LIVE ONLINE COURSE
BECOMING A GAME PRODUCER
20 APR 2023 - 30 MAY 2023
Duration:
6 weeks
TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS
5 PM PST / 8 PM EST
How involved is a Game Producer through all development stages? And what skills do you need to be a successful producer?
Join Cliver Burdon, Associate Production Director at Blizzard Entertainment, to step into the day-to-day role of a producer and gain hands-on experience.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU, IF...
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YOU’RE AN ENTRY-LEVEL PRODUCER LOOKING TO CLIMB UP THE CORPORATE LADDER
It starts with your team! Learn how to better allocate roles and provide the right support throughout the development process.
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YOU’RE A VIDEO GAME QA TESTER LOOKING FOR MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS
Learn risk management and process tracking techniques that will advance your skills and career.
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YOU’RE A GAME DEVELOPER OR DESIGNER WANTING TO SWITCH ROLES
Want inside interview info? Clive will walk you through the Game Production questions that matter and pinpoint what employers look for.
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YOU’RE A PRODUCT MANAGER TRANSITIONING INTO GAME PRODUCTION
Transition from managing tech products to managing teams, determining milestones, and evaluating project success.
Learn what game producers do step-by-step.
Each game development stage has its needs. Learn how to fulfill them.
Get ready to plan and oversee the game development pipeline from conception to post-launch operations.
Expert information that leads to career acceleration.
Learn directly from a Blizzard Entertainment champion. Practice project management software. And use your certification of completion to advocate for the position you deserve.
Get the chance to speak directly to two well-seasoned guest speakers, one of them being a Production Director at Infinity Ward. Ask your questions and learn from their experiences.
Work on scope statements, work breakdown structures, project roadmaps, and release plans. And before the course is finished, leave the class with tangible proof of your game development and planning skills.
Navigate through the development pipeline in the game industry. And get meaningful insight from various game models such as single release, DLC, and GaaS.
BURDON LinkedIn Profile
- Associate Production Director, Blizzard Entertainment
- Over 28 years of experience in the gaming industry
- Worked at top game studios including Neversoft, 343 Industries, Bungie, and Vicarious Visions.
- Managed a wide variety of disciplines, team sizes, and production teams.
- Produced over 30 titles and worked on games such as Halo 4, Band Hero, and Destiny 2.
COURSE INTRODUCTION
In this class, you’ll learn about the various roles a game producer plays, what’s expected of them, and the different areas the job focuses on.
- Game Producer’s role in the game industry
- Key Responsibilities
- Background & Skills (Q&A format)
Assignment #1: What kind of producer are you?
Teamwork makes the dream work! Learn about the people on a producer’s team and what functions/responsibilities they have within the organization.
- Roles & responsibilities
- Differences in team structure
- Working with your team
Assignment #2: Create a RACI chart for your game team.
How do game studios get it done? Take a look at the game development process from beginning to end and highlight the variables that come into play.
- Game development stages
- Case study. Pipelines across various game models.
- Documentation myths (GDD)
Assignment #3: Start working on your course project by breaking down an old-school game that’s made over $3 billion, and bring it to a modern platform.
Game development is ever changing and different studios take different approaches. This class will prepare you to be adaptable in the game industry.
- Trending methodologies
- Agile & Scrum
- Picking & implementing an effective approach
Assignment #4: Theoretical project Q&A.
This lesson will help you fully understand game features to help ensure that nothing is ever missed. Learn which questions need to be asked and how to get that information.
- Writing Scope Statement
- Key game features (TAs, platform, engine, etc.)
- Feature Sign-Off (FSOs)
- Outlining deliverables & success criteria
Assignment #5: Create deliverables for the remake.
Manage and assess your goals across all teams. And learn about common mishaps and how you can prevent and handle them.
- What is a milestone?
- Matching processes & deliverables
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Assignment #6: Outline the work cost, team size, and milestones for the remake.
Wouldn’t it be nice if everything went according to plan? Step into the shoes of a game producer and analyze how to create efficient strategies.
- Setting timelines and iterations
- Financial modeling
- Workshop. Outlining a roadmap
Assignment #7: Create a roadmap from your data.
As games are created it’s crucial to understand how far along they are. Let’s learn how to track our game’s development and gauge where it’s headed.
- Introducing KPIs
- Metrics
- Demo. Project tracking through JIRA (or other tools)
- Identifying the production bottlenecks
Every producer understands how valuable time is. They have to make sure everyone is communicating well and that every process is efficient. How do they get it done? Learn the steps.
- De-centralization & Empowerment
- Managing team communications
- Reporting
Assignment #8: Your roadmap looks great! But…some problems have arisen. Update your roadmap accordingly based on the given challenges.
You’ll learn how to stop small problems from quickly avalanching. Examine the decision-making process and see where problems may arise and how costly they might become.
- Why is risk management important in gaming?
- Identifying risks
- Performing risk analysis
- Risk mitigation strategies
Assignment #9: Create a status report for the changes in your roadmap.
Your game is ready! But…it doesn’t stop there. What about the platform? The ratings? And your backend servers? See the process it takes to fully release a game.
- Release Plan
- Post-release strategies
- Evaluating the project success
Assignment #10: Build a submission plan into your roadmap.
You’ve learned about what the job requires and how to do it, now it’s time to learn how to get the job. Practice interview questions and understand the logic behind them.
- Career pathways
- What does a great GP profile entail?
- Workshop. Addressing common interview questions
Assignment #11: Deliver your roadmap, release plan, budget, and staffing plan.
What our students say
"I absolutely love the format! Working through real life scenarios makes it super applicable and easy to translate the learning into practical takeaways. I also enjoy that the assignments are straightforward enough to get through but you can make them more complex to get more learning out of the course. It really is a format where you get out what you put in."
"The group activities, they allow us to interact and exchange ideas, plus the way it is structured is challenging and mind twisting as we collaborate in different parts of the ideation."
"Overall I'm impressed with the level of detail and explanation around particular topics and subjects. There's a real depth to each module which for learning allows the information to stay in your brain."
"I really enjoy the format of the course. Lectures with real life examples and an ongoing case study. Also built in 20 minutes at the end of each class for questions is helpful."
"I enjoyed the structure of the class. I like how we learned about a topic and practiced it in the workshops. It’s helped me to apply what I learned!"