Guest Lecturer - Andy Kearney

Our guest lecture this week was presented by Andy Kearney, he is a producer at a ‘super secret’ games company in Manchester which has yet to be announced. Andy discussed what it was like being a producer in the games industry; it was interesting to me because I had never really thought about becoming a producer so I was interested in what he had to say.

Andy explained that during the development of a game there are multiple phases that will happen, each phase is important and has a huge impact on the creation of a game. The phases he explained are. Concept Prototype (Critical, do not be precious with ideas) Pre Production Production (The longest phase) Pre Alpha (Last moment to change things) Alpha (Game critical assets ready) Pre Beta (Bug crushing) Beta (Game ready for fixes) Pre Master (Final sweep of bug fixes) Master Game (Fully released)

Every phase talked about is huge for the development of any game. Each one is as important as the previous.

After the lecture I wanted to know more about video game producing so I read a two part article on gamasutra about, “What makes a good game producer?” Ernst ten Bosch who wrote the article explains, “Many game producers I know have trouble explaining what they do or how they contribute to the greater scheme of developing video games.” But from what I have learned a producer needs to make sure that the team is happy with how everything is going as well as sticking to deadlines, as ten Bosch goes on to explain, “A large chunk of the work of any game producer anywhere, deals with reaching deadlines. This is the realm of dates and milestones; moments of time in the future, at which point something starts, finishes or undergoes an impactful change of some sort.”

So from what I learned from both the lecture and my research, a game producer needs to be well organised to maintain good leadership and manage a team well, they also need to know their team inside out and know how everyone works and if they can make deadlines. Producers need to be flexible and they need to adapt to problems or changes that may happen.

References:

Ernst ten Bosch. (2013). What Makes a Good Game Producer? Part 1. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ErnstTenBosch/20130912/200168/What_Makes_a_Good_Game_Producer_Part_1.php. Last accessed 8th May 2015.

Ernst ten Bosch. (2013). What Makes a Good Game Producer? Part 2. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ErnstTenBosch/20130912/200168/What_Makes_a_Good_Game_Producer_Part_2.php. Last accessed 8th May 2015.