What is a Game Producer
I had this question put to me the other day, and it’s one I get all the time: “What exactly is a Game Producer”? Are they a designer? Are they a Project Manager? Are they a Manager? In a team with so many specialists and technical skills all working in tandem, what's so special about the Game Producer? Why is it so hard to have a consistent definition?
Game Producers are responsible for shipping and maintaining the game.
That's the definition I've settled on after seeing so many different interpretations across different studios. Producers can define goals, similar to a designer. Producers can track progress to ensure plans are hit like a project manager. Or Producers can act as facilitators to resolve any roadblocks the team encounters.
Game Producers as Project Managers
Since Producers are in a stakeholder role and are up to date on the status of various stages of game production, they are a natural fit to be project managers. Some companies will use the term Producer and Project Manager interchangeably. Video games tend to have more of an iteration phase than other software development teams, as the need for the game to be fun is more challenging to plan for ahead of time. So a traditional software project manager can focus on more precise requirements. In contrast, game project managers often need to make quality decisions about the game and what is sufficient to launch.
Since the responsibility of Game Producers is to ship the game as best as possible, it often falls to them to decide which bugs must be fixed and what features need to be delayed or cut. Often a Producer will partner with a Project Manager. In this case, the Project Manager handles the capacity and task tracking, and the Producer focuses on determining the current quality level and product requirements.
Game Producers as Facilitators
Game Producers are also the oil that keeps various departments working together. If the software engineers are blocked by missing documentation or a decision needs to be made, a Producer will track down the answer.
Game Producers often are the point of contact for external teams, licensors, or stakeholders.
Game Producers as Designers
This is becoming less common over time, but originally Game Producers as Designers come from Electronic Arts.
Electronic Arts, one of the largest game studios, was very adept at releasing annualized titles. This usually meant that their sports titles, such as FIFA or NHL. These would launch every year with a limited set of new features. They would instead focus on updating graphics, maintaining license properties like rosters and intellectual property, and tuning old content. Game Producers on an EA title would have some design responsibilities but ultimately be responsible for ensuring their game features were moving through the production process smoothly to launch at sufficient quality.
Game Producers and Game Designers have less overlap in recent times, however, and they are treated as having different roles. For example, when I worked at Electronic Arts on FIFA Mobile, my job title was Associate Producer. My job responsibilities were, however, what a Senior Game Designer would be at other studios.
Recap
Game Producers come in many different forms. They are a key decision maker and problem solver on the team, responsible for getting the project across the finish line and stepping up to fill any gaps in the team.
