Paulina Bozek - Senior Producer
Gaming has traditionally been the preserve of young, single males and this has been reflected both in the titles produced and the make-up of the workforce.
But there has been a gradual trend towards exploring new genres. Singstar, a microphone based singing game, was first released in May 2004.
Since then sales of Sony's Playstation 2 consoles have increased, many to first-time gamers. In August 2004 Paulina Bozek was awarded the first ever BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award for her creative and innovative role in the production of Singstar.
Paulina started her career in marketing and PR for Montreal games publisher and developer Ubisoft. 'The PR job taught me a lot about how the industry works, what it takes to market a game, and the publisher/developer relationship, but I really wanted to get more involved in making something and seeing it through from start to finish. Ubisoft was getting into online gaming and I moved into a project management role.'
Paulina later moved to the UK to study at the London School of Economics and decided to stay. Finding a job wasn't easy. Initially looking for work in TV, she kept coming back to games. In 2003 she approached Sony's London Studio looking for a job in project management. She was hired as an associate producer in the prototypes department where Singstar was one of two titles that she worked on.
'The department has very small teams and it's quite experimental. It's basically an ideas lab - a sort of incubation for new projects. We went through lots of presentations. If a project is seen as having potential it is greenlit. Although an associate producer, there was no producer in fact, so I was kind of doing both.' This included overseeing the development of the project, resource management, making sure there was enough development time, and achieving milestones.
'Singstar already existed as technology - that is, the programmers were developing something with which players would interact by singing rather than pressing buttons. My role was to look at it as a possible product and ask questions like how will it play? who is it for? The technology had already existed for a couple of years. It could have been used as a music tuition tool, but we wanted to develop something more intuitive that didn't require a manual - just a pick up and play game that would be entertaining and fun.'
Paulina helped to shape the project along with the rest of the team. It had been intended as a fantasy game for a younger audience - Singalong Safari - but once she came on board they quickly decided it had to social and competitive. They explored the idea of using contemporary music, with 2 mics instead of just one, to introduce the possibility of competition and multiplayers. They also wanted it to be fun.
'We looked at other projects and did some competitive analysis and decided the look should be cool - like MTV. It was very graphic design-led. There were lots of meetings" says Paulina.
'The design and content manager was very involved. The marketing department too - this plays a big role. The game was not aimed at the typical gamer audience or the primary demographic.'
Using 2 mics was a big investment and they had to convince the company that this was worth doing. They presented the project internally and got people singing on stage (the men to Oasis, the women to Destiny's Child), making the presentations fun and entertaining.
'People could really see the potential. We presented a well rounded case for it. It wasn't easy, but there wasn't too much resistance.' Another major task was getting permission for the music. 'We wanted the music to be original, using music videos, which wasn't easy at first, but as the game's reputation has grown artists are happy to give permission. It's an extra source of revenue for them.'
'The game was demo-ed early on and lots of kids were attracted by it, including boys. It's really good fun and lots of adults wanted a go too. It's perfect for a party environment.' So far there have been 3 versions of the game and Paulina anticipates working on it for the foreseeable future. 'Singstar is lots of work. People want more discs, more often, and we also localise - we're doing a Spanish version at the moment.'
Paulina's career development has been quite rapid and she is now a Senior Producer, but as she says 'this is possible in the games industry.
I really like working in games because they are going in lots of different directions now. They are becoming more like films - you work towards a goal, they involve teamwork, there are time and money restraints, and you need to make something work within the limitations. There is potential for crossover. It's a great place to be with a mix of different media.'
Her plan is to stay in product development. 'I find games interesting because there is a creative element, such as the storytelling; a visual aesthetic; then there is the social psychology element - getting people involved and getting them to play - the fact that it's interactive. It's a young and exciting industry which is very open to new ideas. It's difficult to take risks in the current climate, but even so the opportunities are quite big for a young person and you can be given opportunities to get involved very quickly.'
One of the original team of two programmers was a woman and the Singstar team of fifteen now has a higher than average proportion of women. 'But there is no agenda when hiring. It might have something to do with the nature of the game as it is not as male-focused as many games and women might see it as relevant to them, but lots of people are interested in working on it and women in the industry also play 'male' games.'
Paulina is cautious about offering an explanation for the fact that there are so few women working in games, but suggests that if there were more in the industry, more would want to come in. 'As games become more mainstream perhaps more girls will see it as relevant to them and it will open things up naturally. Computer games were perhaps seen as a solitary activity and girls are more social.'
Her own attitude when entering the industry was not at all defeatist. 'I never expected it to be extra hard. The industry is looking for more women and wants to get more girls playing games to expand the market. Women can bring a different point of view.' She acknowledges that many girls lose interest in computers whilst at school, but as she says 'computer games are not just about computers. There are many other roles.'
