原作者：Guest Author 译者：Willow Wu

Kyle Smith是德国柏林手游工作室TreasureHunt的合伙创始人&CEO。

前EA员工Smith在2014年建立了TreasureHunt。现在他和PocketGamer.biz分享他对于建立游戏工作室的个人见解和建议。

成立游戏工作室是一件愚蠢，残酷的事，所以你应该去做。

TreasureHunt成立的头一年多并没有发生什么大家所期盼的牛逼故事，那一年对我们来说真的很艰难。

我们是一家在柏林的游戏工作室，对比两年前的我们，如今我们的定位是怎样的，我感到很迷茫。我们拥有世界顶级的团队，手上还有一个在测试发行时让我颇感自豪的游戏Pet Paradise。

下文的所讲述的个人经验是从一个工作室的CEO和首位创始人的角度出发，谈到了一些我认为我做对的事，还有做错的事情——后期改正了，还有一些我正在着手的事情。

为什么你想要成立一个工作室？

“想要做游戏”，我感觉这不是一个好答案。说实话我认为这答案挺糟糕的，我猜你也会觉得这答案挺无聊的。

尝试着去修复某个东西或者去完成某个做的不是很好的东西，甚至是根本没做好的东西，我觉得这样比较能够调动人的积极性。

跟刚开始相比，我们的任务有点变了（还在继续），但是我们总是有一个固定的任务，重点就是“修复”。你不必按照我们的方法走，但是这就是我们在做的事情。

想想也是挺棒的：有一样大家想要的东西，但是直到现在都没办法实现，而你正在做。

虽说这不是拯救世界但是感觉就是很酷，这是有某种目的的。

你将会过上那种虐得你体无完肤的日子，而且说实话，我不觉得“做游戏”这个念头能够给你提供足够的动力，让你继续下去。

做好抛弃心血的准备

当我决定要成立工作室的时候，我已经在这个行业干了大约有12年了。

我18岁的时候是《极品飞车》的游戏QA，我也在EA Sports做过3A级别主机游戏的首席策划师、制作人和创意总监，做过新IP游戏，还有F2P手游。

都是了不起的经历啊。但是在此之前，你至少要淘汰掉自己80%的心血。

不管你有多少经验，从这个角度(游戏邦注：作为工作室创始人)接受行业内这种现实又是另一种情况。因为你接下来做的事情，你要如何做决策，比起以前是有很大不同的。

跟那些走过这段路的人们交流，多找人说说话。

说真的，多向别人寻求帮助吧，尽管这挺烦人的。将来有一天回报给人家就好了。

去找那些有过这段经历的人谈谈，这应该是你首先要做的事情之一。问问那些已经成立过工作室的人，问问他们我下面所写的问题。

TreasureHunt团队

你们之前有哪些失误？哪些方面是没有失误过的？我应该再去找另外某个人谈谈吗？建立起你的人际关系网络，这样别人才能把你推到正确的轨道上。

在这个混合团队中，你是什么角色？

你要当CEO吗？还是其他人去当？要不要有CEO这个角色？管理方式的透明化我之后会再说说，但是，你在这里到底是干什么的？还有另外一点很重要的，你不做什么？

如果在刚开始的时候你就操之过急，每个无关紧要的决定你都想要自己去搞定，那你会疯掉的，而且会事倍功半。

我喜欢招募和其他人力资源的相关话题比如说文化。我也喜欢制定产品策略和产品开发运营，所以我就做这个了。其他人就做其他事。

雇佣比你优秀、比你睿智、比你有能力的人

在初期你的身边就应该围绕着这些人：他们所掌握的领域知识对你来说是陌生的。简单来说，我之前做过的最好的决定就是找了一个会营销的合伙创始人还有一个有商业背景的合伙创始人，因为我已经有了产品/设计方面的知识。

