In this article, we explore 177 profiles of German game producers and reveal what they have in common relating to their careers.
How Was The Research Conducted?
We took the first 200 profiles that came up when searching ‘German game producers’ on LinkedIn and removed the irrelevant ones from the list such as those who were no longer working in German companies, those who were producers for a very short time, and so on.
We studied these profiles in terms of the following parameters: frequency of job changes, number of years in their current job, education, language skills, employers, and the city where they are located. We also looked at the most frequent career path. We are ready to share all the findings right now!
This research was conducted by the editors of Boost InGame Job.
Geography
According to this research, most game producers in Germany live and work in Berlin. They make up almost 45% of the total number of profiles studied.
Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main are next in popularity, with approximately 9% of the producers in the study living and working in these cities.
Cologne and Munich are also prominent in the German gaming industry, with 8% and 6,8%, respectively.
The Most Common Companies
The wide variety of gaming companies in Germany was the reason that within our small sample (remember: only 177 profiles), there was almost no overlap of people working for the same employer. Following are the companies we saw in the profiles of game producers more than three times: Wooga, SOFTGAMES, KING, Assemble Entertainment, HandyGames, realworld one, Stratosphere Games GmbH, Ubisoft, and YAGER.
Education and Language Skills
German game producers are generally pretty educated guys. Many have master’s and bachelor’s degrees. 92 people in our sample (more than half) received specialized training related to video games.
Also, almost half of the producers in our sample are bilingual or trilingual with 10 people speaking four languages.
In my experience, producers often have many different backgrounds and educational levels. As a senior producer nowadays, I rarely look for education when establishing my production team. It’s secondary to me, and I mainly focus on soft skills with potential hires. The ins and outs of the industry, as well as PM-methodologies for example, can always be learned – especially if you bring the right set of base skills with you. I look for fast learners, high passion, and most importantly, people that understand people – as your hard skills are worth nothing if they cannot be applied to the resources you have available.
What About Job Permanence?
According to our research, most producers have changed jobs six or more times. At the same time, almost 35% have been working at their current place for more than 5 years. Another large category of people(slightly over 35%) have been working in their current job for less than a year.
The job of a producer is multi-facetted and has many potential entry points. Game producers often have a background in software or game design. Initially, I stepped into the industry as a 2D concept artist and illustrator. During my 4 years of freelancing and diving deeper into networking, management, and negotiation, I realized that I had strengths I could use more effectively in a different role. That was when I started shifting my focus and found my entry point when I began to manage other freelance artists. Eventually, I joined a small art studio in Berlin as a producer to be able to play with resources on a bigger scale. Having built production pipelines and a team from scratch, I’m now at a point in my journey where I focus on mentoring and guiding others new to the field. Personally, I don’t commit to a certain vision for my future – I don’t know what will come next. I have committed to life-long learning, which is a must as a producer and leader in my opinion, and that broadens my horizons every single day.
What Do Producers Become When They Grow Up?
Some producers switch to become game designers, and some open their own businesses or become top managers.
How Do Producers Present Themselves on LinkedIn? And Who Are They Anyway?
Only 50 people from our sample have completed the ‘About’ field. Often, professionals describe their path in game development, their skills, the tools they use, and the game genres in which they have experience (very useful information for recruiters!). Many mention the names of projects/games they have worked on. Some are limited to a short label phrase about the magic of creating games. And almost everyone writes about the passion with which they choose to make games everyday.
Let’s see how the most memorable ones are written.
“German efficiency combined with the motivational skills of a soccer mom and the creative adaptability that you need to survive the internet. Bachelor in Computing Science, but a Master at Gaming. Nothing is more motivating to me than working with like-minded, passionate people on something that millions, including ourselves, enjoy later!”
“Maker of historical digital games; poetic realist. Competencies: game production, project management, game design, game development, media studies, historical research”.
“a Game Producer to me:
– is a Team facilitator
– is a pro-active problem identifier
– is an optimizer of solution
– and decision-making processes
– is able to change perspective to understand the view of every participant
– finds a way of productive communication with everybody
– unifies the team behind their goals and helps the team to achieve them together”.
“The role of a game producer is very versatile – It’s a role that is different at every studio, regardless of its location. Producers are team players, problem solvers, leaders, communicators and much more. The responsibilities are broad but to put it simple, we make sure the process and progress of the project’s design, development and delivery/release align in terms of scope, budget and timeline while also ensuring the entire team has everything they need to work collaboratively. Every project, every team and every studio no matter the location has own specific needs. A Producer can’t just follow one framework that solves it all. And that is exactly what makes this line of work so exciting and interesting to me personally, especially when you get the chance to work with talent all around the globe”.
Thank Jil Lulu Perrevoort for her helpful comments on this article.
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