What is your role at Big Viking Games, and how long have you been with the company?

James: I’ve been with Big Viking Games for over two years as a Product Marketing Manager for two of our titles YoWorld and Fish World.

What does a Product Marketing Manager do at a games company?

James: I work with the rest of the team to promote new features, events, and content that gets released into the game. We also work on the monetization aspects of our games, how to get new and lapsed players playing, and we analyze the team’s decisions to see what worked and what could be improved next time. It’s not all business though. We also do loads of fun things like put together email newsletters for our players, make trailers for exciting new features, produce fun social media content on Facebook, and conduct player feedback surveys which help us determine what our players like as well as what they want to see next.

What does an average day look like for you as a Product Marketing Manager?

James: The first thing I do is look at revenues from the previous day. I look at what went well and what could be improved. The rest of my day is dedicated to a variety of things such as planning for future releases and marketing campaigns, implementing these plans, or doing analysis on past marketing efforts.

“As soon as we started adding incentives like free items for returning, the click-through rates on the ads doubled.”

How did you become a Product Marketing Manager?

James: I went to university for business specializing in marketing. After completing the program, I started out my career as a Product Marketing Analyst at another games company called Magmic. There, I worked on mobile games like New York Times Crossword, Rubik’s Cube, Scattergories, and Apples to Apples. After a year or so I owned the marketing strategy for all of Magmic’s Mattel branded mobile games as their Product Marketing Manager.

How has your career progressed at Big Viking Games?

James: I started at Big Viking Games as a (lonely) team of one. Over time and as responsibilities increased, I was able to grow the team and we have since added six fantastic members across the Marketing and Content Marketing Teams.

What is something you enjoy as a part of your role at BVG?

James: I really enjoy the strategic elements, like coming up with new ideas for our promotions, executing them, and looking at how they performed. One fun example is that we were looking for ways to improve our ads that target people who have stopped playing our games. As soon as we started adding incentives like free items for returning, the click-through rates on the ads doubled.

What’s the best thing about working on Worlds products?

James: Definitely the people I get to work with; the team is so talented and energetic. Also, of course the fans who are so passionate about our games. It really makes you feel like you’re part of something amazing, that a lot of people genuinely care about.

What’s something you learned from working on Worlds products?

James: I’ve learned a lot about working on a live service game. That’s the main difference between our games and what I worked on in the past. We release new content every single day, so I’ve learned to be more agile in execution and also to be more thick-skinned – not all players will embrace everything we do.

What has been your favourite project so far?

James: Hands-down the YoWorld Piggy Bank promotional video. We basically bought a bunch of piggy banks and destroyed them in slow motion. We had a ton of fun, the fans loved it, and we got over 15,000 views on Facebook. I’m really proud of it.

“… Some of our players who met in the game are now married in real life.”

What does it take to be successful in Product Marketing?

James: I think it takes someone who is strategic, creative, and able to multitask. They should be willing to try new things and be reflective enough to learn from their mistakes. Knowing and understanding key metrics is very important as well as understanding as much as you can about the players and products.

What made you decide to apply to Big Viking Games?

James: It was a very unique opportunity as Big Viking Games had never before had an actual marketing team. I got to start from scratch and make some big, impactful changes. Rewarded video ads were something we had only scratched the surface of and with some key changes it started adding 5% to annual revenue. Email newsletters were alo something that we had to implement from scratch, and in a year we went from 0 to over 70,000 subscribers. Free lunches and the awesome people were also big incentives.

“… We are able to give our players a platform to express themselves creatively and socially.”

What do you find most challenging about your role at Big Viking Games? What do you find the most rewarding?

James: It’s most challenging trying our best to make sure all of the fans are happy. Since they’re so passionate, devoted, and diverse, making sure they all enjoy what we offer is quite challenging. We’re constantly consulting our internal community team, doing surveys, and thinking critically about the impact of our decisions on our fans. However, it is extremely rewarding to see positive impacts in general when we try new things.

Now that you’re in this industry, and you spend your days working with games and its fan base, has your opinion shifted about games and their value in people’s lives?

