Understanding the Computer Games Industry

1. Understanding the Computer Games Industry Week 4 Who works in Industry?

2. 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

3. Action Scripter Compensation & Benefits Manager Illustrator Platform Designer Chief Executive Recruitment Manager Graphic Designer Information Architect Operations Manager Managing Director Personnel Officer Systems Analyst Customer Support Creative Director Creative Manager Database Designer Technical Director Art Director Engine Programmer Financial Planning Manager Finance Director Lead Artist Server Architect Supply Chain Manager Accountant Concept Artist Environment Artist PreVis Artist Business Development Manager General Counsel/Legal Director Technical Artist Head of Development Training Manager Animator Project Manager/Producer Product/Brand Manager 3D Modeller QA Director IT Manager Art Director IT Support Technical Support Musician Programming Manager Network Administrator Audio Engineer Assistant Project Manager Secretary Sound Effects Designer Production Accountant Administrator Composer Production Scheduler Admin Assistant Production Assistant Receptionist Security Officer Sales Manager Solicitor Artist Executive Producer Licensing/IPR Manager GUI Designer Gameplay Programmer Localisation Manager 100 total job roles! Executive/Senior Producer Marketing Director Journalist Lead Designer Lead Programmer QA Manager Producer/Project Manager Marketing Manager Academic Games Designer Software Engineer Quality Assurance Technician/Tester Account Director Press Officer Community Editor GM Script writer Programmer Lead Tester Consultant PR Executive Player Map builder A.I. Programmer Associate/Junior Producer Level Editor Middleware/Tools Programmer Project Co-ordinator Object planner Graphics Programmer Localisation Tester External Relations HR Manager Storyboard Artist

4. 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

5. 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!

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

7. 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

8. 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.”

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.”

14. Where do we see ourselves? • Is there anyone who already sees a specific path they want to pursue? • Anyone who’s undecided?

15. Electronic Arts Company Overview

16. 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.

17. 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?

18. The Four Branches of EA EA Gamesaction-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 Sportssports-based titles EA Tiburon (Florida) EA Canada (Burnaby) EA North Carolina (Morrisville)

19. The Four Branches of EA EA Maxiscasual games and simulation/online Maxis Emeryville The Sims Studio EA Salt Lake EA Hasbro MySims Casual Studios EA Biowarerole-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)

20. Bioware Group Bioware was founded in 1995 by three Medical School graduates, Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. Their main focus was on role-playing games with strong base in pen-and-paper and tabletop games. They enjoyed a privileged position as one of the west’s premier role-playing game developers. During the early years of the company they continued to practice medicine as a means of financially supporting their games company, later having to stop in order to develop games full time. They created several high-profile games using a variant of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and created the Infinity Engine, one of the most famous PC game engines.

21. Bioware Group Bioware were bought by EA on October 11, 2007 and became a full branch of EA- EA Bioware. In 2009, to consolidate EA’s ability to produce RPGs Bioware were merged with Mythic Entertainment, forming Bioware Mythic. The roles of Group Creative Officer and Group General Manager went to the Bioware 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 of EA2D (EA’s Arcade studio). Having their main base in Canada, the Bioware group are subject to arts grants and tax breaks given to them by the Canadian government.

22. 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

23. 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