industries. Up until last August she was the managing director for BBC Studios, heading up the production of everything from Blue Planet 2 and Strictly Come Dancing, to Luther, Eastenders and live broadcasts from Glastonbury. However, given her length of service to the national
broadcaster (and her many years in independent TV production before that), we have to ask what madness prevailed upon her to consider switching over to game production? “Games wasn’t something that leapt into my head
immediately,” admits Opie, “but what really, really appealed was that the game sector is growing; it’s vibrant and expanding. In so many ways it’s only just moved past its adolescence. It’s still young. Television in
“I really believe that we will be better creatively if we are more diverse. It’s important that we reflect the people who play our games”
my thumbs, genuinely, for the first few months,” she laughs. “Now I do quite a bit of YouTube watching.”
SKILLSCREEN While she did have some concerns about joining the games industry, Opie says she had no doubts about her capacity to learn or contribute, or that her skills or experience might be misplaced. Moreover, in spite of a perennial skills shortage across the creative industries and the residual opposition that some people might hold towards those coming into games from outside the industry, Opie has found those around her to be welcoming and generous. So much so that she in turn hopes to return the gesture to others that might have been similarly reticent to get their thumbs twisted. “I really believe that we will be better creatively if we
comparison feels as if it’s very often managing declines.” The relative youth of the games industry is of course
reflected in the gaming audience, whom Opie also canvassed before considering her career move – which is to say she approached her gamer son for some insight. He quickly suggested the games she needed to play, and went so far as to write a glossary of gaming terms and acronyms to guide her as she tried them out. “I have to be honest, I was really blown away by how
deep and rich the creativity was within the game sector. In terms of the engagement, and the narrative, and the storytelling, and the cinematography, I found I was really surprised. “I think I had, like many people within the TV
industry, maybe a very narrow view as to what video games delivered. And culturally, it’s an awful lot richer than that. It’s the most popular form of entertainment in the world. Why wouldn’t you want to work in it!” Opie tried the latest Assassin’s Creed as a matter of
course, The Last of Us 2, Elden Ring and a smattering of modern indie classics, from which we can derive that not only does her son have an excellent taste in games, he very clearly wanted his mum to put in the required effort to land the job. “I had repetitive strain injury in
June June 2022 MCV/DEVELOP | 19
are more diverse. Creativity is dependent on different viewpoints on different views of the world, on people with different voices. And I think it’s really important that we reflect the people who play our games. So I’m really keen to look at ways of bringing people into Ubisoft and into Reflections and Leamington who come from different backgrounds and bring different ideas and different thoughts.” For all that they share, Opie readily admits that TV
and games are very different sectors. By way of an example she says that while she could make a television programme (“a very bad one”), games are by their
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