Why are game studios failing and what can be done about it? In this video we'll talk about a few of the key ingredients needed to reverse this disturbing trend.
This channel is a treasure of Gold! How many people comment on the industry with no idea why it’s failing. Just saying “bad games” you really help show that management and good systems are lacking. 😮
Do you think that teams are getting way too bloated? Resulting in moving past multiple red tape to get something simple done, leading to longer development and higher budgets. Resulting in returns on investment that are insanely high and unrealistic.
Yes they are definitely getting too big! It's partly due to hiring specialists for each work are versus people that could cover multiple parts of development.
It is bloated. For example, Diablo 1 was done by just 11 people, where as Diablo 4 was done by other 9000 people across various companies and countries.
I got my hands a little burned going into the games industry the last couple years. This channel is healing a lot of that and teaching me a lot in the process! Thank you so much.
@@laurafryer6321 Articulating “patronage” culture was particularly salient. I’ve long come to realise that I’m best suited to smaller organisations, where decisions are made, not by committee and feedback cycles are quicker and honest. It strikes me that you have managed to inculcate “small lean team attitude” into large organisations - which is not something I’ve ever been able to do. Selfishly, I’d love to learn more about the details of production and how game dev differs from all the frameworks I’ve used - but looking forward to whatever subject you tackle next.
@@xWaxxy It's difficult to create the small team feel in a large organization but it's possible. Essentially you create an umbrella or bubble. Inside it's fast decision making and honest feedback. Regarding game dev vs other forms of development, I've found it doesn't differ much from other types of work...90% of the lessons are the same. The unique thing about game dev is that it's art and code which adds a wrinkle.
@@laurafryer6321 Well, according to my 16+ years experieance as software dev (not gamedev tho) I think it also needs a strong leader/manager to protect and mange honestly and respectfully the team inside the bubble as well as navigating corporate politics and stuff like that. Sadly, I've saw very few people that are managed to do that successfully.
This channel is incredible, I'm an associate producer at an indie company in Seattle and hearing your stories about Monolith has been really awesome. I'm excited for your next topic!
Definitely! It's funny because not doing the right thing for the game, not making the hard decisions, can mean the game will fail and can also lead to you losing your position or the whole studio.
Sounds to me like we talking about a culture/incentive structure that rewards the wrong behaviors, is not always the people, is the ruleset they need to adapt to sometimes.
Hi Laura, I’m a studio lead for a small indie studio of about 7 other developers. None of us have made a game before but each has his or her own skills in art/programming/music/narrative etc. I’m incredibly passionate about creating a game and had actually been working on one for the past two years. Long story short, some financial instability and overwhelming personal life, as well as realizing that the game’s scope is much too large, how do I move forward from here? I’m completely ready to honestly address the problem, as it’s been building terribly in my head for quite a while now. Your video was the push I needed to do something for myself and my team.
Great question!I think your next step is to have a conversation with your team about what you can do given your constraints(financial etc). It's more important to make something small and good versus big scope and not fun. If you can make something good you can try to get more interest and investment. It's great that you're thinking about scoping and I wish you and your team the best!
Hopefully at this point you have a playable? Clearly you need to cut, so one thing to consider is "finding the fun" in what you *have* built and then focusing tighter on whatever is working. (Hopefully something is working well, lol.)
@@laurafryer6321 I was just notified of your response. Thanks so much for taking the time! I will definitely need to have a talk with the team and incorporate this kind of advice.
I see the same thing happening in games that's happening in movies. Production budgets so huge the project has to be a hit just to break even. Every once in a while a Godzilla Minus One or a Baldur's Gate 3 comes along and proves with competence and efficiency, you can make something great relatively cheaply.
Both of those examples had creators with a distinct vision from the start and humility. The latter can and SHOULD be cultivated but the former is hard to obtain. I do think that game studios need to spend more time in preproduction thinking about the core game loop, about first principles and get agreement with the publisher. How much are we going to monetize this game? Does that make the game less fun and is that OK? Are we making this mechanic (open-world, crafting, etc, etc) because the game needs it or because we need to check off a item on the competitive checklists? More hard-nosed honesty up front avoids a lot of pain later on.
Disney is a prime example of patronage culture. Its all politics there, according to people working in the company. Its all who you know, how you backstab at the right time, how you use pressure, innuendo, etc.
As a software developer with years of experience, I am so jealous of people how go to work on the projects you worked on. I've never had coworker or superior with this much professional integrity and real world problem solving skills. These videos make me feel at ease that the world isn't all messed up.
As a UX designer I can’t believe how bad some of these user testing processes in gaming industry are. Frequent testing users in the most unbiased way possible has been a norm for decades in the rest of the tech industry.
Thank you so much for this message. I'm leading the project on a game with just another friend right now, but eventually I'll need more artists, musicians, etc. to fill the slots I need. It gives me confidence hearing the real stories of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to games management.
Great stuff Laura. Valuable insights right here, especially for companies that are growing from small to medium size. Retaining culture and honesty is hard when you start filling up with overhead and middle managers.
I agree! It is difficult to retain your culture when you're growing. That's why it's critical to hire based on the values of the company. Thank you for watching!
I'm obsessed with your channel! Every video provides invaluable and entertaining insight into each topic and it's honestly just wonderful to listen to you talk about anything! I've watched 5 in a row!
Dude I learn in business from you than business school did, always a joy to watch! You always have such good ways of explaining complex concepts and are so humble about your success!!
Laura you nailed it. I would of loved to work with you. More devs today need to remember that old adage of "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time" be the first thing they see every morning before they work.
Your insight into the games industry is great and informative, and your formatting is really top notch. Thank you for taking the time to making these videos. :)
Not even two minutes into this video, I can tell that you have a wealth of knowledge about the industry and process. I can’t wait to binge your content!
