Welcome to another instalment of What I Do, a regular Aftermath feature that takes a single person doing a single job in the video game industry and explains just what, exactly, that job involves.
Today we're speaking with Nic McConnell, whose official job title is "Manager - Game Production" at Riot Games, but whose actual job--working with folks on age ratings across the range of content created by Riot on a regular basis--is a lot more interesting than a one-line term on a business card can contain.
Luke Plunkett: Nic, hello, welcome to Aftermath! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Nic McConnell: I'm someone who sort of backed into video games - I went to school for broadcasting but graduated right when the economy tanked in 2008, dashing those plans. To earn even a little money I wound up getting a job in firmware QA at SIE (SCEA at the time) and sort of floated around the QA space for a while before dipping out and working in market research and then adtech (sorry). The thing is, I love video games and am in awe of the people who make them. I always wanted to get closer to game dev, so I took opportunities when they arose - first at a place called Skillz, then Niantic (both in account and partner management) before finally getting an opportunity to completely shift gears and join Riot as a manager supporting our global age ratings efforts as well as some more general regional sensitivity considerations.
Outside of work, my just-for-fun side thing is a weekly stream where I read video game instruction manuals; it's called Instruction Derby and it's More Fun Than You Might Think Given The Concept (should this be my official slogan?).
Beyond that I'm so lucky to have a cool and supportive wife, amazing kids and a very cuddle-centric dog named Noodles all here with me in the Bay Area. I also have a Neo Geo cabinet, which I try not to make my whole personality but that's hard because have you played Neo Turf Masters? It's so good.
LP: I'm more of a Super Baseball 2020 man myself. So in terms of working in video games, what's your actual, exact job title?
NMc: My actual, exact job title is Manager - Game Production.
LP: So what does that job actually involve? Like, what's your average day/week/month look like?
NMc: So, it's fairly varied, but boiled down it's split into two kinds of buckets.
The first bucket is actually a pipeline - I'm responsible for the overall health and impact of a really cool tool that allows for new and in-development game stuff (art, skins, levels, etc) to be reviewed by our colleagues around the world for both age ratings concerns (e.g., will this skinline risk bumping us from a GRAC 12 to a GRAC 15 in Korea?) and cultural sensitivity (e.g., if a character makes a hand gesture in an emote, is it accidentally a rude gesture in Italy?).
This side of the job involves a lot of discussion of different art with the amazing Age Ratings team and brainstorming improvements with my amazing team who make the whole thing work. I'm not particularly technical so watching that process play out is so incredibly impressive to me.
LP: And the second bucket?
NMc: The second bucket is focused around understanding how age ratings efforts vary around the world and designing strategies for keeping on top of things as the world changes rapidly all around us. This part of the job is particularly exciting for me because it involves loads of conversations with colleagues around the world, learning about what's happening in their countries and how geopolitical shifts may impact our work.
LP: Is there anything you'd like to see changed, or improved, about your job? Or its place in the wider industry?
NMc: I'm not sure I'd honestly change or improve much - I'm given an incredible opportunity to support people around the world, to learn from them and to build relationships with them, which for me is absolutely awesome. I suppose if I could change one thing about Age Ratings in the industry it would just be that I'd like for more people to have a chance to try it out! It's pretty cool stuff but I think gets a bad rap because so often it's just another task on a release manager's incredibly full plate.
LP: And finally, what is it about your job that you love the most?
NMc: This sounds really corny but - the people. From the Age Ratings team to my friends in Brazil or India and everywhere else we support, it's just an incredibly thoughtful and kind group. Our conversations - by virtue of the topic - are often little mini cultural exchanges and I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to learn from everyone's experience, both in terms professional and lived. I've worked in some great spots, but never before have I come away from nearly every meeting feeling energized.
And this is gonna sound REALLY corny, but the opportunity to center the experiences and opinions of people outside the US feels particularly valuable right now.
