Game director jobs

A game director is responsible for what the game is. They decide what to make and keep making the calls that keep the whole team heading the same way.

• Setting the concept and direction Defines the core fun of the game and uses it as the yardstick for design decisions
• Final say on design Reviews the specs planners write and approves, revises or rejects them
• Quality checks Plays builds on real hardware, spots problems with feel and balance, and directs the fixes
• Coordinating disciplines Brings together the work of planners, engineers, artists and sound
• Schedule and priorities Works with the producer to decide what goes in and what gets cut to hit the deadline

At some companies the director writes specs themselves; at others they focus on making decisions. Check the job description on each listing to see how the role is scoped.

• Hands-on development experience Usually as a planner, though some directors come from engineering or art
• Leadership experience Leading a team. Experience as a lead planner or as the owner of a feature counts
• Shipping experience Seeing a title through to release. Finishing matters more than scale
• Explaining your decisions Whether you can explain why a design is the way it is in a way the team will accept

Directors are almost never hired straight in without experience. The realistic path is to join as a planner, become a lead, and then move up to director.

If you already work in the industry, owning a feature or an event at your current job is the strongest thing you can bring to a director application. In your portfolio, be specific about what you were responsible for and the decisions you made. We cover how to write it in What do game companies really want in a portfolio? (in Japanese).

The usual route is from game planner to lead planner to director. From there, some move on to become a game producer overseeing several titles or a whole business, while others keep directing one title after another.