我们处理问题、做决策要从三个不同的角度出发，但是目标是一致的。你希望跟你同一层级的人可以向你发出挑战，让你学到什么东西，而不是一味地重复你已经知道的东西。

不要想重塑每个东西，不要总是过度思考

不要想在一开始就做个聪明人，我打赌你觉得你就是这么聪明。

如果有某样东西火起来了，很多工作室都在做，说真的，那你可以也开始做，明天起就不走寻常路。你将会面临各种大大小小的决策，多到让人觉得荒唐。

策划经验教会我的就是尽量把事情都简单化。

Kyle Smith

大家都用Unity来做游戏，所以不用愁没有社区支持，而且还有开发者能够帮你，非常棒，我们就用这个吧。好了，下一个。

接下去你要搞砸好多事情，继续拥抱那些不可避免的失败然后继续向前冲。非决策行为会害死你。

把握好（工作期间）工作和娱乐之间的平衡

小问题，但是我觉得在这方面实际上我们做的不错。在工作日里我们埋头苦干（但是不要death march那样的方式），周五到了我们开啤酒，吃美食。

看看你想要创造出怎么样的的公司文化，基于这个，去找到游戏和工作的最佳平衡点。不要把所有事情都跟“有趣”挂钩。

那些真正有天赋的人实际想要的是努力工作，完成某件事，所以说制造出游乐园一样的氛围对那群人是没有好处的。

不要把工作室当成你的第一个游戏：起始规模小，招募速度快，然后发展起来。

Pixar的人说过一个金句：“我们不是完成了电影，我们只是让它上映。”

我们的首款游戏并没有我们期盼的那么好。你也许也会这样。做个后备计划吧。

结合当时手头上所拥有的资源，我对我们的第一个游戏游戏过于踌躇满志。

你面临的是团队问题和做事问题这二者的结合，这跟你之前呆的地方是不一样的，那里的团队结构、做事方法都是已经定好的，而在现在这种情况下做你的第一个游戏无疑是困难很多。

这个忠告是早先我从一个非常睿智的人那里得到的，我当时没有听进去，真是后悔莫及。不要跟我犯一样的错误。

不要牺牲质量，但是也要认识到你的限制。

举个例子，你的要找一个办公场所但是预算不多，这并不等于说你就不能找到一个好地方。

看看周围，如果你感觉不对就直接说“不”。找找二手但是硬件质量好的地方，这样比那些既粗制滥造又贵上天的新地方划算多了。

好好利用你现有的资源，加些创意，但是千万不要将就。

需要有人管事，但是这并不意味着他们应该告诉每个人该做什么。

工作室的责任制度应该是有一条底线的。做游戏就够复杂的了，不该有人对每件事都指手画脚。

我不在乎你的团队是不是实行扁平化管理。你觉得什么东西符合你的公司文化，能够起作用，那就去做吧。但是责任应该是属于某一方的。

这对你来说可能有些棘手，但是对于工作室是有好处的。在第一天你就要定责任问题。据我所知，我们在这方面从来没有遇到过麻烦。

和你的朋友和家人保持密切联系

在娱乐产业中你想全都靠你自己打拼，这样太艰难了。

要保持健康、密切的人际关系网。留点时间给你的亲朋好友，你以后会需要他们的。

如果你真的很看重建立一个工作室这种事情，那么有些棘手的事真的会对你产生影响。

如果责任是属于你的，那你能跟同事，甚至是合伙创始人抱怨的东西也只有那么多。

关于这点，Ben Horowitz的《创业维艰》（The Hard Thing About Hard Things）写得更有深度，而且文笔更好，但是你的团队、合伙创始人能够理解的东西还是有限的。

有时候，最有用的建议是在和朋友喝酒的时候得到的。你必须要去试试（虽然经常会失败）成为团队的平衡点，所以好好利用你的人际网络去实现这个目标。

这也是我目前致力实现的目标之一，因为头几年的时候我经常埋头于工作中，经常都是长时间的。现在我们拥有了一支成熟的团队，我的关键作用就是保持平衡。

每天早上，我给工作室带来的外部正能量越多，我的工作质量就会越好，创意决策就会越优秀。

总结：人

如果非要说个在成立TreasureHunt过程中我最喜欢的事情，那就是我可以决定谁是一起工作的伙伴。

工作时的TreasureHunt

大多数时候我讲的话题都是关于人的，这并非无心的。要选择符合下面情况的人：

能够教你那些你不懂的知识，而且你也想要让他们亲自教的人。

愿意（礼貌地）挑战你的人。

上面这两种类型的反面分别就是自负的人和阿谀奉承/唯唯诺诺的人。

你的合伙创始人（如果有的话）、领导层、实习生、顾问、投资人、劳务人员、甚至是你连面都见不上的外包人员——都审查审查。

要确保他们都是聪明、有能力、正派的人。在其他方面虽然也会不尽人意，但是如果你有这些基础，那你就有能力去往目标所在之处。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Kyle Smith is co-founder and CEO of Berlin mobile games studio TreasureHunt.

