What I Learned While Working in Gaming

Before joining nTrust as Senior Director of Product, I designed and produced AAA titles at Electronic Arts. Despite the differences between a FinTech startup and a legacy gaming institution, the skills I picked up at EA serve me well everyday. I learned how to navigate hard deadlines, create good work within an established process, and pay my dues inside a huge company. 

Deadlines are deadlines

Startups are typically fast-paced and agile. Change happens quickly – and if it doesn't, deadlines can be adjusted as necessary.

Not the case in a legacy organization. Deadlines are firm. You don’t have the option of asking for an extension, even if you realize that you may not make it in early stages of development. Instead you work together, you stay late, and you make it happen.

Those hard timelines teach you to be responsible for your work. They also build solidarity – you can look around and see entire teams pulling all-nighters to get the job done.

Plus, the sense of accomplishment when we meet our deadline makes it all worth it. You see the success of the finished product and hear how excited customers are. It’s emotional and rewarding.

Work within the process

Building a product is complex and stressful for everyone, from designers to developers. There are hundreds of parties involved in each decision. That’s why the bureaucratic process still exists to some extent.

It’s difficult to work within the process. Sometimes you’re not in the room when executives make decisions, or you’re one of forty in a meeting and your comments are weighted a lot less. Larger teams mean there are a lot of opinions, and people with veto power. Even if you’re the expert, you rarely have final say.

In a startup, your words carry more weight. Still, working within that process taught me about adaptation and compromise. I learned how to see things from a different point of view, how to look at design from the executive’s perspective and think the way they do. 

It also taught me to listen before I spoke. Every time I had a chance to put an opinion forward, I wanted it to be worthwhile. I use those skills in every meeting I take part in. 

Recognize the legacy and pay your dues

Long nights and stressful deadlines aren’t ideal. Still, working in the trenches and paying dues was an important part of my career. 

At the end of the day, I was working for a company recognized by everyone who plays video games. Loyal customers are detailed critics – they pore over every game, pick it apart, and play it religiously. Knowing the long nights and hard work turned into a memorable user experience is a fantastic feeling.

You also learn to feel invested in the company you work for. I was lucky to be working on games that people would wait months for, and I held myself to a higher standard because of it. I was proud to help produce a game those users enjoy.

That’s still true today. Now, I take the lessons I learned from my role at EA and apply them to nTrust. I design with different perspectives in mind, to produce an experience that makes life easier. Learning to stay committed to the process, and the product, comes from my background in a legacy company.