Meet the Artist
Xu Xiaojun of Studio Gobo answers our questions about his role as Studio Head and game director, discussing his favourite projects and day-to-day work life
We interview Xu Xiaojun of Studio Gobo, who answers our questions about working on AAA game projects
Studio Gobo, the Brightonbased team of leading interactive designers and game developers, recently announced that Xu Xiaojun will take over as Head of Studio.
Founded in 2011 and a part of Keywords Studios since 2018, Studio Gobo works with AAA video games publishers the world over, partnering with companies such as Ubisoft, Disney, Tencent and Warner Bros. Starting with a team of fewer than 20 people, Gobo now has more than 100 highly talented development staff working across multiple platforms and projects.
Having joined Studio Gobo soon after it was founded, Xu Xiaojun has been an integral part of growing the design department over the past 10 years, and plans to take on 20-30 new hires by the end of 2021. Best known for his role as game director on high-profile projects like Ubisoft’s For Honor and Hyper Scape, we caught up with Xiaojun to find out a little more about his new role at the helm of Studio Gobo…
Tell us a bit about your background in game design and direction.
I come from a game design background, starting my career as a level designer at Ubisoft Shanghai right after university. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to work on many different genres and found that many design principles were transferable from project to project. This helped me to build a range of concepts; I could evaluate them in a more analytical, objective way.
For Honor (Ubisoft’s medieval action fighting game) was my first project as game director. We were working within a huge team led by Ubisoft Montreal, and many talented artists and designers there helped support the project, working together with Studio Gobo as a whole collaborative effort. It was a tremendous learning experience for me personally, on how to best align with the vision of an existing project, but also how to clearly define the constraints and maintain a level of autonomy for my team.
What’s your day-to-day life and current setup like at Studio Gobo?
Studio Gobo has a fairly typical game development setup, where we have talent across all disciplines from art to design and programming. The team includes more than 120 people now and is continuing to grow steadily over time. We have quite a traditional leadership structure within
each project to facilitate decision-making, but below the surface, there’s not really much hierarchy. We put a lot of effort into building a comfortable and safe work environment, making sure everyone’s voice is heard.
As studio head, my day-to-day life is less predictable. On top of making sure that the teams on each project get everything they need for success, I also focus on finding future opportunities and creating a nurturing, empowering work environment.
What skill set is needed as a game director?
Regardless of your background – whether it’s on the creative or technical side of the games industry – having a good track record can give you the confidence and credibility to start as a game director. However, a more critical skill over the longterm is listening.
You won’t be able to contribute as much hands-on work as before. Instead, the quality of your game depends on how well you empower, delegate and utilise the team’s strengths. I also talk a lot about curiosity – the desire to nurture your passion, learn new skills and stay current on the latest technologies, or even the latest pop culture. The more diverse a team you have, and the wider their collective interests, the more trends they will pay attention to. Your projects then benefit from a range of different creative perspectives.
How do the art and aesthetics fit into your overall vision for a game?
Art plays a unique role in games because of the interactive nature of the media, as well as its technical constraints. To achieve visually impressive scenes in a game requires a team of experts, each contributing their own area of expertise. The vision of the game evolves from concept through production, and various disciplines all help shape how the game looks along the way. It’s really important to create a forum so you can get all these inputs, but at the same time, know there will be conflicting constraints. It’s expected of you to be decisive and make the right compromises. As an external developer, it’s crucial for Studio Gobo to understand the client’s artistic vision from early on, so as to set a clear goal for the project and have all relevant references in place. This helps build a foundation from which the team can work autonomously, with clear guidance.
“THE QUALITY OF YOUR GAME DEPENDS ON HOW WELL YOU EMPOWER, DELEGATE & UTILISE THE TEAM’S STRENGTHS”
What software do you use?
Studio Gobo spend most of our time in game engines, such as Unreal Engine, or bespoke proprietary engines developed by the clients themselves. Each department will then use a specialist software to bring their assets to life, most of which are fairly standard across the industry, including Maya, 3ds Max,
Houdini, and Motion Builder. We also use Machinations for game design modelling.