An EA alumnus, Smith set up TreasureHunt in 2014. Here, he shares with PocketGamer.biz his insights and top tips on establishing a games studio.

TreasureHunt is currently hiring.

Starting a games studio is idiotic, brutal, stressful and you should totally do it.

TreasureHunt’s first year plus was not one of those darling, rocketing-to-success-on-the-back-of-a-unicorn stories. It was a really tough first year for us.

We‘re a mobile games studio based in Berlin and I have difficulty grasping where we’re at today compared to where we were two years ago. We have a world-class team and a game that I’m really proud of in soft launch called Pet Paradise.

Below is a collection of personal experiences from the perspective of the CEO and first co-founder of the studio on things I think I got right, did wrong – which we fixed later – and some things I’m working on now.

Why do you want to start a studio?

I don’t think “to make games” is a good answer. I think it’s a pretty bad one, actually. I think you’ll get bored.

It’s more motivating to try and fix something or do something that isn’t being done well, or at all.

Our mission has shifted a bit (and continues to) from when we started but we’ve always had one, and it’s focused on “fixing something”. You don’t have to take that approach, but that’s what we’re doing.

It’s nice to think that you’re making something that people have told you they want, but that they’re not getting right now.

You’re not saving the world but it’s a cool feeling. There’s some purpose there.

You’re going to have days that punch you square in the face and honestly, I don’t think “making games” would have been enough for me to keep going.

Get ready to throw out a lot

I had been in the industry for about 12 years when I decided to start the studio.

I was in QA on Need for Speed when I was 18 years old and have been a Lead Designer, Producer and Creative Director on triple-A console games, EA Sports franchises, new IP and free-to-play mobile.

Big deal. You basically have to throw out 80% of what you’ve done up to that point.

Accept that coming at the industry from this angle (as studio founder) is a very different bag no matter how much experience you have because so much of what you’ll be doing and how you make decisions will come from a pretty different place.

Talk to other people who have done it. Talk to a lot of people, in general.

Honestly, ask for an annoying amount of help. Just offer to return the favour one day.

Talking to people who have done this before should be one of your first focuses. Spam people who have started studios and ask them the same thing I’m writing about here.

The TreasureHunt team

What went wrong? What didn’t? Anyone else I should talk to? Keep building up your network so people can keep nudging you in the right direction.

Who are you in this mix?

Are you going to be the CEO? Is someone else going to be? Is there a CEO? More about management clarity later on, but what do you actually do at this place? And more importantly, what do you not do?

If you spread yourself too thin at the beginning and try to make every tiny decision yourself, you’ll go insane and do a bunch of things poorly as opposed to a few things well.

I like recruitment and other HR topics like culture. I also like product strategy and product development operations, so I do that stuff. Other people do other stuff.

Hire people better, smarter and more capable than you

Surround yourself early on with people who know what you don’t. Easily, the best decision I made early on was grabbing a marketing co-founder and business background co-founder since I had product/design covered.

We approach decisions and problems from three different corners but still have the same goal. You want people at your level that are going to challenge and teach you, not re-affirm what you already think you know.

Don’t reinvent and over-think everything

Don’t try and be so, so clever at the beginning. I bet you think you’re so, so clever.

If something works and a lot of studios are doing it, honestly, just start there and break the mould tomorrow. You are going to have to make a hilarious number of decisions every day, big and small.

My background is design, so I’m coached into trying to keep things simple.

Kyle Smith

Everyone uses Unity so it probably has a lot of community support and available developers attached to it; cool, let’s use that. Move on, next decision.