This video reminds me of that great documentary, “PsychOdyssey” by Double Fine (I don't know if you've seen it, probably yes because in fact I think you appear!). In the documentary you could see how in the early days of the company, they acted almost as a cooperative in terms of coordination and work management. Each one knew what role they had to play and they didn't have an internal rivalry in order to obtain a position superior to the rest. The culture was also evident in the video. During the production of Psychonauts 2, we see how Tim changes his role in the team to dedicate himself to other things (giving example) and we see how Zak being in charge, things go wrong within the team and a paradigm shift occurs. The workers continued to contribute their ideas, but we observe how Zak ignores the feedback from his team and prioritizes production and design, causing the artists to suffer a great deal of rejection towards him and the direction the project is taking. It's a perfect example of what you're talking about in this video. The person leading the team may receive valuable data from the team, but if that person is unable to interpret that data or knowingly ignores it, how can a project of this caliber succeed? Anyway, I've seen that several of the recurring concepts in your video could be seen in the documentary and it was interesting to mention it. Once again, great video and I look forward to the next one :)
“It’s never just ONE reason why studios fail” THANK YOU! Sure, a shifting culture had to do with failures like concord, but a shift in culture alone doesn’t cause a studio to collapse.
Great video! This channel is a treasure trove of wisdom, and you always communicate in a concise and cogent way. It's also very inspiring for someone wanting to explore the games industry!
Stumbled upon your channel today (no doubt the UA-cam algorithm recommending it after watching many Tim Cain videos) and have been completely hooked, binge watched a bunch of your videos. It's incredibly fascinating to get a behind the scenes look into game development, thank you for taking the time to make these!
I'm not even in software development. I do work on projects and I've seen a little bit of management. This is a great management lesson! So much of this is applicable no matter which field you work in.
Thank you! I ended up building out office and lab space for Oculus and 90% of what I learned making games applied. Glad to hear that is true for you as well!
Fantastic insights from a person who has clearly been in the trenches. I work projects in the energy industry and can say that all of the points you have established apply there as well. Great work and thanks for sharing.
I am impressed with your diplomacy. 15 minute video without saying "Oh no, they brought the EA culture to my company!" I worked at a studio that was bought by EA in 1992. At first it was great, then EA Canada slowly took over, then Mattrick rose to the top. It became exactly what you are describing. His commuting back to Vancouver was very frustrating. Great channel! Keep it up. Kudos for still doing games!
It was interesting seeing you talk about the idea of how new people on the team can get up to speed and browse a history of prior decisions that were discounted. Code commit logs don’t really cut it, but we used to have a back catalogue of screen recordings. It would be even better to somehow capture qualitative feedback on the feeling of playing prototypes
Thank you! Having the history of why certain decisions were made helps the team understand the older decisions and saves time. It's easy to go in circles when new people want to rehash prior thinking. Doesn't mean you can't change things but it does give everyone visibility into what the reasoning was at the time and you learn a lot.
Redfall was a Zenimax created Gaas game that was converted to a co-op shooter, and many devs left before Microsoft bought Zenimax. Harvey Smith as head of Arkane Austin lied or covered up the problems with the game. I'm glad the studio was closed.
These videos are so insightful into how to manage large scale operations with slowly evolving parts. Your wisdom would help revitalize industries that have lost feedback to their outcomes, like healthcare or education. You sound like a chef when you talk about how important it is to constantly try your product and seek the honest opinions from others. Above all, I love that your overall message is that once you can help your team eliminate its ego, you can truly start absorbing the wisdom needed to succeed.
So well made Laura, really good examples and how you’ve broken down the key issues impacting these studios, hope the channel gets the growth it deserves
Amazing video on the inner workings of the culture in the companies. Very much relevant to any branch of business. I have seen so far a couple of videos on this topic here on this channel and the all were incredibly accurate and insightful. Thank you for this :)
This is really sad to say, but Laura, yours is the first woman-led channel I have seen (either by searching or by UA-cam recommendations). It is extra sad as I 100% appreciate your approach, your professionalism, your passions, and your knowledge in the gaming world (and all the messy office politics and bureaucracy that goes with it). Uh. Why is it extra sad then? Your channel adds validity to the complaints and observations that gamers have. Except yours is the only one I have seen that is expressed in a calm, professional, knowledge-based perspective. Too many channels just yell, scream, swear, rant-and although some do it well and it is entertaining, those channels perhaps lose the ability to effect positive change via their message. And that is sad. We need more of you. I hope there are others channels like yours-and if not I hope you encourage/inspire more channels like this to gain success and large viewership. Keep up the great work!
Yet another great video about the industry we love. As someone already mentioned in the comments it's criminally underrated. As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Im pleasantly surprised to see someone I used to see on IGN (a channel Ive learned not to trust) sharing reasonable and honest impressions on the gaming industry. Thank you!
Great video and true on many levels. Just one question, what is the purpose of the "reciprocation"? it kills purpose of true feedback. Again, irrelevant leadership.
Oh man, not really related at all but seeing the logos for Surreal and Snowblind sent me on a nostalgia trip. Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (made by Snow Blind) and Drakan the Ancients' Gates (made by Surreal) were some of my favorite games as a kid. They really informed the sorts of games and media in general I enjoy as an adult. The splash screens for those devs are burned into my mind as well. Especially that obnoxious penguin from Snow Blind and the blood splatter from Surreal.
GOLD. Thank you. Working in the gaming studio I started to believe that is all about patronage and listening to your superiors who can hear you speak. If I had to sum up your video in one sentence: Internal studio politics destroys studios. I am living it myself, the work is not done in order to make the best product but in order to satisfy those in power.
