Video Games and the Art of the Fail

They say success has many fathers and failure is an orphan. But I say failure has dubious parentage but everybody sure wants to stare at the ugly little bastard. 

I have had my fair share of exposure to cancelled games, aborted projects, shutdown services, less-than-spectacular releases and thunderous earth-shattering meteor impacts. And make no mistake, failure is a spectator sport.

Why Game Development Experience is Largely Overrated

Why the "experienced" old dog game developer probably hasn't learned the tricks you really need.

Have you ever had the experience of listening to an exalted Deity of Game Design - and you suddenly realize what they are preaching is hopelessly out of date? Let's face it, experience in game development is highly over-rated. As hiring managers, we chase experienced candidates because it gives us a warm, reassuring feeling to have a CV with a long list of years behind it. Hiring is scary - a bad hire can be disastrous in so many different ways so hiring "experience" is a balm against our fear of lost development time, burned budgets, morale problems, lawsuits, etc.

The problem is that "experience" is an illusion.

Why Studying Game Design is (Largely) a Waste of Time

Presumably, it’s not enough to just get a job as a video game designer. You probably want to be a successful game developer. 

Maybe you even climb to the point where you’re directing your own eager minions what game we’re all making. To ascend to the rarefied summits of game design, you figure you’d better have the right skills. Naturally then, you want to study all the game design theory you can lay your hands on, right?

Wrong – because overall success in game development relies on skills outside of game design.

Game Developers: The Argument for Taming the Business Side

Your typical game developer has mixed feelings about business types. In the way a mongoose feels about a cobra.

It's something in the DNA of most game developers. They're instinctively repelled by talk of Brooks Brothers, ties and addressable markets. Many game developers wear their ignorance of business issues as a badge of honor. To be a "suit" is a bad thing. But there's actually a pretty good case for every dyed-in-the-world game developer to master the game of business.

The Future of Video Game Design

Video game designers have an almost pathological distaste for "suits", those nefarious types which worry about the nasty details of how to run a business and how to make money. But the role of game designer is changing - and designers better get comfortable with Armani and Brooks Brothers.

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, the game industry is in a seismic shift. Now, there's a tendency to say that every few years. But believe it or not, this time it's for realsies. Promise. 

It's because of a confluence of factors. For one thing, the console business as it used to be is done, finished, finito. The economics of developing for a console platform are rapidly becoming untenable. Game budgets roughly tripled since the last generation of hardware. And believe me, the install base of users did not match pace. There simply will not be a next generation of consoles unless somebody figures out how to make money on them. 

Which is where online comes into play. DLC and virtual goods and all that cool stuff that the interwebs makes possible. It all boils down to making incremental revenue by pushing digital content. 

The rise of social gaming also plays into this mess. Quite simply, "gaming" is shifting into the mainstream. And guess what, its not going to be pretty for a lot of people. In a very basic way, gaming has been a rarified field. It's been a small segment of the population making games for themselves. All you have to do is consider the difference in reach between getting 15 million people to play Modern Warfare 2 - and getting 80 million to play Farmville every month. 

But there's a downside to the world of the mainstream. Besides the fact that many designers are not looking forward to crafting games for Mr. and Mrs Middle America, it is fundamentally more challenging to make a viable business of it. It's not that money can't be made - simply that its far more complicated. It used to be you just made a game and sold a number of copies of it. X units times Y price equals Money. Now, there's numerous overlapping revenue sources from virtual goods to ads to referrals to upsells. 

So whether you are trying to keep your console and PC business alive or venturing into the bold world of mainstream social gaming, your business is extraordinarily sensitive to manipulation through the game mechanics. 

To put it another way, game design will be the difference between a viable business and moving back into Mom and Dad's basement.

Game designers are going to be driving the video game business. It will be through design decisions that new business opportunities will be created and exploited. The measurement of success for a game designer will be coldly objective and often brutal. Ubiquitous online connectivity means all designs will be mercilessly vetted. If your customers like the new digital widget you're pushing or find they can't help but come back every day to play your game, you will succeed. But if you fail to connect with your customer.... 

Game designers will need not only mastery of DPS balancing and leveling curves but also revenue models and ARPU and cost to acquire users. Game design is going to be a bold world that combines game mechanic theory, human psychology and business savvy. 

The game designer of future will look in the mirror - and find someone in a suit starting back at them.

- Sean Dugan is a designer who figures if you have to wear a suit, it might as well be a tuxedo.

