Bigger than cinema

 

The management of diverse teams is characteristic of the games industry. Similar to the film sector, team sizes range from solo developers to hundreds of people working on a single project. The basic element of the games industry is the development studio or the game developer, with the second term referring to both individuals and companies. Employed programmers deliver code and implement task packages that - depending on the organisational structure - have been created from design documents, they repair errors that have been passed on by quality assurance in the form of "bug reports", and do many other tasks. The administration of these tasks by means of a ticket system - such as the estimated time needed for individual task packages, the assignment of packages to individual employees or the evaluation of open tasks - is a central pillar of the development process. Correspondingly, the time and communication requirements for the management team and department heads can be pretty high.

 

Many game development tasks are outsourced, because some only arise in certain development phases, so permanent positions are not worthwhile. For example, localization, i.e. translating texts and recording dialogue in different languages, is often outsourced to external service providers who maintain networks of translators and voice actors. 

 

External help is also often enlisted for music. The recording of video game soundtracks is a frequent source of income for musicians ranging from orchestras to solo artists, and these soundtracks are increasingly brought back into the concert hall (similar to film music) in video game concerts. As a result, all the ups and downs of the music industry are linked to the video game industry, from the Grammy for Baba Yetu (composed by Christopher Tin for the game Civilization IV) to public disputes about the right to one's own work and deadlines. 

 

For the management level, the practice of outsourcing results in the expectable tasks of coordination, negotiation and quality assurance in cooperation with external parties. Especially at the point of contact with the music industry, cultural managers are needed who can navigate both spheres with confidence.

 

 

Regarding distribution hierarchy, so-called publishers are positioned above the developer studios. Publishers in gaming are very similar to publishers in the book industry or to U.S. film distribution companies and take on far-reaching tasks such as marketing as well as the distribution and production of physical media, like DVD or game cartridges. However, in view of the growing dominance of downloads in the games market, this aspect is becoming increasingly less important. 

 

But publishers are often also financiers of development projects or owners of studios. A few, but influential, publishers produce their own console systems, most notably Microsoft (Xbox), Sony (Playstation) and Nintendo (Switch). Publishers also often provide the networks and resources for outsourcing or allocate licenses for the development of games for established pop culture brands (intellectual properties, IPs). For example, the publishing giant Electronic Arts (EA) secured exclusive rights to develop video games in the Star Wars universe from 2013 to 2023 and passed this license on to development studios.

For cultural managers, the multitude of possible activities in publishing offers a wide range of professional opportunities. From quality assurance to product development and marketing, there are many skills that cultural managers can provide. 

 

 

Outside of the sphere of big publishers with billions in sales, an economically and culturally significant independent games scene has developed over the last 15 years. Here, small, independent teams develop high-quality games. Indie studios have celebrated huge commercial successes and expanded the design space for games with innovative and courageous projects. For example, one of the best-known and most successful video games in the world, Minecraft, began as an indie title and was bought up by Microsoft for 2.5 billion USD three years after its release. Such successes are exceptions, but the market for indie games is robust and despite their rather small share of the games market, successful German projects can be found again and again, even on challenging themes 

An important catalyst for this development was the emergence of downloads as a distribution channel, which made small teams more independent of large publishers. The platforms Steam for PC and the app stores of smartphone manufacturers, which have developed into a central marketplace for games and which, for example, take payment processing off the hands of indie studios and provide chat functions, user profiles and much more, have enabled small indie companies to thrive. 

 

There are numerous opportunities for cultural managers to get involved in the world of indie studios. However, those who want to work in this field should be prepared for all the advantages and disadvantages of small teams that often operate with a start-up mentality. Fulfilling multiple roles, reacting flexibly and quickly, and constant uncertainty about whether the project will be successful are common. But at the same time, indie studios have great creative freedom.

 

 

The video game market is huge and differentiated; playing digital games is part of everyday life for many people. The development and publication of games is correspondingly complex and diverse. This cultural field is therefore theoretically very close to cultural management, but in practice often very distant. Nevertheless, cultural managers are offered numerous fields of professional activity in the gaming sector, ranging from marketing and personnel management to administration and project management. In addition to the core job market in games development and distribution, there are numerous adjacent fields such as games journalism or trade fairs. As a growing market - even after the pandemic boom has ended -, the games industry is constantly looking for new employees. At the same time, training specifically geared to games is still a rarity: good prerequisites for career changers!