作者：Matt Powers

我是一名电子游戏制作人，但这究竟意味着什么呢？

你做什么工作？

当人们问我做什么工作时我通常回复，“我是一名电子游戏制作人”或者“我制作电子游戏”。之后多数人的普遍反应就是：

“你制作《Candy Crush》吗？我玩过这款游戏。”

注意：之前大家问的是“你制作《毁灭战士》吗？我听说过这款游戏。”

或者是问，

“你制作过什么游戏？”

这个问题通常会让我困惑——通常会这么问的人并不玩游戏，所以我真的不知道自己的回答还有什么意义。

另一个普遍问题就是：

“所以你整天都可以玩游戏？”

我一听到这个问题就觉得很有必要以自己的专业角度来回答。

“不，我们并不是成天玩游戏。有些人需要制作人们想玩的游戏。我只是制作游戏的团队成员之一。”

但是，我真正的工作远不止如此。如果有机会，我会尽量解释制作人究竟做些什么工作。

首先，我通常会介绍自己是一名高级制作人，之后会快速澄清，“高级制作人并不意味着我是一名老制作人。它意味着我比其他制作人拥有更多经验和责任。”

没错，这也可以推断出我的确年长于其他制作人。我的电子游戏职业生涯始于1993年，我可能也是这些“老人”中的一员。

快速回答

我针对制作人究竟做什么工作的一个快速回答就是，

“制作人要负责一切，作为制作人你要操心很多事情。”

这里有一个完成项目所必需的人才组成的团队。制作人只是这些成员之一，区别在于制作人要为最终结果负责。

通常情况下，如果情况发展良好，制作人可能就没有太多事情可做。除了担心未来可能发生的一些情况，以及我们该如何解决将来的问题之外。

制作人好比是一艘巨轮上的掌舵者，要警惕冰川，在全体船员的帮助下，在无意外事故以及预算范围之内，确保轮船及时到达港口。

制作人的基因

在大学中总会有一两门其教授会布置“小组项目”的课程。你和其他随机成员聚到一起完成任务，你的学分也取决于整个团队的工作成果。

这种小组中总会有一两位成员不那么用心。他们似乎不费什么力气就可以分享其余成员的劳动成果。

我曾经想成为这种“懒鬼”中的一员。小组成员并不认识我，我可以坐在一边，不积极参与，也许只要做一点点事情就能获得一个体面的学分。小组开工时我就展开了自己的计划。但这个小组显然组织混乱，没有取得多大进展。我试图保持淡定，但不久团队就开始人心痪散，我就站出来接管大局了。