James: Yes, in games like YoWorld and Fish World, there is such as sense of community that offers players not only a chance to have fun but also to make new friends and create real, long-lasting relationships. For example, some of our players who met in the game are now married in real life.

The creativity of our players is also mind-boggling. It’s such a rewarding feeling seeing some of the houses and fish tanks that our players create. I’m glad we are able to give our players a platform to express themselves creatively and socially.

If you’re interested in starting a career in the gaming industry as part of our Viking horde, visit the Big Viking Games Careers page to see our current openings. If you have questions of your own about the gaming industry or how to make your start, tweet them to us @bigvikinggames.

What is your role at Big Viking Games, and how long have you been with the company?

Robyn: I was hired to be an Associate Producer (on both YoWorld Mobile and Tiny Tappers for Kongregate), and when one of those games wrapped I was transferred to the other full time. After shipping both, I was promoted to Producer.

What does a Producer do at a game company?

Robyn: One the favourite jokes of my developer friends is “a Producer doesn’t actually produce anything!”, which is hilarious to devs, but less funny to Producers. Producers are responsible for making the hard decisions to keep everything on track and make sure a game ships.

The role varies from company to company. I’ve had it be a catch all, where I, as the Producer, did everything except code or draw, including marketing material, community outreach, and social media. I have even been responsible for video editing!

Thankfully at BVG it is a very defined role: managing the team and working with the Product Manager to deliver a game. The Product Manager handles the creative decisions of what goes into the game, and the Producer decides how we execute on that vision, which involves a lot of planning and scheduling of sprints.

So, though a Producer might not produce anything, they do make sure that everyone else is producing on schedule!

“Producers are responsible for making the hard decisions to keep everything on track and make sure a game ships.”

What does an average day look like for you as a Producer?

Robyn: As we use an Agile-inspired methodology, we start each day with a stand-up meeting with everyone on the team (including artists, developers, QA, and designers), where we review what we accomplished the previous day, and what we’re working on today. If there are any blockers that are getting in the way of production, they’re brought up at this meeting, and it’s my responsibility to solve those problems for the team. I prepare reports for the Head of Production, and check in with other teams and departments to make sure there aren’t any problems with our live game.  I also spend some time planning our next sprint, which is a plan for what we want to accomplish in the next two weeks of production. When I have spare time, I use it to play our game.

What inspired you to become a Producer?

Robyn: I feel like another way to describe the Producer role is as the person who helps games to be born. I enjoy helping people who have a very clear vision realize that vision. I like making games happen, and I really enjoy the problem solving and collaboration that the producer role provides, much more so than the idea of creating something that is wholly my own, as a Game Designer might do.

I love helping talented people bring their games to life.

How did you start your career as a Producer?

Robyn: I’ve played games my entire life, and in high school I was inspired to try coding. However, I had a pretty poor experience with my teacher. She would come in every morning and say “goodmorning gentlemen…and Robyn,” making it clear that I was the only woman in the class. She would tell me that I “should design the manuals for the boys’ games because you have a better sense of colour.” These comments weighed on me, and eventually I decided to drop coding.

I studied communications and psychology in university, and even briefly considered a career in law. The prospect of working in the gaming industry still would have appealed to me at that point, but I never thought it would be an attainable career, so I went on to work in Sales at a tech company for a while.

And that was when a QA job popped up at a gaming company. When I considered it, I realized all the reporting I’d done in sales support could be applicable for QA, and that’s how I got my foot in the door. I soon became QA lead and took on numerous additional responsibilities, like technical design and adapting scripts. This led to me becoming an Assistant Producer, then transitioning to Associate Producer, and eventually (after 10 years in the industry) to a full-fledged Producer.

“I love helping talented people bring their games to life.”

Could you tell us how your career has progressed at Big Viking Games?

Robyn: In my short time at the company, I have already been promoted from the role of Associate Producer to Producer. I’m next looking forward to taking my Project Management certification, and I’m glad that BVG offers everyone a personal development budget to make it easier to get this type of certification. I’ve also found some amazing mentorship and support from our Head of Production. She has a lot of really great ideas, and she’s really supportive of my career.

How do you feel about the people who you get the chance to work with at BVG?

