frustrated. They leave. (very common) 5/ Growth ceiling You can't scale what's broken. Fix operations first. Then aim for growth. The solution? 1) Simplify 1st. 2) Delegate FULL ownership You can do this through a fractional CEO or Full-time CXO. What is important is that you are not the bottleneck. Your operations are your foundation. And your foundation should be clear processes. Clear processes lead to fast decisions. Fast decisions lead to opportunities. Opportunities lead to growth. Build them right. Everything falls into place. P.S. How to survive in games workshop today, link in comments 👇