oversees development cycles and keep the team on track (day to day and long term)
timer keeper, task planner and communicator
line of defense and source of truth
not in charge of money but time
not marketing
everyday is different
tracking work (Jira = agile software) tasks, bugs, everything has an estimate and stays up to date
project roadmaps
meetings (best communicator)
playing the game, testing
spreadsheets, problem solving
roles can find you
university skills apply to industry outside of art and programming
communication
deadlines
understanding peers
be accountable (on time, responding, etc)
being able to work solo/teams
Recruitment
QA portfolio
be honest
what you think is relevant
passion about games
interviewers want passionate employees
you don’t have obsessed but do your research
applied for 20-30 jobs before getting into QA
1pg CV
production doesn’t have portfolios
FMP
understood the games cycle
departments
enthusiasm
foundation
multiple studios can work on one game, ‘co-development’ IP owner swill outsource parts of development to have technical knowledge to communicate
mission design and cinematics
adapt to changing a game/scraping ideas etc
QA – producer
1 year QA
offered a role as a producer during QA
many people in QA may be picked off into other areas, show your skill set and you might get lucky
QA is low risk for studios, they bring people in and ‘test’ them, see how they fit into the work culture and consider them for bigger more specialised roles
keep an open mind, may find a role you enjoy in an unexpected area, hang out with people at work that are in areas that you are interested in
remote work/hybrid work, flexibility
important to meet people face-to-face at first
communication improves over time, some people wont communicate in the same way online/offline, there may also be a generational gap in communication style
things wont be answered immediately
sprints/milestones/development cycles
software: Trello, Miro, Jira, people don’t have to tell you what they’ve done directly
their studio doesn’t work in sprints (2 weeks + check-ins) but in milestones (1 month, check-ins)
GDD
confluence pages, easier for people to edit etc
contingency time, add 20% of time in case of emergencies (sickness, tacking time off, etc)
game charts
estimating time
gets easier as you do more
people are different, creates variation in estimates
vertical slice, preproduction – record how long it takes, this helps predict the rest of the project
track everything
think about similar things you have done in the past and talk to peers
some studios exclusively work in co-development
minimum viable product – be prepared to remove stuff and prioritise core aspects
scope – the core things that are is service of the age, the experience
the first job you get won’t be remote, you nee to build trust