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Product manager role and responsibilities in Game Development
TL;DR
The truth is that there is not a standard set of responsibilities for the product manager’s role in the gaming industry (or any other industry for all I know).
The following list is a good place to start on a product manager’s responsibilities. Hint: Most of the points are industry agnostic.
1. The product manager defines the game/product vision and strategy
2. Manages the game development lifecycle
3. Conducts market research and competitive analysis
4. Manages the game budget and timeline
5. Monitors in-game metrics and KPIs
6. Collaborates with other teams and functions of the company
7. Communicates with the stakeholders
8. Manages the game soft-launch, launch
9. Manages the update and maintenance of the game
10. Identifies and implements monetization strategies
11. Collects and analyses player feedback and analytics
12. Ensures the game’s quality and success in the marketplace
13. Researches new game ideas
14. Defines the game’s roadmap
15. Creates strong game development teams
The list above can go on and on. Now to prove that, let’s go and apply one of the oldest tricks in the book. Below, I have gathered some requirements from open job postings (at the time of writing), from several different game development companies, for the position of “Product Manager”.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to define the game’s strategy and long-term vision
- Champion the Live Operation strategy related to the content
- Provide clear recommendations from market research, benchmarks, and game data to help define and prioritize the backlog, to continuously improve features
- Create fun and engaging features and other game content
- Test ongoing tasks and ensure that everything is on schedule
- Brainstorm new ideas together with your team to create the…
