Once you’ve been in the game industry for a decade or more, you’ll start to recognize certain patterns. In fact, at times your career can feel like you’re just repeating the same project over and over again.
Never fear! You’re not caught in a weird game industry version of Groundhog Day (unless you’re working on your fourth Madden game in a row – then you are.)
It’s just that you’ve caught a glimpse of the reality underlying all the creativity, passion, and drive of the game development process: there are only five types of projects.
The Big-Budget Deathmarch
You’re staring at your screen and you haven’t done anything for half an hour. Look around the office. No, really! Right now, stand up and look around – it’ll do you good to stretch.
Does your studio have two hundred people working on a single game? Do you only know about half of them by name?
Did a random executive (who you’ve never met) swing by your desk last week unannounced to “check out the progress,” with a hapless assistant producer in tow, taking notes?
Are there four or more assistant producers?
Do you have absolutely no insight into how creative decisions are getting made?
Did “voluntary extra hours” on the project start six months ago? Did those voluntary hours quickly turn into “mandatory Saturdays and evenings?” Have you packed on ten pounds from eating warmed-over pizza several nights a week? Have you forgotten what the sun looks like?
If all these things are true, you’re on a Big-Budget Deathmarch.
Here’s the good news: your project will almost certainly ship. You’ll see it in all the digital storefronts, on all the platforms, and maybe even in an old-school physical release. It’ll sell millions of copies, generating tens or hundreds of millions in revenue (though not for you). There will even be TV commercials!
And, lucky you – there will be at least two sequels. Job security!
The Ego-Driven Passion Project
Does your organizational structure place a “Creative Director” at the peak of a project’s pyramid? Does that Creative Director also happen to be one of studio’s top executives?
Do time-tested development processes survive for a couple of weeks at most? Are producers and project leads constantly in half-day meetings with the Creative Director to “get aligned with the new direction?”
Are experienced team leads cowed into silence by the sheer force of the Director’s personality? Is there constant discussion about “vision” and pressure to “push the quality envelope?” Does the product you’re building straddle the line between “innovative” and “crazy?”
Congratulations – you’re on an Ego-Driven Passion Project!
There’s a reason the Mythic Quest trailer hit a nerve with industry veterans. We’ve all had an “Ian Grimm” in our lives at one time or another. Directors that fully own a game’s vision and are seemingly immune to feedback can be a challenge to work for. It’s hard for the rest of the team to get invested when they feel they don’t have any ownership over their work.
If you’re on an Ego-Driven Passion Project, don’t fight against the tide – go with the flow. This project, with its crazy vision, is happening with or without you.
Unlike a Big-Budget Deathmarch, an Ego-Driven Passion Project is not guaranteed to ship. Even if it ships, it could spectacularly flame out. But on the plus side, it has a shot of being a game that players truly remember – one way or another.
The Live Operations Grind
The game you’re on makes money. It’s been around for a while. In fact, you joined the team after the original product shipped.
There are updates to release on a steady cadence. There’s content to build for holiday events. There are servers to keep running (and they always seem to go down at 3 a.m.). There are a myriad of customer support issues to sort out.
It. Never. Ends.
If that sounds like your game, odds are you’re trapped in the Live Operations Grind.
Look on the bright side. Products that make steady money for years on end are rare. People are continually engaging with your game. Your work is directly making a lot of players happy on a regular basis – if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be the need for live operations.
Your job is essential and you have clear direction. There’s even time to refine and smooth out processes. Unlike a brand-new game, regular releases for an existing product are relatively easy to plan and schedule.
It seems counterintuitive, but with the right mindset you can enjoy the Live Operations Grind. Remember that the predictable, steady work will end someday; every live product eventually stops making money and gets shut down.
Remember, it could be a lot worse. For instance, you could be on…
The Metrics-Driven Casual Game
Are there more product managers than game designers at your studio?
Is your CEO’s expression a mixture of bored and painfully constipated when you start talking about traditional game design principles? Are the execs fond of describing proposed mechanics as “too hardcore?”
Are the product managers looking to sand off all the controversial edges of the game so it “casts a wider net?” Do you have a meeting later this week with a PM to discuss the latest A/B test on title screen font changes?
When you’re building the production plan for a new game, is the analytics solution one of the first things discussed? Are terms like “ARPU” and “KPI” more commonly heard in the halls of the studio than “fun” or “gameplay?”
There’s definitely a role for analytics in game development. Looking at the right metrics can provide great insight into what features are the most engaging. Studios ignore the advice of a talented product manager at their peril. A great PM can be a fantastic partner for game designers, providing a reality check on a vision that’s gone off the rails.
But if your studio consistently puts their product managers first and game developers second, while at the same time looking to engage an ever-broader spectrum of players, you’re working on a Metrics-Driven Casual Game.
The Tiny Indie Project
This is it – a dream come true! You’ve put together a tight team of developers who are all passionate and invested. Everyone is working toward a clear, collective vision. Away from the big studios and crazy creative directors and metrics-focused product mangers, you’re finally building the game you always dreamed about. Success at last!
Of course, someone on the team has got to run the business side. You’ve got to file quarterly taxes. You’ve got to e-mail that one contact about a late invoice. You’ve got to find a healthcare solution for next year. You’ve got to pay contractors.
You have to think about a marketing plan, make pitches for funding, and somewhere in there, you’ve got to make the game.
You’ve got to do EVERYTHING.
When something goes wrong, it’s entirely on the team to fix it. There’s no giant studio or well-funded publisher to catch you when you fall. An IT problem as minor as a hardware failure or a day-long internet outage can add substantial risk in a given week.
You can’t ever completely relax and shut your brain off. You’re always thinking about the game, keeping the company afloat, what the next step should be, or whether there should even be a next step at all.
When you’re working on a Tiny Indie Project, there are times you’ll get jealous of other teams. “I wish I had a fraction of their budget,” you think. Or “I wish we had a publisher.” Or even “I wish we had a charismatic creative director to help sell this idea.”
Don’t fret. If your indie game is wildly successful, maybe you’ll be the next big Creative Director, loved by all for your genius. If it’s not, maybe you’ll fold up shop, cash out, and go work on a casual game for a big studio.
If it’s somewhere in the middle, maybe you’ll just maintain the game, release some updates, and turn it into a steady source of revenue while you make the next one.
So if you feel like you’ve been stuck for a while, and you’re wondering if the grass is greener elsewhere, hang in there.
Odds are, if you have a long career, you’ll work on all five types of projects again.
Are there really only five types of projects? Maybe there’s six – or, gosh, what if there’s seven! Maybe this whole idea is ridiculous! What games have you worked on that don’t fit inside my rigid little boxes? Discuss in the comments!