#playstation
Successful Video Game Development Teams Leverage an Extensive Range of Hard Skills and Soft Skills
15 July 2023
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Select here to download a PDF of this article.
Behind every great video game is a team of creative and technical wizards. Creators, storytellers, designers, artists, developers, testers, and others collaborate and leverage a diverse range of hard skills (also known as technical skills) and soft skills (also known as interpersonal skills) to craft an exceptional end-product.
Here's a select listing of hard skills for video game development teams:
And here's a select listing of soft skills for video game development teams:
Of the many skills, one — a soft skill — is paramount. Activision Blizzard and other premiere developers and publishers of entertainment experiences identify teamwork as critical for the successful development of video games.
Informed by Scott M. Graffius’s first-hand work with game development teams as well as research and coverage from Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, International Game Developers Association, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and others, Graffius delivers a deep-dive on the essential teamwork skill based on the science of high-performing teams to audiences at game development conferences and other events. The information can provide attendees, their teams, and their organization with a competitive advantage!
Invited by conferences, businesses, professional organizations, governments, and universities, Graffius delivers talks and workshops on Agile, project management, and technology leadership — inclusive of AI, GameDev, TeamDev, and more. To date, he's delivered 87 sessions across 25 countries. Visit here for details on his upcoming and prior sessions.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, July 15). Successful Video Game Development Teams Leverage an Extensive Range of Hard Skills and Soft Skills. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/gamedev.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31205.17124.
Permission Request Information
To request permission to use material from this article, email Scott M. Graffius.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology (including AI, GameDev, and more) leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/gamedev7
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Select here to download a PDF of this article.
Behind every great video game is a team of creative and technical wizards. Creators, storytellers, designers, artists, developers, testers, and others collaborate and leverage a diverse range of hard skills (also known as technical skills) and soft skills (also known as interpersonal skills) to craft an exceptional end-product.
Here's a select listing of hard skills for video game development teams:
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
- Animation (Maya, Blender, etc.)
- Art (Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, etc.)
- Audio editing (Pro Tools, Logic Pro, etc.)
- Augmented Reality (AR) development
- Character and asset rigging
- Character design
- Cross-platform compatibility and porting
- Cross-platform development
- Data structures and algorithms
- Database management
- Environment design
- Game analytics and data-driven design
- Game design
- Game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine, etc.)
- Game optimization
- Game physics
- Game scripting languages (Blueprint in Unreal Engine, Python in Unity, etc.)
- Integrated development environment (IDE) (Rider, PyCharm, etc.)
- Level design (Unity, Unreal Engine, etc.)
- Lighting and shading
- Localization and internationalization
- Monetization strategies
- Motion capture
- Multi-threading and parallel computing
- Music composition
- Network programming
- Optimization for different platforms (consoles, PCs, mobile, AR, VR, smart TVs, streaming devices)
- Player feedback management
- Procedural content generation
- Programming (C++, C#, Java, Python, etc.)
- Prop design
- Prototyping
- Quality assurance (QA) testing
- Rendering techniques
- Rigging and animation systems
- Scripting (Lua, JavaScript, etc.)
- Shader programming
- Software engineering
- Sound design
- Storyboarding
- Texture mapping and material creation
- User interface (UI)
- User experience (UX)
- Version control (Git, etc.)
- Visual effects (VFX)
- Virtual reality (VR)
- Web development for online games
- and more
And here's a select listing of soft skills for video game development teams:
- Adaptability
- Agility
- Analytical thinking
- Assertiveness
- Business etiquette
- Coaching
- Collaboration
- Communication (verbally and in writing)
- Composure
- Conflict management
- Constructive criticism
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Cultural awareness and sensitivity
- Customer service
- Decision making
- Delegation
- Dependability
- Diplomacy
- Emotional intelligence
- Empathy
- Ethical decision making
- Feedback (receiving and incorporating feedback to enhance professional growth)
- Flexibility
- Humility
- Initiative
- Integrity
- Interpersonal skills
- Interviewing skills
- Judgment
- Leadership
- Logical reasoning
- Mentoring
- Motivation
- Negotiation
- Networking (building connections and leveraging relationships for mutual benefit)
- Nonverbal communication
- Open-mindedness
- Optimism
- Organizational skills
- Patience
- Persistence
- Persuasion
- Positivity
- Presentation skills
- Problem-solving
- Professionalism
- Public speaking
- Resilience (bouncing back from setbacks and coping with adversity)
- Responsibility
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Self-motivation
- Service orientation
- Stress management (coping with pressure and maintaining emotional well-being)
- Systems thinking
- Team development
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Training
- Trustworthiness (being reliable and worthy of others’ confidence)
- Visualization
- and more
Of the many skills, one — a soft skill — is paramount. Activision Blizzard and other premiere developers and publishers of entertainment experiences identify teamwork as critical for the successful development of video games.
Informed by Scott M. Graffius’s first-hand work with game development teams as well as research and coverage from Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, International Game Developers Association, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and others, Graffius delivers a deep-dive on the essential teamwork skill based on the science of high-performing teams to audiences at game development conferences and other events. The information can provide attendees, their teams, and their organization with a competitive advantage!
Invited by conferences, businesses, professional organizations, governments, and universities, Graffius delivers talks and workshops on Agile, project management, and technology leadership — inclusive of AI, GameDev, TeamDev, and more. To date, he's delivered 87 sessions across 25 countries. Visit here for details on his upcoming and prior sessions.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, July 15). Successful Video Game Development Teams Leverage an Extensive Range of Hard Skills and Soft Skills. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/gamedev.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31205.17124.
Permission Request Information
To request permission to use material from this article, email Scott M. Graffius.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology (including AI, GameDev, and more) leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/gamedev7
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Scott M. Graffius Speaking at Helsinki, Finland W Love Games 2023 Video Game Development Conference
30 September 2023
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius has delivered 87 talks and workshops at conferences and other events across 25 countries. His newest engagement will be at the W Love Games 2023 Conference in Helsinki, where he'll present “The Science of High-Performance Game Development Teams.”
Graffius’ talk is informed by his first-hand work with video game development teams as well as research and coverage from Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, International Game Developers Association, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and others. The information can provide attendees, their teams, and their organizations with a competitive advantage!
About the W Love Games 2023 International Game Development Conference
W Love Games 2023 includes:
💜 30+ speakers
🧡 6 workshops
💛 Showroom
💚 IGDA Finland Mentor Cafe
💙 Networking for all
The conference will run from October 12-13, 2023 at the Helsinki Public Library Oodi (in Finnish: Helsingin Keskustakirjasto Oodi) at Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.
Secure your tickets for the conference at: https://www.wlovegames.org.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology (including AI, GameDev, and more) leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/wlg-23
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius has delivered 87 talks and workshops at conferences and other events across 25 countries. His newest engagement will be at the W Love Games 2023 Conference in Helsinki, where he'll present “The Science of High-Performance Game Development Teams.”
Graffius’ talk is informed by his first-hand work with video game development teams as well as research and coverage from Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, International Game Developers Association, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and others. The information can provide attendees, their teams, and their organizations with a competitive advantage!
About the W Love Games 2023 International Game Development Conference
W Love Games 2023 includes:
💜 30+ speakers
🧡 6 workshops
💛 Showroom
💚 IGDA Finland Mentor Cafe
💙 Networking for all
The conference will run from October 12-13, 2023 at the Helsinki Public Library Oodi (in Finnish: Helsingin Keskustakirjasto Oodi) at Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.
Secure your tickets for the conference at: https://www.wlovegames.org.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology (including AI, GameDev, and more) leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/wlg-23
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.