Game Production Management Champlain College

Overview

Do you have a head for business and a heart for video games? The game industry needs individuals with an aptitude for communication and business and passion for managing a creative game development team to produce cutting-edge video games.

You'll gain insight into the ways these creative people develop ideas for games and learn to effectively bring their technical skills together in production teams that bring games to life.

You'll also evaluate the latest trends in game technology, from emerging genres to new platforms. The Game Production Management major from Champlain College will empower you to become a leader in the gaming industry, be it at a small indie firm or with a large-scale company. Over your four years, you'll build an impressive portfolio of collaborative work and create a résumé that showcases your project management, team leadership and business skills. By graduation, you will be a smart strategist who is ready to thrive in the dynamic video game industry, which according to Newzoo's Global Games Market Report, generated more than $30 billion in revenue in the United States and more than $120 billion in revenue across the globe in 2017. 

What are some the essential skills needed by Game Producers you'll learn at Champlain?

Project management: As a producer, you are responsible for designing schedules, keeping your team on track and ensuring deadlines are met.

Quick on your feet: You must be able to adapt and solve problems that arise quickly, think ahead to anticipate sticky points and have a backup plan (or two) of action if something gets derailed.

Interpersonal communication: Your listening skills come into play as you facilitate communication in your team, de-escalate conflicts, build bridges and figure out how to help your team do their best work together.

Collaboration: Managing game production teams requires a strong ability to collaborate within and across teams to make sure everyone has what they need to get their work accomplished well and on time.

Leadership: You manage and maintain complete production pipelines for your team, so it's imperative to also understand the logistics of the project from all sides, be comfortable giving direction and also be ready to fill in where needed.

Collaborative Game Studio

Game Studio LogoOver your four years at Champlain, you play an important role in Champlain's Game Studio working with your counterparts in the Game Art & Animation, Game Design and Game Programming majors to build games from start to finish. The Game Studio replicates a professional game development setting to give you a firsthand experience in creative teams developing individual game assets and coordinating them into a functional product.

In Your Senior Year

You will have the opportunity to present a game you create with your Game Studio team to recruiters from all over the East and Canada, including Activision/Vicarious Visions, Behaviour, Hidden Monster Games, Otherside Entertainment, Sony Bend, Trivium Interactive, Ubisoft and Velan.

In fact, you'll have opportunities throughout the program to make crucial professional connections by networking with guest speakers, recruiters and Game alumni that often lead to jobs after graduation. 

Game Developers Conference (GDC)

Each March, Champlain College has a presence at the world's largest game developers conference in San Francisco, California. Game Studio faculty, students, alumni and the Game Studio Career Coach attend the conference for professional development and networking. The Career Coach facilitates exclusive networking meetings for Champlain students with top recruiters from companies such as Ubisoft, ArenaNet, Crystal Dynamics, Activision, Survios, Insomniac, Rockstar, and Sony. These networking meetings lead to important connections for students. Champlain College also hosts a reception at GDC where a large contingent of Game Studio alumni working in San Francisco and recruiters attend to mingle and network with the students. Learn more at gdconf.com.

Career Prospects

Game Production Management students have gained valuable experience through internships at companies which include testing, startups, indies, social and educational games, game incubators, content agencies and game developers. Graduates have gone on to work in quality assurance positions at companies such as Activision Raven, GSN Games, Vicarious Visions and other graduates are also working in associate producer roles at Epic Games, Trivium Interactive, Sony, Game Theory, Sledgehammer Games and Vicarious Visions, to name a few.

Other positions Game Production Management students are prepared for include SCRUM Master, Quality Assurance (QA) Tester or a strong Project Manager in any business setting.