Agenda
Vision Is Only Half the Job: People, Ego, and the Reality of Creative Leadership
Kieran Crimmins (Creative Director, Fuse Games)
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Track:
Production & Team Leadership, Design
Audience Level:
All
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Session Description
There is a common myth that creative direction means you get to make the exact game you've always personally wanted. The reality is much more complicated, constrained, more human, and often far less glamorous. In this talk Fuse Games Creative Director Kieran Crimmins examines what the role of a Creative Director actually demands on a project like Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
Drawing on the everyday work of guiding a team working on a major IP, he explores how vision is both limited and shaped by many factors: what the team can realistically make, the personalities in the room, the needs of production partners, and financial reality. The session will explore examples where a 'pure' idea had to be adapted, where egos (including the Creative Director's own) had to be managed, and why the job is much more about people management, constraint navigation, and difficult judgment calls.
Attendees will leave with less romanticised, but much clearer model of creative leadership: one that protects the player experience that matters most and accepts that the final product will never be exactly the one you first imagined. Creative Direction is not the absence of constraints, but rather the discipline of being able to navigate them.
There is a common myth that creative direction means you get to make the exact game you've always personally wanted. The reality is much more complicated, constrained, more human, and often far less glamorous. In this talk Fuse Games Creative Director Kieran Crimmins examines what the role of a Creative Director actually demands on a project like Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
Drawing on the everyday work of guiding a team working on a major IP, he explores how vision is both limited and shaped by many factors: what the team can realistically make, the personalities in the room, the needs of production partners, and financial reality. The session will explore examples where a 'pure' idea had to be adapted, where egos (including the Creative Director's own) had to be managed, and why the job is much more about people management, constraint navigation, and difficult judgment calls.
Attendees will leave with less romanticised, but much clearer model of creative leadership: one that protects the player experience that matters most and accepts that the final product will never be exactly the one you first imagined. Creative Direction is not the absence of constraints, but rather the discipline of being able to navigate them.
Takeaway
Attendee Takeaway
Attendees will learn how to protect real creative direction even under pressure, and how to realistically ship their strongest product (not just the idealised version they initially had). They will leave with practical ways to navigate people, egos, & constraints while holding onto the core player experience that matters.
Attendees will learn how to protect real creative direction even under pressure, and how to realistically ship their strongest product (not just the idealised version they initially had). They will leave with practical ways to navigate people, egos, & constraints while holding onto the core player experience that matters.
Intended Audience
Intended Audience
This session is for creative directors, leads, and other senior staff – as well as others who aspire to leadership roles one day. No specific prerequisites are required other than experience making games as part of a team.
This session is for creative directors, leads, and other senior staff – as well as others who aspire to leadership roles one day. No specific prerequisites are required other than experience making games as part of a team.