Robyn: When I arrived at BVG, I kind of parachuted into an existing team from a previous project. Neither I nor the team knew what to expect of one another, but we’ve since gelled really well as a team and developed a lot of processes that work well for us. We also get along really well. It’s probably the easiest team I’ve ever had the chance to work with.

How did you find out about Big Viking Games and what made you decide to apply?

Robyn: Once I’d gotten into gaming industry, I dragged my brother into the industry as well. That was pretty much the model for a few years, where I would join a different gaming company, and then recommend it to my brother.

However, he beat me to it at BVG. He got into the company first, told me how much he enjoyed working here, and then told me that BVG could really use my skillset and that I should apply.

And here we are.

What is the most challenging part of being a Producer? And what is the most rewarding part?

Robyn: I’d say the biggest challenge is timelines. Game development is a very iterative process. It is rare to get the perfect realization of your vision in the first build. It’s more common to go back to the drawing board to rework your product, cutting certain features or refactoring expectations. And sometimes you need to ask your team to put in extra time in order to hit big milestones. Fortunately that hasn’t been very common for our team—we’ve had to work late maybe 4 days in the 9 months of our development.

The most rewarding part is shipping a game. I remember getting the notification from Apple that our game was approved and going live, and I was so ecstatic that I called the Product Manager, screaming “we did it! We passed! We can launch the game!” Seeing your product go live is definitely one of the most rewarding parts of this job.

Now that you’re in this industry, and you spend your days producing games, have your opinions shifted about games and their value in people’s lives?

Robyn: I always thought that games were valuable, but now—having worked in the industry—it really hits home that games are made by people. Games don’t make themselves. It’s the people behind the games that make all the decisions and get games made.

I think there is a trend in video game journalism to point and laugh at games that are not super polished when they ship. However, you have to remember that there are people who have put two years of their lives into these games, and people make fun of all that hard work because of a few bugs.

Some of my favourite games are Bethesda games, and they ship notoriously buggy. But, as a person in the industry, I now appreciate how much work goes into large game worlds—like the ones found in Bethesda games—and how ambitious those worlds are.

In the context of that ambition, and all the people who laboured to realize it, I find it much more difficult to laugh at poor execution. I realize how heartbreaking it must be for the humans behind those games when something doesn’t go exactly as planned.

Seeing the people behind the games also serves to make games even more amazing when you think about how all these different people had to come together and collaborate to create what you’re playing. There are a number of games where just look at them and think “these people just loved it so much!“ They worked so hard to create all the little touches, and you just appreciate them so much more.

“Games don’t make themselves. It’s the people behind the games that make all the decisions and get games made.”

If someone is wondering how to get into game production, what tips would you share?

Robyn: A lot of people give the advice that you should just get into QA and climb that ladder. While that’s what I did, and it is definitely a viable strategy, I think that QA is underestimated as a specialty, and a good QA person is invaluable.

At the end of the day, a studio like Big Viking Games is looking for people with a passion for the role they’re applying to and a drive to learn and grow with the organization. So long as you have that passion and drive, it’s up to you whether you choose to pursue a more senior role in QA, or you grow your career into other roles.

I’d say that if you’re serious about a career in game production, the best way to get your start is to first finish school and then produce something. Whether you produce that something through a game development program, or at game jams, it is important to create a game of your own, or to help someone else create their game!

When I compare the landscape now to what the industry was like 10 years ago, when I entered gaming, so much has changed. Now there are a lot of possible avenues to demonstrate that you can complete a project, which is super important. You can create games in Twine, in Gamemaker; you can join a game jam to see how games are actually made. These are all opportunities to learn what’s required to make games, and to show that you have the skills required.

If you’re interested in starting a career in the gaming industry as part of our Viking horde, visit the Big Viking Games Careers page to see our current openings. If you have questions of your own about the gaming industry or how to make your start, tweet them to us @bigvikinggames.

The Big Viking HR team has been receiving a lot of questions from talented professionals located outside of Canada who are interested in joining the horde. Big Viking Games is a proudly Canadian-based company, and a big part of that identity is being welcoming to talent from all over the world. In the hope of answering any questions you might have about immigrating, or what it’s like to live and work in Canada, we’ve put together the following site: Work in Canada

With more than a dozen positions currently open, and plans to hire for many more, we’re eager to hear from you!

