GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Translating Between Business and Creativity as a Games Producer
John Lau (Lead Producer, ustwo games)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Production & Team Leadership
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Intermediate
A game producer's role is an ill-defined thing: Is it operational? Is it commercial? Is it creative? Is it organizational? Is it facilitation? Is it all of the above?
Drawing on a 17-year career ranging from work-for-hire production, game design and indie games, Ustwo games Lead Producer John Lau sketches out a way of understanding the producer's role not just as an organizer, but as a translator between two uneasy allies: the creativity of a game team, and the logistical realities of the businesses that employ them.
Talking through some hypothetical negotiations, he will finish by suggesting ways to set up key project tools so that a producer is better equipped to navigate those conversations.
Takeaway
Commercial game development balances both a business mindset and a creative mindset. A business mindset wants things to be quantifiable and predictable, which is the opposite of what your team needs to be creative. You can better resolve conflicts between the two by reframing them as mismatches of language and priorities.
Intended Audience
Producers in teams of 5 to 25 in commercial game studios who are looking for a way to situate their role in the larger context of the business, and who want to better navigate some of the inevitable conflicts that they encounter in the role.
