Understanding the Computer Games Industry

Week 4

Who works in Industry?

Who works in the games industry?

• How many roles and responsibilities are we aware of within the games industry?

• Make a quick list!• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIly1DJvuW8

Executive/Senior ProducerMarketing Director JournalistLead Designer Lead Programmer QA Manager Producer/Project Manager Marketing ManagerAcademicGames Designer Software Engineer Quality Assurance Technician/TesterAccount Director Press OfficerCommunity EditorGMScript writer Programmer Lead Tester Consultant PR ExecutivePlayerMap builder A.I. Programmer Associate/Junior Producer Level Editor Middleware/Tools Programmer Project Co-ordinatorObject plannerGraphics Programmer Localisation Tester External Relations HR ManagerStoryboard Artist

Action ScripterCompensation & Benefits ManagerIllustrator Platform Designer Chief Executive Recruitment ManagerGraphic Designer Information Architect Operations Manager Managing Director Personnel OfficerSystems Analyst Customer Support Creative DirectorCreative Manager Database Designer Technical DirectorArt Director Engine Programmer Financial Planning Manager Finance DirectorLead Artist Server Architect Supply Chain Manager AccountantConcept ArtistEnvironment Artist PreVis Artist Business Development Manager General Counsel/Legal DirectorTechnical Artist Head of Development

Training Manager

Animator Project Manager/Producer Product/Brand Manager 3D Modeller QA Director IT ManagerArt DirectorIT SupportTechnical SupportMusician Programming ManagerNetwork AdministratorAudio Engineer Assistant Project ManagerSecretarySound Effects Designer Production Accountant AdministratorComposer Production Scheduler Admin AssistantProduction AssistantReceptionistSecurity OfficerSales Manager SolicitorArtist Executive ProducerLicensing/IPR Manager

GUI Designer

Gameplay Programmer

Localisation Manager

100 total job roles!

Greg Zeschuk

• Dr. Gregory P. Zeschuk founded Bioware in 1995 and held the position of Joint-CEO, President and co-General Manager over the course of the 15 years he was with the company. At the time of his retirement in 2012 he was the RPG Group Creative Officer at EA.

• He continues to serve as Director& Co-Chairman of CodeBaby Corp.

• He holds a medical degree from the University of Alberta and was a practicing doctor for several years while in his role as co-executive producer for several Bioware games. He also holds an executive MBA from Queen’s School of Business.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZMbp7pta8

The structure of a

traditional game

development team.

The especially-highly

qualified members of

your class may enter

in Junior positions.

The highly-qualified

members of your class

may enter as QA or

from outsourced

positions.

This is a highly-

competitive industry!

Only the strong survive!

As we can see, the devs make up only part of how the company structure.

Games Design• “Games Designers decide what a game consists of and how it

plays, and they are often the people who come up with the idea in the first place. Game design is a complex activity requiring a combination of skills – design, management, scheduling, research etc. – and Designers need an understanding of all aspects of a game. They also need to be able to document their vision and communicate it to other members of the project team.

• For very large projects, there may be more than one Game Designer on the team, each one taking responsibility for a group of levels and collaborating on the overall design of the game. In such situations, a Lead Designer or Creative Director takes overall responsibility.”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCBHYzWrUcs&feature=related

Level Design

• “Games are usually large projects, so the design process is often shared between a number of different people who each take responsibility for a section of the game, or 'level'. One of the Game Designer's tasks is to specify the levels and to allocate the level design to other members of the team.

• Level Design includes the mapping, detailed layout and building of the environment in which the level is played, as well as interactive placement of objects and assets within that environment. Most modern games are based on 3D computer graphics and Level Designers use 3D modelling or world editing tools in order to create and edit the levels.”

Art & Animation• “Game Artists create the images – all the objects, buildings,

landscapes and characters – which make up the game world. Animators define and create their movement. The majority of computer games are now developed using realtime 3D graphics and animation. Artists and Animators working in computer games development are usually trained or experienced in one of the major 3D modelling and animation packages, such as 3DStudioMax or Maya.

• Game Artists work at many different levels in a games development studio. Job roles are often combined, and include concept artists, environment modellers, object and vehicle modellers, character modellers, animators, and texture artists. A Lead Artist or Art Director takes overall responsibility.”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Ab5WK-K64&feature=relmfu

Programming• “From the outside, this seems the most mysterious of all the

game development areas. It is also the heart of the process, as the programming team is responsible for creating the code which makes the game actually work.