制作人天生就是那种想主持大局的人。将一群人集合到一个房间，为他们分配一个任务。制作人无论好坏，都要让别人认识自己。

制作人要做什么？

如果提出这个问题的人对此仍然有兴趣，我就会更详细地解释，最终会告诉他们：

*制作人需要操心许多事情。

*制作人要对与项目有关的一切负责。

*制作人要尽量在问题发生之前将其解决。

*制作必须制定决策——倾听团队成员的反馈并最后拍板。

*制作人要协调制作开发的所有层面，与开发和发行的所有领域合作，确保产品实现公司目标。

*内部制作人很可能直接管辖一个开发团队。美术人员、设计师、工程师等成员要直接向制作人汇报工作。

*内部制作人会管理项目的发行环节，并对开发环节负责，但并不直接参与开发团队的工作。开发团队将向开发商的内部制作人汇报工作。

*制作人要处理与项目开发相关的日程安排。

*制作人要监管项目开发的预算或成本。

*最后，制作人要对产品质量负责。

这里的三大要点就是：预算、日程安排和质量。制作人要不断与这三者打交道。目标是让项目在预算内及时完工，并且尽量实现最高质量或水平。

我个人认为，制作人要对项目的所有层面负责。虽然有许多杰出人才处理项目的不同层面，但制作人还是应该在可能需要协助的方面施以援手。

这不仅仅是项目管理，制作人还应该：

*安排媒体采访事务。

*出席相关活动。

*参与展会。

*出差。

*确保营销/PR/社区都获知关于游戏的信息。

*让营销/PR/社区获得他们所需的材料。

*积极参与营销和PR会议。

*参与并随时做好协助一切事情的准备。

最困难的一个方面

作为制作人当然也会遇到许多困难，在此我就提一下其中之一。

也许制作人可能遇到的最困难的工作之一就是处理团队裁员的问题。公司裁员的原因有很多，但最常见的原因就是没有事情可做。

我认为一个人接受公司的雇佣时，就意味着公司与雇员达成了一个协议。即双方都将尽己所能为对方付出。

作为制作人，我的职责不仅是对手头的项目负责，还要富有前瞻性地考虑项目完工之后的问题。资源重组很棘手并且可能很困难，但这就是制作人的职责。

如果我们必须裁员，那么我会觉得公司、制作人或汇报经理，在他们的协议层面出了问题。

制作人如何避免这种情况？

制作人可以通过多种方式避免裁员现象。以下是我所推荐的一些做法：

*主动为公司，尤其是团队寻找工作机会。

*在公司中推广自己的团队，将其视为一项重要资产。

*帮助团队成员提升其技能。

*审核日程安排和工作，以便项目完工时重组资源。

*与其他制作人合作，将团队成员调整到有需求的其他团队。

*只有在确信有长期需求，而不只是当前项目需求的情况下才额外招聘人员。

一个实实在在的电子游戏项目并非保持公司良性发展的唯一要素。你还要为自己的团队分配项目之外的工作：

*文档处理。

*开发游戏理念。

*编写事后分析报告。

*确保所有项目材料都合理归档。

*为营销、销售、PR等团队提供其所需的内容。

*撰写市场当前游戏的评论——分析我们可从这些游戏中学到的经验。

*为社区团队提供帮助推广产品的物资。

*为Gamasutra等游戏专业网站撰写文章。

*确保你的团队拥有一个即时更新的数据库。例如，你应该掌握的数据库包括：

·开发者（及发行商）及其技能

·外部视频/美术工作室

·可能派上用场的外包人员（游戏邦注：例如认识某些可能为下一个概念提供概念美术的外包美工）

通常来说，要尽量坦诚对待直接下属的技能问题，告诉他们可以提升的空间，以及公司的整体状况。如果不幸发生了裁员情况，最好为他们寻找新工作提供帮助，并且要乐于提供推荐和参考。

最后，我们无法避免所有的裁员事件。但作为制作人，我们应该尽己所能尽量将其控制在最小范围内，削弱其影响。

总结

制作人并不是成天玩游戏。不要误会我的意思——制作人会玩游戏，我们应该玩大量游戏。我也承认自己爱玩游戏。我们行业中的有些人有时候也会在上班时间玩游戏。但我们就是不想让其他人认为我们的工作就是成天玩游戏。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Definition of a Producer, or ‘Do You Play Games All Day?’

- Matt Powers

I’m a producer. I am a producer of video games. But what does this actually mean?

What do you do?

When people ask what I do for a living I will usually reply, “I’m a video game producer,” or “I make video games.” And then the most common responses are:

“Did you make Candy Crush? I’ve played that.”

NOTE: this used to be – “Did you make Doom? I’ve heard of that.”

I guess this dates me a bit.

Or they may ask,

“What games have you made?”

This question usually makes me wonder – often this is a person who does not play games so I wonder if it really matters what I answer.

The other common question is:

“So you play games all day?”

When I get this response I feel an obligation to give my profession to answer.

“No, we do not play games all day. Someone needs to make the games people play. And I am part of that team that makes the games.”

But of course, there is much more to it than that. Given the chance, I try to explain what it exactly is that a producer does.

First, I usually state that I am a Senior Producer (heck, I put in the time to get the title, might as well use it). Then I quickly clarify,

“Senior Producer does not mean I am an old producer. It means I have more experience and responsibility than some other producers.”

Well, that pretty much infers that I am older than other producers. And since I started in the video game profession in 1993, I probably am one of the older folks.

The quick answer

My quick answer for what a producer does is,

“The producer is responsible for everything,” followed by,

“As a producer you worry a lot.”

There is a team of talented people who are necessary to get a project done. The producer is just one of these people. The difference isthe producer is the one responsible for the end results.

Usually, if things are going well, the producer may not have much to do. Well, except worry about what may happen in the future and how can we solve those future problems, that haven’t occurred yet, now.

The producer helps steer the ship, is on the lookout for icebergs, and whose job, with the help of the entire crew, is to make sure that ship gets to port on time, without accidents, and within budget.

The producer gene

In college there would always be one or two classes where the professor would assign a “group project.” You and some other random people would be put together to work on something and your grade would be determined by the work the entire group turned in.

