I recently began my MBA at Chapman, with the hopes of increasing my knowledge base and understanding on how a games studio operates as a business.

No, I do not intend to leave my dream career as a producer. That is still very much my main ambition.

I outlined in my post about project management theory that my view of a successful producer is one who who can fully grasp their responsibility in bridging the gap between the creative team and the studio as a business. I hope to be able to gain a full appreciation towards the need to produce work efficiently in order to cut costs that may impact budget on game projects. The more budget is sacrificed, the more we hinder our opportunity towards creativity and innovation.

Innovation is so important to me – I was encouraged to embrace the different, the weird, and the impossible during my time at Disney. Only with the most impossible ideas can we hope to progress the concept of games into exciting boundaries, and develop our understanding of game design and production. Achieving the impossible can only happen with a solid foundation. That is, game studios need to be well-equipped to support the expensive ventures that innovation and experimentation bring. Thus, understanding games as a business is essential.

Now you might say “Hey Estelle, you need to spend money to create games that are different, not cut costs! You are saying contradicting statements here.”

Indeed you are right, but that is why I took on an MBA. Hopefully at the end of this road I can emerge a little more wiser, with a brand new perspective on creating the perfect business model that allows game studios to create high-budget projects at low risk.

I don’t just want to make games, I want to contribute to the future of games. I want to be a leader.

Games has such potential in influencing others towards a particular ideal; it is the medium of our age, far beyond music and film. It is interactive. It includes the user.

We are only beginning to understand the importance games have to society, and when it finally propels into technologies we can only dream, I want to have my own company set up and ready.

One day 😉