Centralized Content Creation Dan Forden Director of Central Content Groups Midway Games, Inc.

Centralized Content Creation Introduction. Brief History. Benefits/Challenges. Keys to Success. Case Study: NBA Ballers – The Chosen One. Future Vision. Agenda

Centralized Content Creation Who am I? What are the Central Content Groups? What is the philosophy? Introduction

Centralized Content Creation Who am I? –Dan Forden. Director of Central Content Groups. Midway Games. –Audio background: Pinball and Arcade Video. –Mortal Kombat. NFL Blitz. –Toasty! Introduction

Centralized Content Creation What are the Central Content Groups? –Concept. –Animation. –Audio. –Visual FX. –3D Art. –Cinematics. –User Interface. Introduction

Centralized Content Creation What is the philosophy? –Using common platform. Smaller core teams. –Maximize artists’ time and effectiveness using a task- based model. –Reduce crunch. –Concentration of expertise. –Motion Picture Industry Model. –Impractical to grow disciplines within each game team. Introduction

Centralized Content Creation Cinematics needs across sports titles. Animation: Need for over-the-top animation for sports games. UI: Common needs, senior expertise. Visual FX group formed in Seattle. Concept group - visual direction. Character and Environment Groups formed out of Cinematics. Brief History

Centralized Content Creation Efficiency. Identify sharing initiatives. Concentration of expertise. Artists work on a variety of titles. Benefits

Centralized Content Creation Reduce artist crunch and burn-out. Training. Variety of skills (content creation, outsourcing, project management). Unify creative efforts across the company. Benefits

Centralized Content Creation Human Nature: Game developers are passionate and territorial. Schedule slippage. All-hands directives. Staffing and headcount constraints. Challenges

Centralized Content Creation Last minute requests. Aligning available resources with amount of work. Poor communication. Conflict and Chaos. Challenges

Centralized Content Creation Communication, communication... Adopt service-oriented approach. Engagement documents. Try to work mostly on a task-based format. Team makeup – senior and junior talent. 6-month forecasts. Keys to Success

Centralized Content Creation Demo: Case Study – NBA Ballers: Chosen One

Centralized Content Creation First project to adopt Central-Groups- focused model. Very lean core game team: 1 art director, 1 environment art lead. Heavy reliance on outsourcing. Case Study – NBA Ballers: Chosen One

Centralized Content Creation Environment finishing and polishing in-engine. Cinematics pre-viz, half of rendered FMVs. Managed cinematics outsourcing. UI art and integration of screens. Audio. All animation. Character and C.A.P. pieces polish. Case Study – NBA Ballers: Chosen One

Centralized Content Creation Near Term: Finish games in progress. Roll onto upcoming titles. Hire artists with production savvy. Technical art group? Create a design group? Prototype new game concepts. Future Vision