You’re going to screw up a ton. Embrace that inevitably and charge forward. Non-decisions can kill you.

Make decisions, JFK style

Addendum to my last point: If you’ve ever listened to the Cuban Missile crisis war room tapes (I mean, who hasn’t!?), JFK almost never speaks.

He mostly asks questions, sits there and absorbs the opinions of all the smart folks around him.

I don’t pretend that I actually do this all the time, and think I’m actually pretty bad at it. Which is why it’s a current area of focus for me.

When I do it, it works. I talk so much – it’s my worst habit. Have you seen how long this article is?

But when I successfully employ JFK-style sit-there-and-absorb-it-all decision-making from either my leads, engineers or whomever, results are generally positive. Don’t be like me, be like JFK!

Balance work and play (during work)

Minor point, but I think this is one thing that we’ve actually always done pretty decently. We work hard during the week (but don’t death march) and then crack a beer and have some snacks on Fridays.

Find that sweet spot of work and play in the studio based on the culture you’re trying to create. And don’t make it all about just “fun”.

Really talented people actually want to bust their butts and accomplish something, so making a fun house environment is going to drive away top talent.

Your studio is NOT your first game: Start small, ship quick, then build up.

The folks at Pixar have a great saying: “We don’t finish our movies, we just release them.”

Our first game didn’t go how we would have liked it to. Yours probably won’t, either. Have a back-up plan.

I was unrealistically ambitious for the scope of our first game with the resources we had available at the time.

You’re working on putting a team and processes together, that make the challenges of developing your first game even harder than you’ve faced in an organisation with a pre-existing architecture of people, tools and so on.

This is some advice I got early on from a pretty smart dude that I didn’t take and totally regret. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Don’t sacrifice quality but understand your constraints

For example, just because you have a small budget for an office space doesn’t mean you can’t find a nice place.

Look around and say “no” if it doesn’t feel right. Find deals on used, high-quality hardware that’s better and cheaper then crappy, more expensive new stuff.

Get creative with what resources you have available, but you shouldn’t accept less then the best for what’s within your grasp at the time.

Someone should be in charge but that doesn’t mean they tell everyone what to do

There should be a final line of accountability in the studio. Making games is complicated enough; who decides on what shouldn’t be.

I don’t care if your team is flat hierarchy or not. Whatever works for your culture, works for your culture. But the buck should stop somewhere.

It’s tougher for you but easier for the studio. Decide on that on day one. It was and (as far as I know) has never been an issue for us.

Keep your friends and family close

You’re trying to make it on your own in the entertainment industry. It’s going to get heavy.

Keep your personal network healthy and strong. Make time for your friends and family because you’re going to need them.

If you’re really serious about this starting a studio thing, then some of the tougher stuff is really going to affect you.

If the buck stops at you then there’s only so much you can vent about with your co-workers, even co-founders.

This point was written about in much better depth and grammar in Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things, but there’s only so much your team and co-founders will even understand.

Sometimes, your smartest choice for counsel is going to come from a friend over a beer. You have to try (and will often fail) to be a point of balance for the team, so make sure to mitigate that as much as you can with your personal network.

I would say this is the area I’m working on the most right now as I got pretty buried in the first few years, work hours-wise. Now that we have a really well-rounded team, it’s important for me to draw a balance.

The more outside positive energy I can bring into the studio every morning the better quality and more creative decisions I can make for everyone.

In summary: people

If I had to pick my favorite thing about starting TreasureHunt it would honestly be that I get to decide who I work with.

TreasureHunt at work

It’s not an accident that most of what I’ve talked about is in regard to people. Pick the people who will:

Teach you stuff you don’t know and that want to be taught themselves;

People who will (respectfully) challenge you.

The inverse of these two archetypes would be egos and suck-ups/yes-men, respectively.

Your co-founders (if any), leads, interns, advisors, investors, contract workers, outsource resources you’ll never, ever meet in person – vet all of them.

Make sure they’re smart, capable and decent people. The rest won’t fall in place, but if you have that foundation you’ll be able to go where you want to go.

（source：pocketgamer.biz ）