Inevitably there would always be one or two people in the group that wouldn’t put the effort in. They seemed to breeze by without having to work hard and gotthe benefit of the work by the rest of the group.

One time I decided I wanted to be one of these “slackers.” The group didn’t know me; I could just sit back, not participate, not volunteer, and maybe get off doing little work but still get a decent grade. The group started and I followed my plan. But the group was clearly disorganized and not making much headway. I tried to stay firm, but after a while of the group floundering about, I sat up straight and took over.

A producer is someone who by nature wants to take charge. Put a handful of people in a room and give them a task. The producer, good or bad, will make his/herself known.

What does a producer do?

If the person who asked the question still seems interested, I go into more detail. In the end I tell people:

The producer is the one that worries a lot.

The producer is responsible for everything related to the project.

The producer tries to solve problems before they occur.

The producer needs to make decisions – listen to the input from team members and make the final call.

The producer coordinates all aspects of product development, working with all areas of development and publishing to ensure the product meets the company goals.

An internal producer will likely manage a development team directly. The artists, designers, engineers and such will often report directly to a producer (well, a lead first then producer).

An external producer manages the publishing side of the project and is responsible for the development but does not work directly with the development team. The development team will report to the internal producer at the developer.

The producer handles the schedule/dates related to the development of the project.

The producer oversees the budget or cost of the creation of the project.

In the end, the producer is responsible for the quality of the product.

The three big tent posts are: budget, schedule (or timeliness), and quality. The producer is constantly juggling these three. The goal is to get the project done on time, within budget, and at a highest level or quality possible.

Personally, I feel the producer is responsible for all aspects of the project. While there are usually many very qualified people handling various aspects of the project, the producer needs to be able to assist in any area that may need assistance.

It’s not just project management; a producer is alsoexpected to:

Do press interviews.

Be available for presentations.

Work the tradeshows.

Go on sales visits/trips.

Make sure marketing/PR/community all hasinformation about the game.

Work to get marketing/PR/community the assets they need to do their job.

Be active in marketing and PR meetings.

Be involved and ready to assist with everything.

One of the most difficult parts

There are certainly many difficult parts of being a producer. I thought I would mention one of the toughest parts.

Probably one of the more difficult jobs a producer may have to do is to handle laying team members off. Letting people go. There are many reasons why one would have to let people go from a company. But lay-offs are usually because of lack of work.

I feel when one accepts employment with a company, it is an agreement between the company and the employee. An agreement that both will do the best they can for each other.

As a producer, my job is to not only be responsible for the project at hand but to also look ahead and prepare for what occurs after the project. Dove-tailing resources is tricky and can be difficult but it is a producer’s responsibility.

If we need to lay people off then I feel the company, and the producer or reporting manager, has potentially failed in their part of the agreement.

How does a producer help prevent this?

There are many things a producer can do to hopefully help prevent the need for lay-offs. Here is a list of things I recommend:

Proactively look for work for the company and especially for your team.

Promote your team within the company as a valuable asset.

Help direct reports develop their skill sets.

Review schedules and work to help dovetail resources as they come off a project.

Work with other producers to get direct reports into other teams as needed.

Don’t hire additional people unless you are sure you need them and you are sure you have work for them for longer than just the current project.

A actual video game project isn’t the only thing needed to keep a company healthy. Propose work for your team outside of the project:

Document processes.

Develop game concepts.

Write post-mortems.

Make sure all project materials are archived well/properly.

Work with sales, marketing, PR on anything they need.

Write reviews of current games on the market – what can we as a company learn from these games?

Provide materials to the community team to help promote products.

Write articles for sites such as Gamasutra.

Make sure your team has an up-to-date databases. For example, you should have databases of:

Developers (and/or publishers) and their skill sets

External video/art houses

Contract workers that could be useful (for example: knowing some talented art contractors that could help provide concept art for the next concept).

Overall, as much as possible, try to be honest with your direct reports about their skill sets, what they can do to improve, and the overall health of the company. And if there are unfortunate lay-offs try to help people find new work and be willing to provide recommendations and references.

In the end, we can’t prevent all lay-offs from occurring. But as producers we should be doing everything we can to stop them or at minimum, lessen their impact.

In Conclusion

The producer does not play video games all day. Don’t get me wrong – producers play games, and we should play a lot of games. Heck, I admit it, I love playing games. And yes, those of us in the industry do sometimes play games at work. We just don’t want everyone else to know that is what we do all day. （source：gamecareerguide）