Excellent Video Laura! It has been a real pleasure to find your channel. Your experience and point of view helps a lot to understand a more professional and technical vision that is always hidden for many beginners in our industry. It is impressive to see all the points you touch on my experience that happened with Skull Island: Rise of Kong, one of the worst games of 2023. Unfortunately for NDA I can not comment anything specific, but there are really many things that I feel reflected that happened in the development and were not able to modify or alter in time.
One thing that seems to be lacking in many industries and occupations is LEADERSHIP. It seems like many people these days, regardless of what industry they work in, view management as the ones who "tell other people what to do and punish those that don't do it." To make matters worse, many times it is the management themselves that see it that way. The last few places I've worked have had many managers but absolutely no leaders. This always creates a sort of self-destructive feedback loop for the business because people who could be great leaders are either passed over or are unwilling to take that position, because why would you?
I spoke out the huge issues of a mega project and they did not listen to me, even critize me of not doing team work, team building. That project ended up a failure with no return (yet and may still be the same for several more years) that costed the company a huge chunk of corporation money, double digit percent of their total asset. I worked there for a while longer with no recognition for my efforts then later left for a place with 2x income 😊
I am currently replaying "No One Lives Forever 2". I love those games. And the fact that it was finished in just a year and a half, on time and within budget is unbelievable for today's standards.
Great and useful free advice. I've joined a lot of companies where part of my job was to break down that 'patronage' culture to improve the feedback cycle and shift left in their path to production. Nice to see when they start shipping their software from once a quarter, to once a month, and then to a weekly basis. Testing and CI pipelines are must.
Not at all what I expected when I clicked on the video. I am pleasantly surprised. You have gained a new Subscriber. Lots of wisdom and sad truths in this video. I could write a loooong post about putting your job on the line because you are actually doing your job.... Maybe some other time. :)
I've been burned by giving honest, unflattering feedback (respectfully & with suggestions on how to address the issues) multiple times. I'm at the point now where I ask the team I work with if they're interested in addressing an issue before giving feedback & if they say "no" I'll ask if there's a particular reason why they're not interested in addressing the issue & if they fail to give one: I'm already mentally checking out with that team & company. So grateful to be self-employed in another industry entirely (this acts as a bonus income stream & a safety net when I need to leave a bad employer immediately). Never let yourself get too invested with one company these days, no matter how much you contribute: all employees are disposable. They can also be bought & sold as a whole to another company entirely. The bulk of the American workforce are "human cattle" but you'll never hear that description from the management class. It's their job to keep you calm on the way to the slaughterhouse. The last thing they want is pissed off employees leaving before they finish a project, or engaging in malicious compliance (god bless those that do that kind of stuff lol)
I was at Surreal during the entirety of the development of This Is Vegas, it was really fascinating hearing your stories from The Other Side. Everything you mentioned were problems for us, and your frustration about not having a functioning build of the game to play was shared by the team as well. I was too junior to really identify the root issues at the time, but after years in the industry and seeing multiple projects fail I think your guidelines here are spot on. Do you have any recommendations for how an individual contributor, or even a group of ICs, should raise issues like the ones you talk about here, in a way that can affect change from the bottom up? I feel like these problems are often political in cause (or solution), and even talking about them can feel like a risk to your position or even your continued employment. Is it just time to find a new job, or is there a better way? And as an aside, it was a blast seeing so many people in this video that I worked with all those years ago. Thanks again for sharing!
Mrs. Fryer, many studios fail cuz they are so focused on programing a videogame but not in sale a videogame. It is amazing how many "videogames" are released on market and after few second review you can say: "Who the hell was the game lead designer and the marketing leader for this game?" My gosh in the last years you can see how many projects forget Kotler marketing first rule: "YOU NEED KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL AND/OR REAL CUSTOMER OR MARKET VERY VERY WELL. I am a homoxexual man, a hardcore gamer, and reliable customer but in my life i wanted buy a game like Concord or Dusborn or Flintlock or any of those lefty woke video games. Those games are so funny like a thorn in your butt. Videogames are about fun not about preaching and virtue lecturing. I have an university degree business, when i saw those games i clearly see huge failures in advance.
You are spot on with your comment! You have to think about your market. That's why games are the most fun to make..so much you have to consider. Thank you for watching and for the thoughtful comment!
Really love the insight into management. I've been trying to build up my skills and am looking for ways to build experience in leadership roles (software developer). Your videos provide some very great insight into this field, thank you. Also, I hope Perfect Dark continues to move forward at a steady pace now that we've seen something. I honestly had started to write it off, thinking it was dead and maybe going to be a "back to the drawing board" scenario like with Metroid Prime 4.
Based on this, I can pinpoint a few problems: - Massive bloat: Diablo IV having 9000 people "work" on it is absolutely absurd. Sounds like a money laundering scheme. - Incompetent leadership: As you said; "Yes Men". This explains the current status of the Xbox brand. - Poor management: Time limits for any project (large, or tiny) is important. Even I wouldn't have progressed much in my art if I hadn't set time limits.
Hi! Good to see you again! Great comments particularly your point about setting time limits. We would time box new design experiments and then evaluate after the time ran out. Seems like that would have helped with Suicide Squad and the vehicle idea.
@@AzureSymbiote It depends on what you're trying to prove out..could be weeks or months. If it's months, I'd put in some checkpoints to see how it's progressing.
5:56 please say this again for your colleagues in the games journalism industry. The vast majority seem to entirely reject the concept that there are ANY potential conflicts of interest in how reviews are done...