Technology in the games industry evolves very fast – not just software but also methodologies. It is really important for us to stay aware of any relevant advancement. For Studio Gobo, one advantage of being an external developer is that we work with many different AAA clients such as Ubisoft, Disney, Tencent and Warner Bros – all of whom have a unique technical setup. This gives our team a wealth of experience that you simply wouldn’t get in-house. The ability to quickly adapt to new technologies and the genuine desire to learn are super important for us.
Tell us about your favourite projects.
That would have to be Disney Infinity, which was my very first project at Studio Gobo. We made the entire Pirates Of The Caribbean playset. It was very refreshing to work on something playful, made to delight and surprise people.
As a designer back then, I learned a huge amount about creating games for a young audience. Children are so forgiving when they play the game, but also super excited when they discover small details or Easter Eggs that you carefully planted in the different levels, which makes you feel incredibly appreciated. We had many 8-12-year-olds coming into the studio for playtesting. They don’t follow the more rigidly defined mission structure that you see in many mainstream games. We had to make things freer and embrace distractions in the gameplay. To see a young, passionate audience genuinely having fun right in front of you is very rewarding.
Walk us through a typical project from concept to completion.
As an external developer, we usually start a project with a brief from the client. We then do due diligence, agree scope, align vision, assign team members and plan out the timeline.
When joining projects at an early stage, we can scope out the creatively risky features, prototype and prove out the final vision. We also learn more about what resources are required for production. Most AAA projects are brought to life with input from multiple studios these days, each with their own specialism, so keeping the process collaborative and honest is critical to success.
When we have review sessions with our partners, whenever possible, we will play together to get the full context of the feedback. The iteration and production process will continue until we fulfil that final vision.
How do you keep things fresh?
One thing I feel very fortunate for is that, as an independent developer, we are not tied to a specific publisher or a franchise. There’s a lot you can do to build a creative environment in-studio, but ultimately it’s the actual projects your team devote most of their time to. The chance to work on so many different, ambitious games helps keep things fresh at Studio Gobo.
As a whole, the games industry evolves very fast, but our involvement with some of the world’s top franchises enables Studio Gobo to meet the brightest minds in gaming. We learn new and innovative techniques first-hand, which feeds back into our projects. Not only that, we hire young, talented people and give them the opportunity to grow, sharpening their craft.
“THE ABILITY TO QUICKLY ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE GENUINE DESIRE TO LEARN ARE SUPER IMPORTANT FOR US”
How much time do you set aside for personal development and training for the team at Studio Gobo?
There are many different tracks for personal development happening at Gobo. We organise self-directed time for the team to learn and pursue personal projects.
Plus, we often reach out to industry experts who host workshops and masterclasses in the studio. Just recently, Ed Hooks was invited to give a talk on “Acting for Animators”, which the team found hugely inspiring.
Studio Gobo has a dedicated conference budget, so employees get to attend major industry events like GDC and Siggraph. There are a lot of self-organised events too. The engineers have regular reading club meetings; artists organise cross-project peer reviews; and designers have weekly game forums to present and discuss specific games or design topics.
One thing we really promote at Studio Gobo is continuous development and growth. That’s why curiosity is a key character trait that we look for in any potential new hires.
Going forward, is there a dream project you’d like to work on?
I’d love to work on a spy game! It’s a theme that’s very challenging from a game design point of view – to give the player agency and to reward their observational skills.
There are many popular franchises out there that do this genre justice, such as Hitman, but there are also a lot of titles that reduce the complexity of missions to repetitive gameplay mechanics. In the process, these games lose that sense of tension and payoff for the player. In a way, it’s contradictory, as game design needs to build familiarity which can then lead to mastery. I would love to work on such a project and solve these problems.
Seriously though, and I’m sure many would agree, once you have a clear vision it doesn’t matter if you’re working on your dream project or not. When you have a group of like-minded, talented people working together on a game, it’s a satisfying and powerful experience.