Atomfall Studio CEO is in Awe of Organisational Complexity Needed for Big Game Development Studios

CEO Jason Kingsley spoke about how the thought of needing levels of “organization of organization” must be mind-numbing.

Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion, has spoken about being impressed at larger studios being able to keep a handle on managing game development. Speaking to PCGamer, Kingsley spoke about the awe he felt at some of the bigger games being developed out there with studios that have 2,000 people working on them.

The key thing he notes about these larger projects is the level of organisation and management required. Talking about the “level of organization of organization,” Kingsley believes that the sheer scale of these projects might get “mind-numbing.”

“You look at some of these massive games being made by huge teams of very, very talented people, and you think, ‘How do you organize a game that has 2,000 people working on it?’ Kingsley said. “I mean, just the level of organization of organization must be mind-numbing. We’ve got layers of organization. We’ve got producers, and we’ve got leads, and we’ve got discipline leads. But they must have several layers above that, of people who are in charge of the people who are in charge of the people.”

“It must be thrilling and exciting and massive, because they cost a fortune, and they’re incredibly beautiful pieces of work. But sometimes they’re so damn big.”

The context of Kingsley’s thoughts on larger projects comes from the studio talking about why it prefers to keep its own games at a smaller scale. He also talks about the audience for Rebellion’s titles skewing older in age demographics compared to big-name franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Grand Theft Auto.

“I look at some games, and I start them because I feel I ought to, and then, you know, it tells you you’ve been playing for 10 hours, and you’re 1% of the way through the game,” he said. “And you think, you know what, I’ve got a family, I’ve got work to run, and I’ve got errands, I’ve got to clean the house a bit. I’ve got things to do, and so I can only give a certain amount of my time to a computer game.”

“So what I really want is a game that gives me a sense of achievement, and with the vaguest possibility that I actually might finish it. And so it’d be really interesting to know how many games are actually finished, and how many games are just abandoned by what proportion of people. It’d be interesting research to do, I think. I would like to think that lots of people finish our games and come back to play them again. That’s my ideal situation to give value for money.”

Rebellion’s upcoming title is the sci-fi survival game Atomfall. Slated for a PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S release on March 27, the game will also be coming to Game Pass.