This completely ignores the many, many successful studios that also get hit with massive layoffs Why do studios fail? Because the one who controls the purse decides they do
Loved War in the North and did buy it day one. It was one of my top ten list I suggested to many folks on "hidden gems" videos a lot of UA-camrs were putting out when the 360 store was closing earlier in the year and the FOMO was at fever pitch. War in the North, Viking, Rise of the Argonauts, Kingdoms of Amalur, Transformers War/Fall of Cybertron, Hunted The Demons Forge, Overlord, Conan, and Sacred 2.
I heard somewhere that studios that flop don’t get shut down just because they produced a bad game. But rather they only get shut down when investors don’t see future potential. IE: Rocksteady, despite producing Suicide Squad, can rest easy as long as their next project is a traditional Batman game. Thoughts?
There are many reasons studios get shut down. It's generally as you say a "confidence" that they can deliver. I don't think Rocksteady can rest easy because the team is different than the one that made the traditional batman game back in the day. It might depend on how much of their core team that made the game they still have.
"This is a simple sales technique called 'reciprocation': if you're nice to someone they'll want to be nice back" - This is hilarious. We live in this fun world where the most basic principle of human interactions that even a baby knows must be called a sales technique. Capitalism gone too far.
If I were a game reviewer and was invited to a nice diner and given swag before reviewing a game I would take photo and video evidence of it. Than I would make it so there was a permanennt link on the home page that listed this with the headlines "Game Company Attempts Bribery" in maximum font. There would be an open bounty where I would pay other reviewers to contribute to the database. I'd inform the game company that if they decide to withdraw reviews of further games I would make sure the readers knew about it. If a reviewing company isn't doing that they do not deserve the title of journalist.
Thanks for your comment! I've seen some reviewers that disclose the fact that they were invited to an event or were given swag/free copy of the game. Your idea takes it a step beyond that.
It's funny, because most of the points you make here seem totally intuitive, and something people would usually "just do" if they had an idea for this great game and got their friends together and contacted Dorky Dave for some programming help, and called that one person's Ex who was really good at drawing characters and so on. You know, the organic route, vs. checking in at your Dev Studio office Cubicle and rattling off whatever Fun-Machine(tm)-tasks were allocated to you today, because you have a job in gaming, so you're just doing your job in gaming.
Question for you, Laura! As a project manager for 8 years at a large tech company, I really want to pivot into project management in the game industry, but was wondering how I could break in without the game industry experience? How do I build that experience? I was wondering if you had any advice.
Cool! I think game production is awesome! I would start by looking at as much content as you can on game development with a focus on production issues. For example, the GDC vault has free content you can check out and some of it would be helpful. I'd also find local people that do game production and ask questions, learn from them sort of like a mentor. Many jobs are won through networking so if you don't have local people, you could go to a game conference like a GDC or a game meetup and network there. Build your contacts and learn while doing so.
This channel is so underrated.
Thank you!
Yep.
Agreed, please continue making these AMAZINGLY INFORMATIVE videos :)
Agreed- Laura’s insight and experience speaks for itself.
How is there only 10k subs? Criminally underrated, this is a GOOD channel.
This channel is a treasure of Gold! How many people comment on the industry with no idea why it’s failing.
Just saying “bad games” you really help show that management and good systems are lacking. 😮
Fantastic video. As someone that has been working as a producer for 6+ years, these videos are extremely insightful and helpful. Thank you!
Thank you! I'm happy to hear that you (a fellow producer) found it useful!
Sony got rid of their internal development manager Connie last October.
@@startraffick I heard that and now it seems she is at EA which should be interesting.
Do you think that teams are getting way too bloated? Resulting in moving past multiple red tape to get something simple done, leading to longer development and higher budgets. Resulting in returns on investment that are insanely high and unrealistic.
Yes they are definitely getting too big! It's partly due to hiring specialists for each work are versus people that could cover multiple parts of development.
It is bloated. For example, Diablo 1 was done by just 11 people, where as Diablo 4 was done by other 9000 people across various companies and countries.
@@ryuno2097Diablo 1 was released in 1997.
I got my hands a little burned going into the games industry the last couple years. This channel is healing a lot of that and teaching me a lot in the process! Thank you so much.
As a software dev “leader” (not in gaming), i learn so much watching your videos. Thank you for sharing your experience, Laura.
That's great to hear! Thank you!
@@laurafryer6321 Articulating “patronage” culture was particularly salient. I’ve long come to realise that I’m best suited to smaller organisations, where decisions are made, not by committee and feedback cycles are quicker and honest. It strikes me that you have managed to inculcate “small lean team attitude” into large organisations - which is not something I’ve ever been able to do.
Selfishly, I’d love to learn more about the details of production and how game dev differs from all the frameworks I’ve used - but looking forward to whatever subject you tackle next.
@@xWaxxy It's difficult to create the small team feel in a large organization but it's possible. Essentially you create an umbrella or bubble. Inside it's fast decision making and honest feedback. Regarding game dev vs other forms of development, I've found it doesn't differ much from other types of work...90% of the lessons are the same. The unique thing about game dev is that it's art and code which adds a wrinkle.
@@laurafryer6321 Well, according to my 16+ years experieance as software dev (not gamedev tho) I think it also needs a strong leader/manager to protect and mange honestly and respectfully the team inside the bubble as well as navigating corporate politics and stuff like that.
Sadly, I've saw very few people that are managed to do that successfully.
This channel is incredible, I'm an associate producer at an indie company in Seattle and hearing your stories about Monolith has been really awesome.
I'm excited for your next topic!
That last point is super interesting and something I've seen. People not wanting to take responsibility so as not to threaten their own position.
Definitely! It's funny because not doing the right thing for the game, not making the hard decisions, can mean the game will fail and can also lead to you losing your position or the whole studio.