Galatron puts players in the pilot’s seat of the Valkyrie: a sleek, powerful starfighter with the most advanced weaponry in the fleet. It’s up to you as pilot to blast through waves of alien ships, dodge devastating meteors and battle epic bosses in a quest to save the galaxy. Players can upgrade their weapons, customize their ships and rack up bonuses for obliterating whole waves of invaders as they work to achieve high scores and climb the ranks in order to become the best fighter pilot of all.

Galatron coming to Facebook Messenger’s Instant Gaming platform means that you can play the game right now: on any device where you’re already using Facebook messenger. We created the game in HTML5 to make it instantly playable, but another benefit is that you won’t ever have to download, install, or update the game. Just open it on Facebook Messenger, and play!

This is precisely why BVG has invested so many years of work in HTML5 instant gaming. Our CEO and co-founder Albert Lai explains it best:

“Big Viking Games has been at the forefront of HTML5 development, and with Galatron we’re able to really showcase that technology and show what a game on messenger can look like. Galatron has features and gameplay that many thought were impossible in an instant messenger game so we’re excited for players to see that and realize that this is really a viable platform for quality games.”

To play Galatron today:

1. Join any chat in Facebook Messenger

2. Tap the Instant Games icon at the bottom of the chat

3. Find Galatron and press PLAY

Our official press release on the subject of the the Galatron launch can be found below:

Big Viking Games Launches Galatron for Facebook Messenger

Space Shooter Game Showcases the Next Generation of Instant HTML5 Messenger Games

TORONTO and LONDON, ON – (December 15, 2016) – Strap in and prime the blasters to battle waves of alien attackers as fast-paced space shooter game Galatron launches today from Big Viking Games, the largest independent mobile and social game studio in Canada and a pioneer in HTML5 Messenger Instant Games. Available on Facebook Messenger (mobile and desktop) for free, Galatron has players blast through hordes of alien ships, dodge devastating meteors and battle epic bosses in a quest to save the galaxy.

As pilot of a sleek and powerful starfighter, Valkyrie, it’s up to players to maneuver tactfully during intense dogfights and lead their squadron to victory. To help in the fight, players can upgrade their weapons, customize their ships and rack up bonuses for obliterating waves of invaders. Then use these scores to challenge friends on Facebook and see who is the top pilot in the universe.

“Big Viking Games has been at the forefront of HTML5 development, and with Galatron we’re able to really present that technology and show what a game on messenger can look like,” said Albert Lai, Co-founder and CEO of Big Viking Games. “Galatron has features and gameplay that many thought were impossible in an instant messenger game so we’re excited for players to see that and realize that this is really a viable platform for quality games.”

For more information on Galatron please visit the game’s website or follow Big Viking Games on Facebook and Twitter.

About Big Viking Games

Big Viking Games, founded in 2011, is the industry leader in HTML5 Messenger Instant Games, and also the largest independent mobile and social game studio in Canada. The company has grown profitably for five years consecutively to a team of over 100 Vikings across two studios in Toronto and London, Ontario.  Most recently the company has been winners of being a top 10 winner in the Great Place to Work Award, and the Deloitte Fast 50 & Fast 500 in 2016.  Big Viking Games has become a leader in live operations and a pioneer of what is possible with mobile HTML5 technologies to redefine the future of mobile experiences. Their titles are played by millions of people on iOS, Android, Facebook, across a broad range of mobile messengers, and the mobile web.

We have some amazing news to share today about our first major content partnership. Big Viking Games has signed a five year mobile content partnership with Valiant Entertainment, the award-winning comic book publisher. As you know, Valiant has a library of more than 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, and Shadowman.

The partnership with Valiant will focus on combining their best-selling collection of superheroes with our own industry leading HTML5 development and publishing ability to deliver the Valiant Universe to existing fans and new players alike through a completely new medium.

Our CEO Albert Lai said it best when commenting on how excited our Vikings are to be working with a leading comic publisher.

