As a studio with a history of working on high-profile titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, how do you manage the balance between internal development and external collaboration? Joanne Daly: As a co-development studio the core of what we do is all about acting as custodians of other people’s vision, rather than necessarily shaping our own games. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, our colleagues understand that this is one of the key pillars of our business.


How does Wushu maintain a positive company culture while navigating the fast-paced and often demanding nature of game development? Nigel Kershaw: By fostering an inclusive environment in which people are encouraged to help each other and call out the successes of others. Our belief is that people should be more concerned with holding the ladder steady for someone else than they are with climbing it themselves. Doing this makes navigating the often fast-paced nature of game dev not only a more enjoyable experience, but a more positive and productive one. Not saying we’ve got this exactly right yet, there’s always more work to do, especially when it comes to aligning 170 people behind the same idea, but we won’t give up.


What advice would you give to indie studios looking to foster a strong, people-focused work environment, and how will this be a key focus of your keynote? Joanne Daly: This is really hard to answer. Beyond being honest and as transparent as possible with people, recognise that, without them, you don’t have a company, and ensure that with every decision you have to make, you consider what kinds of impacts it might have on your team. Give them a voice in as much of that decision making as possible, but also recognise where shielding them from decisions is more beneficial. We are not a dictatorship, nor are we an anarcho-socialist commune! It’s a really tough balancing act.


Could you expand on how leadership is being reimagined within Wushu Studios and how this reflects broader trends in the industry? Alan McDermott: We don’t think this is particularly revolutionary or even that clever… But when you think about what people want in a leader, some common threads start to emerge. People like to follow leaders that they trust and respect. People like honesty, integrity and consistency. Being a good leader is not about having all the answers, it’s about collaboration and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your team. It’s not about power, control or authority.


“Putting people first has worked for us as a studio, and we’re really just here


to say that out loud” Alan McDermott


For our people, Leadership is not a pathway you


choose at a specific point in your career, it’s an armband you can put on and take off. We don’t hire Lead Artists or Lead Programmers because we believe in every artist and programmers leadership potential. What we’ve found is that, now, we have leaders at the studio who do it through choice, not a misplaced sense of obligation or ambition.


How important is Liverpool’s local game development scene to Wushu, and how do you see your role in helping to shape its future? Nigel Kershaw: Liverpool’s mark on the video game timeline is prominent. From the days of Imagine, Ocean, Psygnosis, Evolution, Bizarre Creations, Sony, right through to Wushu, Lucid, d3t – it’s always been an area of the country that’s known for its contribution to the game dev landscape. Covid changed everything. Now, you don’t have to live in Liverpool to work at Wushu, but if you do, then you work for a studio that is steeped in that rich heritage. The adage ‘think global, act local’ perhaps works here; while our colleagues may reside all over the UK, the studio is firmly anchored in the rich development scene of the North-West.


What do you look forward to checking out while you’re at the conference: what’s on your ‘must-see’ list? Joanne Daly: It’s a real treat to benefit from hearing others share their dev experiences and knowledge. For sure Ben Board and Fred Gill are on that must-see list, also Claire Bromley’s talk on working with External Partners and co-dev. It’s always great to have a chance to catch up with a few old dev friends too.


October/November 2024 MCV/DEVELOP | 29


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