Sounds to me like we talking about a culture/incentive structure that rewards the wrong behaviors, is not always the people, is the ruleset they need to adapt to sometimes.
Not just in her sector but in all labor sectors this is a huge huge problem
Hi Laura, I’m a studio lead for a small indie studio of about 7 other developers. None of us have made a game before but each has his or her own skills in art/programming/music/narrative etc. I’m incredibly passionate about creating a game and had actually been working on one for the past two years. Long story short, some financial instability and overwhelming personal life, as well as realizing that the game’s scope is much too large, how do I move forward from here? I’m completely ready to honestly address the problem, as it’s been building terribly in my head for quite a while now. Your video was the push I needed to do something for myself and my team.
Great question!I think your next step is to have a conversation with your team about what you can do given your constraints(financial etc). It's more important to make something small and good versus big scope and not fun. If you can make something good you can try to get more interest and investment. It's great that you're thinking about scoping and I wish you and your team the best!
Hopefully at this point you have a playable? Clearly you need to cut, so one thing to consider is "finding the fun" in what you *have* built and then focusing tighter on whatever is working. (Hopefully something is working well, lol.)
@@laurafryer6321 I was just notified of your response. Thanks so much for taking the time! I will definitely need to have a talk with the team and incorporate this kind of advice.
@@KingBuffo Awesome! Let me know how it goes! :)
This is how games used to be made, before there was an "industry"
I see the same thing happening in games that's happening in movies. Production budgets so huge the project has to be a hit just to break even. Every once in a while a Godzilla Minus One or a Baldur's Gate 3 comes along and proves with competence and efficiency, you can make something great relatively cheaply.
Both of those examples had creators with a distinct vision from the start and humility. The latter can and SHOULD be cultivated but the former is hard to obtain.
I do think that game studios need to spend more time in preproduction thinking about the core game loop, about first principles and get agreement with the publisher.
How much are we going to monetize this game? Does that make the game less fun and is that OK? Are we making this mechanic (open-world, crafting, etc, etc) because the game needs it or because we need to check off a item on the competitive checklists?
More hard-nosed honesty up front avoids a lot of pain later on.
Disney is a prime example of patronage culture. Its all politics there, according to people working in the company. Its all who you know, how you backstab at the right time, how you use pressure, innuendo, etc.
This video can be applied to almost every sector in business, not just game development. It’s straight up good advice
As a software developer with years of experience, I am so jealous of people how go to work on the projects you worked on. I've never had coworker or superior with this much professional integrity and real world problem solving skills. These videos make me feel at ease that the world isn't all messed up.
Thank you for your kind comment! I hope that you'll keep coming back.
As a UX designer I can’t believe how bad some of these user testing processes in gaming industry are. Frequent testing users in the most unbiased way possible has been a norm for decades in the rest of the tech industry.
Thank you so much for this message. I'm leading the project on a game with just another friend right now, but eventually I'll need more artists, musicians, etc. to fill the slots I need.
It gives me confidence hearing the real stories of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to games management.
Great stuff Laura. Valuable insights right here, especially for companies that are growing from small to medium size. Retaining culture and honesty is hard when you start filling up with overhead and middle managers.
I agree! It is difficult to retain your culture when you're growing. That's why it's critical to hire based on the values of the company. Thank you for watching!
I'm obsessed with your channel! Every video provides invaluable and entertaining insight into each topic and it's honestly just wonderful to listen to you talk about anything! I've watched 5 in a row!
This channel is a hidden gem!
Bravo Laura! Pure unadulterated wisdom.
Thanks Marty! I appreciate the feedback!
It's so refreshing to get such a direct and honest perspective from an actual professional. Subscribed!
Thank you! I appreciate the sub!
Awesome work, Laura! Great to catch a glimpse of Mike Forgey as well. I sure do miss that guy.
This was an amazing video! It’s very clear that you have very deep insight into the subject matter, something that is sadly lacking on UA-cam
Thank you! I appreciate your comments and I hope you stop by again!
Software Director here. I’d love to work with this lady in the field. Amazing insight and leadership
Dude I learn in business from you than business school did, always a joy to watch! You always have such good ways of explaining complex concepts and are so humble about your success!!
Thank you for your kind words and for watching my video!
Laura you nailed it. I would of loved to work with you. More devs today need to remember that old adage of "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time" be the first thing they see every morning before they work.
I agree! It's all about trade offs and sometimes those direction choices will leave some people less pleased. Thank you for watching!
Your insight into the games industry is great and informative, and your formatting is really top notch. Thank you for taking the time to making these videos. :)
Not even two minutes into this video, I can tell that you have a wealth of knowledge about the industry and process. I can’t wait to binge your content!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!
@@laurafryer6321 oh I did! I love your insight! I yearn for game dev content, so understanding the business of how it works is fascinating.
This video reminds me of that great documentary, “PsychOdyssey” by Double Fine (I don't know if you've seen it, probably yes because in fact I think you appear!). In the documentary you could see how in the early days of the company, they acted almost as a cooperative in terms of coordination and work management. Each one knew what role they had to play and they didn't have an internal rivalry in order to obtain a position superior to the rest. The culture was also evident in the video. During the production of Psychonauts 2, we see how Tim changes his role in the team to dedicate himself to other things (giving example) and we see how Zak being in charge, things go wrong within the team and a paradigm shift occurs.
The workers continued to contribute their ideas, but we observe how Zak ignores the feedback from his team and prioritizes production and design, causing the artists to suffer a great deal of rejection towards him and the direction the project is taking. It's a perfect example of what you're talking about in this video. The person leading the team may receive valuable data from the team, but if that person is unable to interpret that data or knowingly ignores it, how can a project of this caliber succeed?