Leveling Up as a Video Game Designer, Part III

Here we come to the conclusion of our video game designer odyssey and discover what exactly separates the wee tadpoles from the mighty bullfrogs.

The Lead Designer
Or, now it's your job to make people panic

Whether you're called a lead, supervisor, manager or some other title, the role takes a big step into a vast new realm - the world of management. What people often don't realize is what exactly management actually entails.

Management is the capability to have uncomfortable conversations.

Managers make demands of their people. Managers ask people to do hard things and accomplish challenging tasks. Managers tell people when they are not doing a good job. Managers direct people back onto the path when they go astray. Managers probe to discover problems. Manager cut to the heart of conflicts. Managers seek ways to keep their people from growing stale.

In other words, it's a manager's job to put themselves directly into uncomfortable situations and in many ways, to prevent the status quo from creeping in to the workplace. Unless of course, the status quo for your organization is that everything works perfectly, everyone gets along splendidly and everybody is performing at the optimal level. If so, congratulations to you - life at Gumdrop Studioes on Lollipop Lane in Happy Land sure sounds swell.

But unfortunately, the rest of live in a slightly different realm. Besides all their functional design skills, the Lead has the ability to manage a team. They can guide and nudge the work of other Designers without being intrusive and meddlesome, as well as handling the issues that come with personnel management.

The Lead has developed the ability to work with a wide variety of people and personalities from a variety of levels within the organization. No longer are "the suits" simply the enemy. Or, well, at least the Lead has learned to carefully hold close to their vest their feelings. They can interact effectively with a first day intern as well as not becoming a tongue-tied stuttering mess when encountering the company CEO. They can communicate effectively to groups in a variety of situations and formats including the dreaded all company Powerpoint presentation.

When you boil it down, a Lead takes responsibility. They are invested in finding a way for the team to succeed on both a personal and professional level. They actively look for thorny project issues and find ways to resolve them. The Lead identifies the needed work across a project and matches it up with appropriate team members (including themselves).

Creative Director
Or, welcome to your sales career. 

Many people have what I consider a very mistaken notion about what it is to be a Creative Director. They think being a CD means you finally have all that power you've always dreamed of. You have been crowned the Mighty Design King. Finally, you can sit up in your Tower and tell everybody what to do - dropping those creative missives on the puny underlings below (or dousing them with flaming oil if they grumble too much).

In my experience, being a Creative Director means almost the exact opposite. Sure, you do have genuine power and influence - but often, your influence is as much based on personal skills as title responsibility. In many ways, being the CD means suddenly, you have so many more people to convince and constantly sell on your vision.

You can bark orders are underlings - but that won't make them believe. And it certainly won't get them to embrace your idea and run with it as if it were their own. You can throw your weight around, but often times that comes back to haunt you. And when you are the Big Boss, one of the hardest things to do is influence a project in a way that empowers a team and never makes them feel demoralized or inadequate. The very best Creative Directors have an uncanny knack for getting a team enthused about an idea...which just so happens to be the CD's.

CD's have a comprehensive vision for a product and a variety of tools at their disposal to communicate that vision to the team. They understand the competitive landscape for a product and can effectively position a new idea within that context. They have a keen sense of what the layperson simply calls ‘fun’. They can Lead other Leaders and give effective guidance to highly experienced professionals.

They have the skills to entertain, educate and charm large and small groups, as well as individuals. They can sell a vision for a product to a design team as well as people with no design background. They are comfortable interacted with managers and executives across a variety of disciplines. They have the ability to draw the best work out of talented people, inspiring and challenging as needed.

They can get people excited and interested in a game that exists only in their mind and find a way to get a team to make that idea their own. The Creative Director is patient zero for the viral idea that is a new game. And it's the job of a good CD to infect everyone around them with their enthusiasm.

- Sean Dugan is a designer who wants to know what its going to take to get you to drive off the lot with this fantastic new game idea....

Leveling Up as a Video Game Designer, Part II

Here's Part II in this series examining the qualities of what makes for different seniority levels of video game designers.

The Designer
Or, the time to panic is over. 

Young designers seem to be in a constant state of panic. It's all a bit exhausting for their managers. Youthful enthusiasm is greatly valued - but it often translates into making everything into a big crisis. Think of your college dorm and you know what I'm talking about. If a first playable version of a game is a creaky mess, it's a disaster. A pipeline that isn't running smoothly is a cataclysm. If players are getting lost in a level, it's a catastrophe. And if we have to go back and re-factor some work, my God was that the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse I saw in the break room? It must be the End of Days.