But there has been a gradual trend towards exploring new genres. Singstar, a microphone based singing game, was first released in May 2004.
Since then sales of Sony's Playstation 2 consoles have increased, many to first-time gamers. In August 2004 Paulina Bozek was awarded the first ever BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award for her creative and innovative role in the production of Singstar.
Paulina started her career in marketing and PR for Montreal games publisher and developer Ubisoft. 'The PR job taught me a lot about how the industry works, what it takes to market a game, and the publisher/developer relationship, but I really wanted to get more involved in making something and seeing it through from start to finish. Ubisoft was getting into online gaming and I moved into a project management role.'
Paulina later moved to the UK to study at the London School of Economics and decided to stay. Finding a job wasn't easy. Initially looking for work in TV, she kept coming back to games. In 2003 she approached Sony's London Studio looking for a job in project management. She was hired as an associate producer in the prototypes department where Singstar was one of two titles that she worked on.
'The department has very small teams and it's quite experimental. It's basically an ideas lab - a sort of incubation for new projects. We went through lots of presentations. If a project is seen as having potential it is greenlit. Although an associate producer, there was no producer in fact, so I was kind of doing both.' This included overseeing the development of the project, resource management, making sure there was enough development time, and achieving milestones.
'Singstar already existed as technology - that is, the programmers were developing something with which players would interact by singing rather than pressing buttons. My role was to look at it as a possible product and ask questions like how will it play? who is it for? The technology had already existed for a couple of years. It could have been used as a music tuition tool, but we wanted to develop something more intuitive that didn't require a manual - just a pick up and play game that would be entertaining and fun.'
Paulina helped to shape the project along with the rest of the team. It had been intended as a fantasy game for a younger audience - Singalong Safari - but once she came on board they quickly decided it had to social and competitive. They explored the idea of using contemporary music, with 2 mics instead of just one, to introduce the possibility of competition and multiplayers. They also wanted it to be fun. 'We looked at other projects and did some competitive analysis and decided the look should be cool - like MTV. It was very graphic design-led. There were lots of meetings" says Paulina.
'The design and content manager was very involved. The marketing department too - this plays a big role. The game was not aimed at the typical gamer audience or the primary demographic.'
Using 2 mics was a big investment and they had to convince the company that this was worth doing. They presented the project internally and got people singing on stage (the men to Oasis, the women to Destiny's Child), making the presentations fun and entertaining.
'People could really see the potential. We presented a well rounded case for it. It wasn't easy, but there wasn't too much resistance.' Another major task was getting permission for the music. 'We wanted the music to be original, using music videos, which wasn't easy at first, but as the game's reputation has grown artists are happy to give permission. It's an extra source of revenue for them.'
'The game was demo-ed early on and lots of kids were attracted by it, including boys. It's really good fun and lots of adults wanted a go too. It's perfect for a party environment.' So far there have been 3 versions of the game and Paulina anticipates working on it for the foreseeable future. 'Singstar is lots of work. People want more discs, more often, and we also localise - we're doing a Spanish version at the moment.'
Paulina's career development has been quite rapid and she is now a Senior Producer, but as she says 'this is possible in the games industry. I really like working in games because they are going in lots of different directions now. They are becoming more like films - you work towards a goal, they involve teamwork, there are time and money restraints, and you need to make something work within the limitations. There is potential for crossover. It's a great place to be with a mix of different media.'
Her plan is to stay in product development. 'I find games interesting because there is a creative element, such as the storytelling; a visual aesthetic; then there is the social psychology element - getting people involved and getting them to play - the fact that it's interactive. It's a young and exciting industry which is very open to new ideas. It's difficult to take risks in the current climate, but even so the opportunities are quite big for a young person and you can be given opportunities to get involved very quickly.'
One of the original team of two programmers was a woman and the Singstar team of fifteen now has a higher than average proportion of women. 'But there is no agenda when hiring. It might have something to do with the nature of the game as it is not as male-focused as many games and women might see it as relevant to them, but lots of people are interested in working on it and women in the industry also play 'male' games.'
Paulina is cautious about offering an explanation for the fact that there are so few women working in games, but suggests that if there were more in the industry, more would want to come in. 'As games become more mainstream perhaps more girls will see it as relevant to them and it will open things up naturally. Computer games were perhaps seen as a solitary activity and girls are more social.'
Her own attitude when entering the industry was not at all defeatist. 'I never expected it to be extra hard. The industry is looking for more women and wants to get more girls playing games to expand the market. Women can bring a different point of view.' She acknowledges that many girls lose interest in computers whilst at school, but as she says 'computer games are not just about computers. There are many other roles.'
