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I crunched in triple-A and as much as I hate to say it, I don't think having a seat at any table would be enough. What we need is a paradigm shift in how games are made...allowing tiny prototype teams to lock down a whole game's vision before committing giant teams/budgets/time. https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1338122303419375617
One of the most difficult things to reconcile in a game production is that we're effectively doing our R&D at the same time, in parallel, with creating shippable quality content. It's like having to invent the camera while making the film, even when using ready-made tech.
Ultimately, no one has truly figured it out. I've seen teams try to treat the project as 100% software, which didn't mesh well with art/design/creatives, and I've seen them treated effectively as story-driven film projects, which constantly stretched the tech and demanded R&D
I've not seen a production/management approach that worked without friction across all the disciplines that make up a game team, even when everyone had the best intentions. I do think that directors need to be less like auteurs and more like collaborative area experts.
I'd like to thank everyone for engaging, sharing, and listening. I'm just one developer and I by no means have all the answers; I just don't know that anyone really does with projects at these scales. I think we're all so far into it that we can't see the forest for the trees.
But there are so many social, political, and cultural aspects that affect these decisions and the business of making games. Having healthcare tied to your work, parental leave (if any) being tied to your work, the pressure and dread of avoiding a bad metacritic. It's so complex.
And I don't want to come off as saying "directors/auters are bad". Some of my most cherished gaming experiences were made using that very top-down, visionary approach. But games aren't sculpted out of clay in a studio, they're software built with all frustrations of an OS.
The shining example from recent history that I think needs to be celebrated more is that Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice was made by a team of 20, on a smaller budget, without a mocap studio. It was one of the most moving creative experiences of my life. What if that's the future?