Anyway, I've seen that several of the recurring concepts in your video could be seen in the documentary and it was interesting to mention it. Once again, great video and I look forward to the next one :)
I've seen some of that documentary and found it interesting. I need to watch more..thank you for the reminder and for watching!
“It’s never just ONE reason why studios fail” THANK YOU! Sure, a shifting culture had to do with failures like concord, but a shift in culture alone doesn’t cause a studio to collapse.
Great video! This channel is a treasure trove of wisdom, and you always communicate in a concise and cogent way. It's also very inspiring for someone wanting to explore the games industry!
Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video!
Stumbled upon your channel today (no doubt the UA-cam algorithm recommending it after watching many Tim Cain videos) and have been completely hooked, binge watched a bunch of your videos. It's incredibly fascinating to get a behind the scenes look into game development, thank you for taking the time to make these!
Thank you for watching!
I'm not even in software development. I do work on projects and I've seen a little bit of management. This is a great management lesson! So much of this is applicable no matter which field you work in.
Thank you! I ended up building out office and lab space for Oculus and 90% of what I learned making games applied. Glad to hear that is true for you as well!
Fantastic insights from a person who has clearly been in the trenches. I work projects in the energy industry and can say that all of the points you have established apply there as well. Great work and thanks for sharing.
I'm glad to hear this is applicable to your industry as well! Thank you for sharing!
I am impressed with your diplomacy. 15 minute video without saying "Oh no, they brought the EA culture to my company!" I worked at a studio that was bought by EA in 1992. At first it was great, then EA Canada slowly took over, then Mattrick rose to the top. It became exactly what you are describing. His commuting back to Vancouver was very frustrating.
Great channel! Keep it up. Kudos for still doing games!
Excellent analysis as always. Great insights on both best practices and historic references. I've learned a lot with this channel.
Laura, Bernie here! I'm so glad to find this channel! I wanna get back in touch!
cringe ignored buddy
This video is a literal gold mine of information for new developers. Seriously, thank you so much for sharing your experience and wisdom.
S tier content on your channel, thank you for sharing your insights and experiences so transparently!
Thank you. Please keep the game production topics coming!
Love the channel and industry insights. Thank you for making these videos, keep it up :)
It was interesting seeing you talk about the idea of how new people on the team can get up to speed and browse a history of prior decisions that were discounted. Code commit logs don’t really cut it, but we used to have a back catalogue of screen recordings. It would be even better to somehow capture qualitative feedback on the feeling of playing prototypes
Thank you! Having the history of why certain decisions were made helps the team understand the older decisions and saves time. It's easy to go in circles when new people want to rehash prior thinking. Doesn't mean you can't change things but it does give everyone visibility into what the reasoning was at the time and you learn a lot.
Redfall was a Zenimax created Gaas game that was converted to a co-op shooter, and many devs left before Microsoft bought Zenimax. Harvey Smith as head of Arkane Austin lied or covered up the problems with the game. I'm glad the studio was closed.
I really love this channel. So happy I stumbled across it
These videos are so insightful into how to manage large scale operations with slowly evolving parts. Your wisdom would help revitalize industries that have lost feedback to their outcomes, like healthcare or education. You sound like a chef when you talk about how important it is to constantly try your product and seek the honest opinions from others. Above all, I love that your overall message is that once you can help your team eliminate its ego, you can truly start absorbing the wisdom needed to succeed.
So well made Laura, really good examples and how you’ve broken down the key issues impacting these studios, hope the channel gets the growth it deserves
Thank you!
Amazing video on the inner workings of the culture in the companies. Very much relevant to any branch of business. I have seen so far a couple of videos on this topic here on this channel and the all were incredibly accurate and insightful. Thank you for this :)
Thank you for your kind comments! I'm glad you found the video insightful!
This is really sad to say, but Laura, yours is the first woman-led channel I have seen (either by searching or by UA-cam recommendations).
It is extra sad as I 100% appreciate your approach, your professionalism, your passions, and your knowledge in the gaming world (and all the messy office politics and bureaucracy that goes with it). Uh. Why is it extra sad then? Your channel adds validity to the complaints and observations that gamers have. Except yours is the only one I have seen that is expressed in a calm, professional, knowledge-based perspective. Too many channels just yell, scream, swear, rant-and although some do it well and it is entertaining, those channels perhaps lose the ability to effect positive change via their message. And that is sad. We need more of you.
I hope there are others channels like yours-and if not I hope you encourage/inspire more channels like this to gain success and large viewership. Keep up the great work!
What a thoughtful comment! I'm happy that you are enjoying my videos and I'm thankful you found my channel. Thank you!
Yet another great video about the industry we love. As someone already mentioned in the comments it's criminally underrated.
As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for your kind comments!
This video is amazing and insightful, it can be applied to many other industries as well, thanks a lot for making it!
Thank you and I agree! When I worked in Oculus Research, I found that 90% of game production could be applied to research work.
What an amazing person you are.
Thankyou for explaining management issues.
Thankyou
Im pleasantly surprised to see someone I used to see on IGN (a channel Ive learned not to trust) sharing reasonable and honest impressions on the gaming industry. Thank you!
Really Great Video :D i love the technical details on game making in all aspects, especially from retro times too :D
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Great video and true on many levels. Just one question, what is the purpose of the "reciprocation"? it kills purpose of true feedback. Again, irrelevant leadership.
I work in the industry, just found your channel and it was an insta sub! LOVE your content!
Awesome! Thank you for the sub!
Oh man, not really related at all but seeing the logos for Surreal and Snowblind sent me on a nostalgia trip. Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (made by Snow Blind) and Drakan the Ancients' Gates (made by Surreal) were some of my favorite games as a kid. They really informed the sorts of games and media in general I enjoy as an adult. The splash screens for those devs are burned into my mind as well. Especially that obnoxious penguin from Snow Blind and the blood splatter from Surreal.