“We have always been huge fans of their comics, and the executive team has done an incredible job bringing Valiant to the forefront of the comic world over the years. Valiant and Big Viking share a very similar core ideology, which is to ‘make fans,’ and I believe this partnership will make millions of new fans for both companies”

Valiant Entertainment will be bringing their content to a number of new platforms in the coming years. Just last year Valiant announced a five-film deal with Sony Pictures to bring both their Bloodshot and Harbinger franchises to life on the big screen, and they are looking forward to the promise of the ground-breaking new medium that is instant gaming.

“Big Viking is poised to enter the market on the cusp of a game-changing moment for the whole of mobile gaming and, together, we look forward to engaging a massive new audience for Valiant’s incredibly rich universe of characters,” said Russell A. Brown, President of Consumer Products, Promotions & Ad Sales for Valiant Entertainment.

For full details on the Valiant – Big Viking Games partnership, read on to see our official press release.

Big Viking Games and Valiant Entertainment Form First Major Content Partnership for Next Generation HTML5 Messenger Gaming Platforms

TORONTO and LONDON, ON – (December 13, 2016) – Big Viking Games, a leader in HTML5 mobile instant games, and Valiant Entertainment, the award-winning comic book publisher with a library of more than 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong and more, today announced a five-year mobile content partnership that will convert Valiant’s massive library of characters and stories into mobile instant gaming experiences focused on new gaming platforms such as the recently launched Facebook Messenger.

Starting today, Valiant and Big Viking will combine Valiant’s best-selling collection of superheroes and their associated storylines with Big Viking’s industry leading HTML5 development and publishing ability to deliver the Valiant Universe to fans and new players alike through a completely new medium. The companies intend to release numerous HTML5 titles with a focus on messengers and social networks as distribution.

“It’s an honor to partner with Valiant and bring their incredibly rich and deep catalogue of characters and stories to new and exciting platforms on mobile,” said Albert Lai, CEO and Co-founder of Big Viking Games. “We have always been huge fans of their comics, and the executive team has done an incredible job bringing Valiant to the forefront of the comic world over the years. Valiant and Big Viking share a very similar core ideology, which is to ‘make fans,’ and I believe this partnership will make millions of new fans for both companies”

“Big Viking is poised to enter the market on the cusp of a game-changing moment for the whole of mobile gaming and, together, we look forward to engaging a massive new audience for Valiant’s incredibly rich universe of characters,” said Russell A. Brown, President of Consumer Products, Promotions & Ad Sales for Valiant Entertainment. “Valiant is the most acclaimed publisher of comics in our industry today, and Big Viking has dedicated themselves to translating the essence our best-known heroes into a groundbreaking new medium. We look forward to presenting our fans, old and new, will some truly amazing experiences to explore on Facebook and beyond in the coming months and years.”

In addition to today’s announcement, Big Viking recently revealed a $21.75 million funding round to continue expansion of their HTML5 mobile instant gaming division and the creation of a $10 million publishing fund to develop and distribute third-party content for messengers in HTML5. Additionally, last year Valiant announced a five-film deal with Sony Pictures to bring both Bloodshot and Harbinger franchises to life on the big screen.

About Big Viking Games

Big Viking Games, founded in 2011, is the largest independent mobile and social game studio in Canada and a pioneer in mobile HTML5 games. The company has grown profitably to a team of over 100 Vikings across two studios in Toronto and London, Ontario. From our beginnings with hits like Fish World and YoWorld, we have become a leader in live operations, and a pioneer of what is possible with mobile HTML5 technologies to redefine the future of mobile entertainment. Our titles are played by millions of people on iOS, Android, Facebook and the mobile web.

About Valiant Entertainment

Valiant Entertainment is a leading character-based entertainment company that owns and controls the largest independent superhero universe in comics. With more than 80 million issues sold and a library of over 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, and many more, Valiant is one of the most successful publishers in the history of the comic book medium. Today, the company’s characters continue to be forged in publishing, licensing, film, video games, and beyond. Valiant consistently produces some of the most critically acclaimed comics in the industry and has received numerous industry awards and accolades, including a Diamond Gem Award for Comic Book Publisher of the Year. In 2015, Valiant announced a multi-picture deal to bring Bloodshot and Harbinger to the big screen as feature films.

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