• There are numerous sub–disciplines within the programming department, including artificial intelligence or AI; physics; graphics rendering engine development; character control; gameplay programming; and middleware tools development. All these are usually overseen by a Lead Programmer who is also responsible for the technical specification of the game and for strategically managing the code development process. Programmers need good team–working and problem–solving skills, in addition to programming ability.“

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHo1Z913QsY

Audio Technology

• Sound design and audio engineering are increasingly important areas within the games development process. Depending on the size of the company, the audio department might consist of one or two people who are responsible for creating and producing music, sound effects, recording dialogue, and often supervising voice performance.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHo1Z913QsY

Quality Assurance• “There are a number of other roles within a games

development company, but perhaps the most important is Quality Assurance or QA. This discipline includes the role of Tester, which is one of the most common entry points into the games industry for first time job seekers.

• Testing is a highly disciplined role as it involves identifying and describing bugs and faults in games 'builds' (cumulatively improved versions of the game as the bugs are ironed out) and communicating these in a clear and unambiguous way. Testers need to love playing games for long periods of time, organisational skills, some programming experience or knowledge, and the ability to meet deadlines.”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyEgHHBcI4

Management & Publishing• “Production management within games development is

usually split between the developer and publisher. The development schedule is the responsibility of the Producer or Project Manager within the games development team, whilst the External Producer, based with the games publisher, will be more involved in marketing and selling the game and ensuring it stays true to the original concepts. Whilst sometimes the External Producer might have more creative input than a Project Manager, both are responsible for budgets, schedules, milestones, and reports.

• Other important managing and publishing roles are the type of roles that are to be found in any organisation and are essential to its successful running, e.g. marketing, PR, human resources, administration, and IT support.”

Where do we see ourselves?

• Is there anyone who already sees a specific path they want to pursue?

• Anyone who’s undecided?

Electronic Arts

Company Overview

Electronic Arts

• Electronic Arts is the largest games publisher in the world. They are a publishing/development house comprised of four major branches (see next slide).

• They have previously been criticised for their working conditions and for their predatory attitude towards competitors.

• They won 2012’s “Worst Company in America” Award from The Consumerist.

The Four Branches of EA

• EA Games

• EA Sports

• EA Maxis

• EA Bioware

• How many of these have we heard of?

• What about their subsidiary studios?

The Four Branches of EAEA Games action-adventure, racing and FPS games

EA Interactive (Pogo.com, Playfish & EA Mobile)

Criterion Games

Danger Close Games (formerly EA Los Angeles)

EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games)

EA Digital Illusions CE (formerly Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment)

EA Montreal

EA Partners

EA Phenomic (formerly Phenomic Game Developments)

Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores)

EA Sports sports-based titles

EA Tiburon (Florida)

EA Canada (Burnaby)

EA North Carolina (Morrisville)

The Four Branches of EAEA Maxis casual games and simulation/online

Maxis Emeryville

The Sims Studio

EA Salt Lake

EA Hasbro

MySims

Casual Studios

EA Bioware role-playing, MMO and strategy games

BioWare Edmonton

BioWare Austin

BioWare Montreal

BioWare Mythic (formerly Mythic Entertainment)

BioWare Victory (formerly Victory Games)

BioWare Ireland

BioWare San Francisco (formerly EA2D)

Bioware Group

Bioware was founded in 1995 by three Medical Schoolgraduates, Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip.Their main focus was on role-playing games with strongbase in pen-and-paper and tabletop games. They enjoyed aprivileged position as one of the west’s premier role-playinggame developers.

During the early years of the company they continued to practicemedicine as a means of financially supporting their gamescompany, later having to stop in order to develop games fulltime. They created several high-profile games using a variant ofthe Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and created the Infinity Engine, one of the most famous PC game engines.

Bioware GroupBioware were bought by EA on October 11, 2007 and becamea full branch of EA- EA Bioware. In 2009, to consolidate EA’sability to produce RPGs Bioware were merged with MythicEntertainment, forming Bioware Mythic. The roles of GroupCreative Officer and Group General Manager went to theBioware heads. The success of this partnership led to the swelling of the Bioware division by three more studios;Austin (Texas), Montreal (Quebec) and Fairfax (Virginia).

Later growth included the creation of Bioware Galway (Ireland),focused on Customer Service and Support and the rebranding ofEA2D (EA’s Arcade studio). Having their main base in Canada,the Bioware group are subject to arts grants and tax breaksgiven to them by the Canadian government.

Homework Task?

• Write a 200 word research piece on your blog, about your chosen industry career.

• Why did you choose this role?• What about it appeals to you?• What skills will you need for it?• See if you can find it advertised!• http://imediasite.wikispaces.com/zeraux

Further Reading

• http://www.creativeskillset.org/games/careers/article_2768_1.asp

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts

• http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/blitz_academy