GOLD. Thank you. Working in the gaming studio I started to believe that is all about patronage and listening to your superiors who can hear you speak. If I had to sum up your video in one sentence: Internal studio politics destroys studios. I am living it myself, the work is not done in order to make the best product but in order to satisfy those in power.
Excellent Video Laura! It has been a real pleasure to find your channel. Your experience and point of view helps a lot to understand a more professional and technical vision that is always hidden for many beginners in our industry.
It is impressive to see all the points you touch on my experience that happened with Skull Island: Rise of Kong, one of the worst games of 2023. Unfortunately for NDA I can not comment anything specific, but there are really many things that I feel reflected that happened in the development and were not able to modify or alter in time.
One thing that seems to be lacking in many industries and occupations is LEADERSHIP. It seems like many people these days, regardless of what industry they work in, view management as the ones who "tell other people what to do and punish those that don't do it." To make matters worse, many times it is the management themselves that see it that way. The last few places I've worked have had many managers but absolutely no leaders. This always creates a sort of self-destructive feedback loop for the business because people who could be great leaders are either passed over or are unwilling to take that position, because why would you?
Your videos are such a fascinating insight into the games industry
I wish people like you were still in the industry.
Just found this channel from the Concord vid. Absolutely love it! Super informative and interesting. Have a sub
Thank you for subscribing!
Very insightfull video, even on a project planning level in general not just games!
I spoke out the huge issues of a mega project and they did not listen to me, even critize me of not doing team work, team building. That project ended up a failure with no return (yet and may still be the same for several more years) that costed the company a huge chunk of corporation money, double digit percent of their total asset. I worked there for a while longer with no recognition for my efforts then later left for a place with 2x income 😊
I am currently replaying "No One Lives Forever 2". I love those games. And the fact that it was finished in just a year and a half, on time and within budget is unbelievable for today's standards.
Great and useful free advice. I've joined a lot of companies where part of my job was to break down that 'patronage' culture to improve the feedback cycle and shift left in their path to production. Nice to see when they start shipping their software from once a quarter, to once a month, and then to a weekly basis. Testing and CI pipelines are must.
Just subscribed! This was a great history lesson and very informative. Thank you Laura!
Thank you! I'm glad you found it informative!
Really eye opening, thought provoking and Inspirational! Admirable content ! Thank you for you insight, sharing and work!
Thank you! I'm glad you found it inspirational!
Keep making your videos. Future devs will definitely watch and learn.
just found your channel and really enjoy your perspective!
It makes me want to cry for how true and real this video is. You shared gold. Thank you!
Aww thank you! I appreciate your comments and for taking the time to watch.
Not at all what I expected when I clicked on the video.
I am pleasantly surprised.
You have gained a new Subscriber.
Lots of wisdom and sad truths in this video.
I could write a loooong post about putting your job on the line because you are actually doing your job....
Maybe some other time. :)
I have a few of those stories myself. :) Thank you for subscribing!
I've been burned by giving honest, unflattering feedback (respectfully & with suggestions on how to address the issues) multiple times. I'm at the point now where I ask the team I work with if they're interested in addressing an issue before giving feedback & if they say "no" I'll ask if there's a particular reason why they're not interested in addressing the issue & if they fail to give one: I'm already mentally checking out with that team & company.
So grateful to be self-employed in another industry entirely (this acts as a bonus income stream & a safety net when I need to leave a bad employer immediately).
Never let yourself get too invested with one company these days, no matter how much you contribute: all employees are disposable. They can also be bought & sold as a whole to another company entirely.
The bulk of the American workforce are "human cattle" but you'll never hear that description from the management class. It's their job to keep you calm on the way to the slaughterhouse.
The last thing they want is pissed off employees leaving before they finish a project, or engaging in malicious compliance (god bless those that do that kind of stuff lol)
Thank you for getting more to of the issue. The stuff she's talking about is not just for gaming, it applies broadly and its corporation problem.
Really enjoy it when I see you’ve posted a new video, cause from you I know it’s going to be the real deal!!:))
I appreciate your feedback. Thank you!
great content and great channel ❤
came here from decon fun podcast.
I was at Surreal during the entirety of the development of This Is Vegas, it was really fascinating hearing your stories from The Other Side. Everything you mentioned were problems for us, and your frustration about not having a functioning build of the game to play was shared by the team as well. I was too junior to really identify the root issues at the time, but after years in the industry and seeing multiple projects fail I think your guidelines here are spot on.
Do you have any recommendations for how an individual contributor, or even a group of ICs, should raise issues like the ones you talk about here, in a way that can affect change from the bottom up? I feel like these problems are often political in cause (or solution), and even talking about them can feel like a risk to your position or even your continued employment. Is it just time to find a new job, or is there a better way?
And as an aside, it was a blast seeing so many people in this video that I worked with all those years ago. Thanks again for sharing!
Hi! Thanks for watching and for your question! I liked it so much I decided to do a video response. If you get a chance, check out my latest.
Mrs. Fryer, many studios fail cuz they are so focused on programing a videogame but not in sale a videogame. It is amazing how many "videogames" are released on market and after few second review you can say: "Who the hell was the game lead designer and the marketing leader for this game?" My gosh in the last years you can see how many projects forget Kotler marketing first rule: "YOU NEED KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL AND/OR REAL CUSTOMER OR MARKET VERY VERY WELL. I am a homoxexual man, a hardcore gamer, and reliable customer but in my life i wanted buy a game like Concord or Dusborn or Flintlock or any of those lefty woke video games. Those games are so funny like a thorn in your butt. Videogames are about fun not about preaching and virtue lecturing. I have an university degree business, when i saw those games i clearly see huge failures in advance.
