Managing a game studio is never easy, regardless of your team's talent or experience. As Sproing CEO Harald Riegler puts it, leading a group of passionate and diverse developers can sometimes feel like herding cats -- but it doesn't have to be that way.
Riegler, whose credits include games like Silent Hunter Online and Skyrama, has been overseeing dev teams for more than a decade, and at this year's GDC Europe, he explained that the best way to lead a company is to establish a strong sense of studio culture.
Creating that culture takes time, patience, and a lot of effort, but Riegler has found when developers work under a set of unified, guiding principles, they tend to work better as a group, and are happier doing so.
"Why do we need a good company culture?... Every studio has some kind of culture, whether its a good one or bad one, and that culture will largely decide the success of a studio or a team," he said.
Throughout his GDC Europe presentation, Riegler discussed his own management style, and offered a number of tips to help studios establish a healthier and more productive development environment. You can check out his advice for yourself by watching the full video of his talk, courtesy of the GDC Vault.
Simply click the Play button above to start the video.
About the GDC Vault
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent GDC events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers. Those who purchased All Access passes to events like GDC and GDC Europe already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription Beta via a GDC Vault inquiry form.
Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available via an online demonstration, and interested parties can send an email to Gillian Crowley. In addition, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault admins.
Be sure to keep an eye on GDC Vault for even more new content, as GDC organizers will also archive videos, audio, and slides from upcoming 2012 events like GDC Online and GDC China. To stay abreast of all the latest updates to GDC Vault, be sure to check out the news feed on the official GDC website, or subscribe to updates via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.
I missed GDC12, I'm glad I stumbled upon this talk.
I am going through a rough time managing my studio, this helps! :D