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评估游戏工作室运营寿命的9大标准

发布时间:2012-04-25 17:07:41 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jon Jones

近期行业发生诸多裁员事件,于是我考虑如何评估工作室的寿命,这样你就能够预测是否会出现不良状况以及可能在何时出现。我通常使用各种不同的方法来评估工作室的寿命。本文主要适用于全职雇员,但是它对兼职合同工也有一定的帮助,可以用来判断他们的客户是否具有继续支付薪资的能力。我对股市还不甚了解,但是我会尽量多关注这方面的消息,因为我所处的THQ工作室近期也有裁员。认清工作室的状况对职业发展颇有益处。所以,以下是我认为可以用来评估工作室状况的规则和标准:

layoffs(from paralegalgateway.com)

layoffs(from paralegalgateway.com)

1、跟踪发行商的股票走势和事件。注册Google Finance,跟踪大型发行公司(游戏邦注:比如ATVI、EA、TTWO、THQI、ZNGA、UBSFF、KNM、NTDOY和CCOEF)。他们上个季度的表现如何?去年的表现如何?近5年的表现如何?在他们发布的季报中,实际情况和销售计划是否很贴近?公司随时间的发展趋势如何?公司历史上的“业务重组”和裁员次数和年份?

2、订阅新闻。GamaSutra Newswire和Gameindustry.biz会发布许多行业的最新消息。我在Google Reader中订阅了他们的RSS,所以我只需要打开Google Reader便可以查看所有消息。我偶尔也会查看GameTab,但是近期该站点存在链接错误。要关注传言,但是要保持质疑。

3、跟踪媒体发布的说辞。“这款游戏的销量将达到500万份!”—>“我们对这个产品有信心。”—>“产品销量低于我们的预期。”—>“销售情况不佳,为削减成本,我们决定对公司进行重组,将工作室的员工数量减少75%。”这是一系列的媒体报道说辞。工作室是否出现上述循环?是否存在可让你预测接下来动态的声明?

4、了解发行商的产品目录。了解他们发布年财报的日期,以及游戏的发布日期。是什么事情让他们无法按期发布?与该发行商存在合作,并且其组织情况良好的工作室有哪些?如果推出的产品不受粉丝喜欢,那么最有可能被首先关闭的工作室是哪个?

5、了解公司的产品记录。你公司上次发布产品是在什么时候?产品的销售情况如何?外界对它的总体评价如何?再上款的产品情况如何?他们是否存在未按期发布的记录?

6、了解你开发的游戏题材。你所制作的游戏是什么题材?这种题材是否能够有很好的销量?谁是该领域内的领头羊,你们是要直接与他们竞争,还是努力找到新的题材开发角度?是否觉得你们的游戏会受到玩家的喜爱?游戏的发布日是否与同题材游戏巨作的发布日相近?

7、了解工作室雇员的留存率。有多少人在公司任职数年时间?我在面试总是会提出“雇员在公司的平均工作时间是多长?”这个问题,而它往往让被采访者很尴尬。

8、了解谁在运营你的公司。公司的负责人是谁?他们曾经的职业生涯如何?他们运营公司后,是否让公司比之前显得更加成功?他们当公司负责人有多长时间?他们目前和以往在同一家公司的任职时间是多长?

9、了解你的团队历史。这个团队之前是否有过合作,包括整个团队和其中的某些小团体?查看公司之前的状况。在LinkedIn和Mobygames上查询以往所有的负责人,将之前和目前公司的状况作为评估未来的参考。

这是我所能想到的评估公司未来走向的所有基本方法。些是我认为对公司来说最重要的内容,我也会逐渐补充这个列表中的内容。(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

Predicting layoffs: How to check your studio’s health

Jon Jones

Hi all! With the spate of layoffs recently, I’ve been thinking of how to assess a studio’s health so you can predict whether or not doom will come, and when. These are various ways I usually assess a studio’s health, and it’s upon that basis that I make the stay\go\”sorry, I’m booked out for months and regrettably unavailable for contract work” decision. This article applies mainly to full-time employees, but it could also be useful for contractors wanting to know if their clients will continue to have money to pay them. I’m still new to the stock market side of things, but I’ve been trying my ass off to pay more attention to this ever since I worked at a THQ studio that was recently hit with massive layoffs. Following that rollercoaster has been instructive. So, these are my questions\critera in no particular order:

Track publisher stock movements and events. Sign up for Google Finance, add the big pubs (ATVI, EA, TTWO, THQI, ZNGA, UBSFF, KNM, NTDOY, CCOEF). How was their last quarter? Year? 5 years? How close are their sales projections to the actual reality when they release quarterly reports and how do they spin it? What obvious lies can you identify over time and what’s the common thread between them? What time of year have they historically performed “restructuring” and layoffs? (usually financial quarters\beginning of FY, but still.)

Subscribe to the news. GamaSutra Newswire and Gameindustry.biz to get a decent spread of up-to-date information on the industry. I subscribe to their RSS feeds in Google Reader so I only have to go one place to check. I also check GameTab occasionally, but I’ve had connectivity errors with the site recently. Beware of rumors and fearmongering, but still pay attention.

Track patterns in press releases. Are there patterns between sequences of press releases like “This game will sell 5m!” – > “We have faith in the product.” – > “The product’s sales fell short of our expectations.” – > “In order to cut costs after disappointing sales, we’re restructuring our organization and have reduced [studio]‘s headcount by 75.” How cyclical is this? Is there a predictable sequence of announcements that could give you an indication of what’s next?

Know your publisher’s product catalog. Find out their fiscal year dates, and other games’ ship dates. What has happened to them when they miss a date? What is the organizational health and reputation of other owned and non-owned companies under your publisher’s umbrella? If you had to guess and be realistic, if shit hits fan which studio *should* be shut down first?

Know your company’s track record. When did your company ship its last title? How did it sell? How did it rate on average? How about the one before that? Do they have a track record of missing ship dates?

Know your genre. What genre is your game? Does that genre tend to sell well? Who are the biggest players in that space and are you competing directly with them, or trying to find a new take or angle or iteration upon the genre? Do you think your game compares favorably? And is its release date close to the release of another juggernaught in the same genre?

Know your studio’s employee retention rate. How many people there tend to stay for the long haul versus staying only a year or less before moving on? “How long has the average employee at your company worked there?” is a question I have ALWAYS asked in an interview and it often makes people uncomfortable.

Know who runs your company. Who are the principals of the company and what’s their history? What’s their relative rate of success with regards to companies run\managed previously, success of previously shipped titles, how long they’ve lead\managed? How long have they worked at the same company both currently and in the past? Mainly, find out if they hop around or commit for the long haul.

Know your team’s history. Has this team worked together before, either as a whole or in small groups\cliques? Check previous companies. Look up all the leads up on LinkedIn and Mobygames and map out concurrent employment and previous working relationships for future reference. Write it down.

That’s all I’ve got off the top of my head for basic high-level stuff. I could dig deeper into tech and so on, but this is a lot of data already. Still, these are all considerations I consider important and I’ve always dug into companies in this way and add to the list of criteria over time. I’m curious what people think, and I welcome comments and feedback! If I’m completely full of crap, please let me know because I want this to be better.

I also have a blog where I discuss art outsourcing and production, individual artists’ professional development, discovery and testing of new development tools and general development philosophy. That blog can be found at www.jonjones.com. (Source: Gamasutra)


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