Basically, young designers have a tendency to be drama queens.

So, if you're a young designer, you probably resent what I just said and are about to go sulk about it. If you're a senior designer, you're probably smiling and laughing at yourself for how you used to go sulk in corners over these kinds of things.

And if you're on the cusp of leaving being junior behind, you probably bristled for a second there - and then let it go.

For the Designer has started to let go of their emotional over-reactions. They have enough experience in taking a design from an idea into reality to realize that birthing can be a messy process. They have seen the difference between paper ideas and practical implementation. They have a marked tendency to no over-react - or at least, not as often. They are able to express their view on a design question and support their position effectively in groups and one-on-one. They have demonstrated the ability to think clearly about a design and communicate their insight to their fellows. Finally, by this time, the Designer has developed aptitude and expertise in one of the primary disciplines (Systems, Content or Level).

The Designer works effectively as part of a team. They are comfortable in a professional environment, understanding their work is part of a larger context on the project. They participate effectively in design meetings, accepting critique and offering insight and suggestions. They've graduated from being the fly-on-the-wall or note-taker to being a participant. Maybe even leading a discussion on occasion.

The Designer is eager to demonstrate their ideas. They are looking to make their mark on a facet of a project. They are taking the initiative to present their work, advocating their design ideas. They are able to effectively pitch a design idea to more Senior Designers whether it’s in a hallway conversation or an email. The Designer is able to take minor setbacks and put them in their proper context. A Designer takes on assigned work and looks for ways to improve it or create more value from the assignment.

The primary theme for the Designer is that they have become comfortable in their role as a professional working with other professionals in a business organization.

The Senior Designer
Or, now is the time to get jaded. 

This is a paradox I've found with Senior Designers - the good ones don't care as much.

Ponder that zen koan, oh young padawan.

Am I saying a good designer doesn't care? Far from it. I'm saying that younger designers have a tendency to invest everything into their work. And often, that isn't a good thing. Passion is admirable quality but it's also one that doesn't lend itself to objectivity. And it's vital for a Senior Designer to see problems clearly.

A Senior Designer has developed a level of dispassionate professionalism. They still care and strive to do their best work - but their entire being isn't riding on the next design and their worth as a human being isn't devastated by a misstep at work. And its because of this professional detachment that they can achieve their best work. It's sort of the Samurai ethos - complete commitment but detachment from the outcome. It's a state of paradox but then that's why Seniors get those big bucks.

This flies in the face of the image of Artist as tortured soul and fiery, temperamental creator. Well, besides being hard on the furniture, that kind of passion doesn't really allow for creative growth. Whatever their personal foibles, you can bet that Picasso and Hemingway and Van Gogh all had the capacity to evaluate their art with dispassion in order to make it better. And that's the same thing you want in a Senior Designer.

A Senior has a range of experiences across different design areas. They have first hand experience with system, content and level design and they’ve developed at least one of these areas to a high degree. They’ve probably developed some additional expertise – scripting/programming, art skills, writing, etc.

A good Senior keeps their cool under fire. They've gone through the development equivalent of storming Omaha Beach and raising the flag at Iwo Jima. They’ve experienced the beginning, middle and end of a project development cycle. They have personal experiences which act as points of reference for guiding future decisions while they are still able to adapt to new circumstances. Because of their combination of expertise in design and practical experience, a Senior has impeccable judgment on a project and can be significantly self-directing (something your Lead will really appreciate).

One of the most valuable traits for a Senior is the ability to work with younger Designer and mentor them. Their professional detachment allows them to effectively critique work and handle the ups-and-downs that come with passionate young designers. The Senior backs up their Lead and helps manage a project day-to-day just by being there. They have sound judgment and can be trusted with significant delegation of responsibility. They are also able to work outside the design department interacting extensively with other functional areas as well as being able to Lead cross-department ‘strike team’ style efforts. A Senior is able to identify areas in need of work and take on those assignments.

A Senior understands they are helping to set the tone for a project. When faced with uncertainty and questions, they seek answers. They offer instruction and feedback rather than criticism. Rather than being focused on problems, they are looking for solutions. Their attitude, especially in the face of adversity, helps steady the nerves of less experienced team members. When people get ready to panic, the Senior helps everybody take a breath.

The theme for a Senior is that they are a steadying influence on a project - where they go, there are less waves. A good Senior is like the eye of whirlwind - powerful but calm, all at the same time.

