Producers: Essential Glue for any Project or Useless Bags of Meat?

The job title “producer” has no consistent meaning in video game development. Ask anyone who works in the industry and you can be sure they’ll have their own unique idea of what a producer is and what he or she does. To some, “producer” is a title worthy of great respect and admiration. To others, “producer” is a four-letter word.

The reality is that production responsibilities vary at every game development studio and at every game publisher. Producer duties can range from low-level gopher and note-taker to spreadsheet-wielding taskmaster to high-powered battlefield commander.

Producers are truly the force multipliers of game development: a bad one can weigh down even the most stalwart of teams, and a good one can help a mediocre team raise its game. But so much of a producer’s potential is tied to underlying factors like the team dynamic, past history, studio management—and of course, the individual leads and managers at a company. Even the most elite producer is likely to fail if these critical elements aren’t aligned.

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