Ubisoft's Fabrice Pierre-Elien talks to Gamasutra about breaking into the game industry.

Everyone I know wants to be in the gaming industry. That's because I hang out with gamers. Apparently that is the same reason we can't be a focus group for developing our own games according to Fabrice Pierre-Elien of Ubisoft. In an interview with Gamastutra, Fabrice explained:

"You are not the target of your own game. You must not make the games for you. Most of all, you must not test your ideas with you best friends. More likely, they’ll have the same opinion as you have. At the end of the day, the thing you have to assume is your tastes and the general public are different."

The interview provides one insider's view on the decision process to determine which games should get the green light. In the interview, Fabrice discusses how game developers help and hurt their chances while in the interviewing process.

“You are selling yourself at the same time you’re selling your games," he explained, "so you have to be very aware of what you do well."

Game developers marketing a game idea is very similar to a job interview, the publishers looking to hire a developer need to feel comfortable with the whole development team package. The whole package includes the idea behind the game, the technology pushing the game and the passion of the development team. Like three legs of a stool, if any one of those three areas towers above the other, or one is too weak, the whole structure falls apart. The bottom line though is that the game has to be fun. Story lines can be improved, technology can be purchased, but when push comes to shove, the gameplay needs to shine:

“Focus on the gameplay first.”

Read Fabrice's remarks on Gamasutra.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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