In Part III of this series, we'll discuss the role of Lead Designer and Creative Director. And in Part I we discussed being a Junior.

- Sean Dugan feels designers should be issued their towels at the start of development. 


Image by Jim Linwood via Creative Commons License

Leveling Up as a Video Game Designer, Part I

Even if you don’t have ruthless Gordon Gecko-esque ambition, you probably want to get ahead in your game designer job – or at least get a pay raise.

But if you want to get ahead as a video game designer, you need to understand the expectation for a professional at different levels. A wise man once said, fake it until you make it. But you can’t fake it until you know what “it” actually is. Part I of this series explores the expectations around different seniority levels for a video game designer.

Before You Work for a Start-up Game Company, Part II

So, you're about to take the plunge and work for a start-up video game company?

You've been asking the right questions - you know the executives are sharp (or at least didn't manage a hedge fund previously) and the team that's assembled looks like they can ship a product. What else do you need to ask before you take the plunge and jump on board the start-up?

Who doesn't work there?

Almost as important as who works there is who doesn’t work there anyway. If you can, you’ll want to check the people who have left a company. Check your network specifically for those who have left the company. Often, it’s more telling than who is still at the company.

That’s not to say a few departures are a disaster – in fact, its probably a good sign. It takes a while for a start-up to work out the kinks and get its culture to gel. Those that don’t quite fit in, right or wrong, end up leaving. Start-ups are inherently volatile, so a bit of churn is to be expected. That’s often a painful process but it’s not necessarily a bad sign for the company’s future. The question when considering departures is one of scale. Unless you are living in Egypt under a Pharoh, mass exoduses are generally not a positive sign. If people are leaving in droves, it’s in your interest to find out why.

What about the money?

Finally, you need to understand the company's bottom line. How much money has the company raised? Is this money that's actually in the bank or is it just promised? Where did the money come from and how likely are you to get any more? You need to consider the company’s ambitions in comparison to its means. As a wise philosopher once said, don’t let your mouth write a check that your butt can’t cash. If the company is trying to make a Halo-killer, do they have $25 million available to them?

Scratch the surface and all too often, "we've raised $25 million" actually means the company has a half million in Angel investment seed money and a 'cross my heart and hope to die' promise for the rest – spread out over the next three years. Maybe, if everything goes well and economy doesn’t tank and I don’t come across a better investment. The thing about promises - until the money is actually in the bank, they're worth exactly what you think they are. 

Even if there's a big check in the bank, you want to know if that's all the money. How much of the promised $25 million is in the bank today? When does the rest come? Typically, investments are divided into tranches (or slices) that are awarded at certain times. And there's usually a few strings attached to getting each new payment. If you want to be a real boy, Pinocchio, better understand how to get free of your strings. 

You also need to know how much money has been spent. Ask what the company's current burn rate is - that gives you a timeline until disaster or the necessary next round of funding. This is the lifespan of the company – and you need to know if it’s a fruit fly or a sea turtle.

And speaking of new funding - can you get more money? Every company needs rainmakers. Can you get more money from the publishers or VCs or whoever? Or will you all be asked Aunt Violet to put up her IRA to keep the company afloat? With your rainmakers, there's also a fine art to identifying which ones are the real deal and which are hot air. The best advice there - ask around and find out what deals they actually closed. Again, money in the bank is the only thing that matters at the end of the day. 

All this advice comes with a huge caveat. Almost guaranteed, you’ll find something you don’t like with any start-up you would consider. The nature of start-ups is that they’re funky and imperfect. If you want low risk, go to work for...well, frankly, another industry. Video game development is volatile and start-ups are doubly so.

Really, it’s the start-up that seems absolutely perfect and too-good-to-be-true that should be handled like an Ebola infected radioactive kitty litter box. I remember interviewing during the height of the dot-com boom with a company that was ‘perfect’ – it had the founder pedigree, the VC funding, the splashy cover stories on all the right magazines. But something seemed amiss when everybody I  interviewed with asked the same question - could I figure out how the company was supposed to make money? It struck me that the business should probably have some inkling already as to how to generate a bit of cash. Fast forward and you can guess that company’s eventual fate.

Working for a start-up can be the adventure of a lifetime. The excitement of working for a young, aggressive company that wants to change the world is undeniable. But if you want to keep your heart from getting broken, be sure to go in with your eyes wide open.


