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Videogame Project Management:

Current Practice & Future Trends

Edward G. Anderson Jr.

McCombs School of Business, University of Texaswww.EdAnderson.org

April 3, 2008

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Background

Videogame industry isgrowing

Bigger than Music or

Hollywood Box Office

May be recession proof

and Fragmenting

Installed base of

PSP/Gameboy DS etc.exceeds 7th Generation

Consoles

Casual Gamers

Cell hones PDAs

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Questions

What, if anything, differs between software developmentpractices in videogames and more standard softwaredevelopment such as shrink-wrapped applications andembedded software?

If these differences exist, how are they evolving withtime?

What sorts of skills make videogame project managerseffective?

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Methodology

Outgrowth of 4-year NSF Outsourced Product DevelopmentStudy by Anderson, Davis-Blake, Parker and platform workby Eisenmann, Parker, van Alstyne

Interview ~12 product managers (a.k.a. Development

Producers) Sony Online Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Microsoft (Tour10),

Activision(RavenSoft), Joju, Zombie, ChaYoWo

Compare with copious literature on shrink-wrappedapplications, e.g. Cusumano & Selby (1998) or MacCormack

& Iansiti (1997) Compare with ~5 embedded project managers at Big 3 auto

firms and medical electronics industry (in process)

Process is out of control. Satisfying the process leaves no time fordevelopment Big 3 Embedded Software Manager.

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Videogame Project Trends

Tie-ins with Hollywood (and maybe Bollywood?)

IP tie-ins increase probability of success

Team size growing for Hardcore games

Specialty fragmentation (Design, Environmental Art,Character Art, Music, Testers, Development etc.)

Outsourcing on the rise

Engine Modules thru suppliers

Art and music thru contractors, ballerina baseball

Development (coding) thru contractors, particularly for casualgaming

Talent management may be evolving to a Hollywood model

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Whats Different about Games?

Games have to be fun Emphasis on creativity Most project management is about increasing

predictability, but a videogames success depends onunpredictable emergent properties

It may look good on the drawing board, but until we have a

prototype, we just dont know Unlike with Excel, a game player can tell you a games no fun, but

he cant tell you how to fix it.

MMOG seems to exacerbate these issues

Need playable prototypes as fast as possible

Builds often create changes in goals and architecture Developers have to be gamers themselves

Often are game designers or artists

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Whats Different (cont.)?

Aesthetic concerns are paramount How do you communicate that you need a certain mood for your

music?

Players dont want realism, yet you cant violate believability

Both playability and polishing are essential

Makes modularity more problematic

Platform changes: Those years are a nightmare

More like Hollywood than Silicon Valley in some respects

Good project management is about accepting that development is

unpredictable. Your job is to bound and shape the creativeprocess.

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Solutions? Majority of projects interviewed have moved to a semi-

scrummy agile process

Prototype, followed by 3-6 week sprints, and a polishing sprint

Daily meetings, but not fully scrum-like

We were having to meetings to plan meetings

Agile needs to be agile, not sessile

Some projects still doing waterfall, particularly sequels

Many successful producers tend to have a background inboth development and art

Although background in one is typically lighter than the other

Outsourcing allowing move back toward smaller teams Particularly for casual gaming

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Remaining Issues Our organization [game development team] wasnt

designed to communicate or coordinate.

Difficulty of communicating between specialties and with suppliers

You may check out, but you can never leave

Crunch time hasnt gone away

Formal project management knowledge often weak Mostly learned from books or 1-day seminars

Many producers dont seem to understand modularity very well

Most risk management is rudimentary

Lack of project funnels

Management prefers precision to accuracy

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Questions?

More information can be found at www.EdAnderson.org