You are spot on with your comment! You have to think about your market. That's why games are the most fun to make..so much you have to consider. Thank you for watching and for the thoughtful comment!
This is so insightful!
Holy shit this channel is so good. You've earned a sub.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and subscribed!
Hey Laura, no questions here, I just wanna give you praise for answering them. Both the video and your responses are incredibly insightful!
Hi! Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate the feedback!
Really love the insight into management. I've been trying to build up my skills and am looking for ways to build experience in leadership roles (software developer). Your videos provide some very great insight into this field, thank you. Also, I hope Perfect Dark continues to move forward at a steady pace now that we've seen something. I honestly had started to write it off, thinking it was dead and maybe going to be a "back to the drawing board" scenario like with Metroid Prime 4.
Thank you! I'm glad that you have found the videos useful!
As a Wise Samurai Once said : "The path is clear for us to rule."
Insightful, well-reasoned video. Thank you for sharing your perspective!!
I'm glad you enjoyed the perspective! Thank you and I hope to see you again!
Based on this, I can pinpoint a few problems:
- Massive bloat: Diablo IV having 9000 people "work" on it is absolutely absurd. Sounds like a money laundering scheme.
- Incompetent leadership: As you said; "Yes Men". This explains the current status of the Xbox brand.
- Poor management: Time limits for any project (large, or tiny) is important. Even I wouldn't have progressed much in my art if I hadn't set time limits.
Hi! Good to see you again! Great comments particularly your point about setting time limits. We would time box new design experiments and then evaluate after the time ran out. Seems like that would have helped with Suicide Squad and the vehicle idea.
@@laurafryer6321 Time boxing seems like an interesting concept. How long would these time boxes be? A few weeks? Thank you.
@@AzureSymbiote It depends on what you're trying to prove out..could be weeks or months. If it's months, I'd put in some checkpoints to see how it's progressing.
5:56 please say this again for your colleagues in the games journalism industry. The vast majority seem to entirely reject the concept that there are ANY potential conflicts of interest in how reviews are done...
I think all current studios should have to watch Laura's videos as mandatory training.
I would love to hear you talk about valve and steam, their flat company structure or any experience that youve had with them.
This completely ignores the many, many successful studios that also get hit with massive layoffs
Why do studios fail? Because the one who controls the purse decides they do
Loved War in the North and did buy it day one. It was one of my top ten list I suggested to many folks on "hidden gems" videos a lot of UA-camrs were putting out when the 360 store was closing earlier in the year and the FOMO was at fever pitch. War in the North, Viking, Rise of the Argonauts, Kingdoms of Amalur, Transformers War/Fall of Cybertron, Hunted The Demons Forge, Overlord, Conan, and Sacred 2.
I'm glad you enjoyed War in the North! I loved it too. Thank you for watching!
I heard somewhere that studios that flop don’t get shut down just because they produced a bad game. But rather they only get shut down when investors don’t see future potential. IE: Rocksteady, despite producing Suicide Squad, can rest easy as long as their next project is a traditional Batman game. Thoughts?
There are many reasons studios get shut down. It's generally as you say a "confidence" that they can deliver. I don't think Rocksteady can rest easy because the team is different than the one that made the traditional batman game back in the day. It might depend on how much of their core team that made the game they still have.
I don't know if I've clicked on a video faster in a good minute. I love your insights on the business side of the industry.
Awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
"This is a simple sales technique called 'reciprocation': if you're nice to someone they'll want to be nice back" - This is hilarious. We live in this fun world where the most basic principle of human interactions that even a baby knows must be called a sales technique. Capitalism gone too far.
If I were a game reviewer and was invited to a nice diner and given swag before reviewing a game I would take photo and video evidence of it. Than I would make it so there was a permanennt link on the home page that listed this with the headlines "Game Company Attempts Bribery" in maximum font. There would be an open bounty where I would pay other reviewers to contribute to the database. I'd inform the game company that if they decide to withdraw reviews of further games I would make sure the readers knew about it.
If a reviewing company isn't doing that they do not deserve the title of journalist.
Thanks for your comment! I've seen some reviewers that disclose the fact that they were invited to an event or were given swag/free copy of the game. Your idea takes it a step beyond that.
@@laurafryer6321 Its just rage.
Awesome video! So glad I found it in my feed.
This is absolutely amazing content, really appreciate your insight!
more people need to see this.
Asking for help is just as brave as offering help. 👍
True! Thank you for checking out my video!
It's funny, because most of the points you make here seem totally intuitive, and something people would usually "just do" if they had an idea for this great game and got their friends together and contacted Dorky Dave for some programming help, and called that one person's Ex who was really good at drawing characters and so on.
You know, the organic route, vs. checking in at your Dev Studio office Cubicle and rattling off whatever Fun-Machine(tm)-tasks were allocated to you today, because you have a job in gaming, so you're just doing your job in gaming.
I'll never get over Life By You, it was the sims 3 producer dream project
Your channel is going to blow up
Im still worried about the new Perfect Dark. A lot of rocky things have come out about that games development
Question for you, Laura! As a project manager for 8 years at a large tech company, I really want to pivot into project management in the game industry, but was wondering how I could break in without the game industry experience? How do I build that experience? I was wondering if you had any advice.
Cool! I think game production is awesome! I would start by looking at as much content as you can on game development with a focus on production issues. For example, the GDC vault has free content you can check out and some of it would be helpful. I'd also find local people that do game production and ask questions, learn from them sort of like a mentor. Many jobs are won through networking so if you don't have local people, you could go to a game conference like a GDC or a game meetup and network there. Build your contacts and learn while doing so.