Image via Wikipedia Commons

Before You Work for a Start-up Game Company, Part I

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, your chance to be the next big thing, to seize the brass ring. 

You have a chance to work for a cool, new start-up game company. A year later, the company has missed four paychecks, you're working 80 hour weeks and the CEO has caught the redeye to Aruba.

Taking a new job at a new company is always a bit transition. Despite everything, there's inevitably a few surprises along the way. But when the new company you are working for is a start-up game company, the surprises can come fast and furious.

How do you keep your start-up game company dreams from becoming a nightmare? You have to approach this the same way a savvy investor would. Investors (that don't lose their shirts) require due diligence before putting up the money.

First, we'll define a start up as a company that doesn't have a revenue stream (or one steady enough to have any shot of keeping the company afloat). That means, whatever war chest the company has is steadily being drained until somebody figures out how to bring in some cash. Fundamentally, this means that you are on a countdown with a start-up - the only question is whether its a countdown to blast off or detonation.

If you are going to have any shot of being a part of one and not the other, there's some big questions to ask:

Who are the executives?
You know all those names on the website? The one's that have impressive C-level titles? You want to find out who these people are. Game developers often have an allergy to business and "suits" - but you need to understand who the suits in the corner office are. If you don't want to worry your pretty little head about the business, you better make sure damn sure the execs know the ins and outs.

Google their name and the name of their last company. Find out what happened to that company. Was it sold successfully? Did it go bankrupt? Was there an investor lawsuit? An SEC investigation? These are shockingly more plausible than you might realize.

Also, look at the business that they used to manage. If you're a World Wildlife Fund member, you might have some moral qualms of working for the former CEO of Seal Pelts, Inc. There are a lot of businesses that exist in a moral gray area for some people so you need to ask yourself if you can work with these people. How do you feel about tying your fate to an Enron or Goldman Saches executive? On a more basic level, how much game industry experience do they have? Much of business is universal - but a C-level exec who has never worked in a creative industry is almost certain to butt heads with those creative types during the production process.

Who is the team?
These are the line managers and co-workers, the people who are going to be your immediate boss and make the ship go. You want to know who they are. Ideally, you've already worked with them - and that's why you're even considering working for the company. Going blind into a start-up without any history with its peeps is a risky roll of the dice.

But even if you do know the team, you need to ask yourself the hard question - are these the people you want to be at a start-up with? We all know game developers who, frankly, fit in better in a big company than a lean and aggressive start-up. Picking a start-up team is a little like getting a roommate - that buddy from school who's great to hang out with on a Friday might not be the guy you want to share cleaning chores with on a Sunday.

And if you don't know the team first hand, find out. Figure out who you know in common - and ask them tough questions. You've got to find a source who will give you the straight scoop. And if you want my opinion, Linkedin recommendations are next to worthless. Yes, I have recommendations and I've recommended people. And the folks I've recommended are the people I genuinely believe in. But Linkedin is a game - people use social obligation to get softball recommendations. I've seen too many people who literally had dozens and dozens of recommendations who turned out to be incompetent. For me, too many recommendations is a warning sign as well as ones which have a certain bland, generic quality. If someone isn't motivated enough to write a stirring recommendation, it's probably not a real recommendation.

Also, you want to know what products they've shipped. The quality of those games is not the most important thing - there are far too many variables there - but you want to know that these people have been through the wars. Moby Games is a nice start - but its always incomplete. Credits are a dicey issue in this industry and someone's published credits doesn't always reflect their actual work experience. Again, the best source is someone you trust who worked on the project.

Check out Part II for more on Start-ups.


Image via Wikipedia Commons

The Big Three Questions of Starting a Game Company

"Let's go start a video game company". And with those words, the dreams of innumerable game developers were ground into a thin tar-like paste.

It's not that starting a game company is impossible. Far from it - in this age of iPhone apps and social games, it's well within the reach of a lot of game developers. But that's not what most developers mean when they say they want to start a game company. They want to make a $20 million AAA console title or launch a $40 million MMO.

And to do either of those, you'll need more money than you've got stashed in your 401K.

How to Get a Game Designer Job Today

It's the first question every would-be game developer asks - how do I break in and get that game designer job?

Is the secret going to the right video game design schools? Hobnobbing at industry networking events? Getting incriminating photos of the Creative Director from his holiday in Thailand?

Well, all those methods can work. But if I'm the guy sitting on the other side of the hiring desk, I'll tell you exactly how you stand out from the crowd and get my attention.