Inside CoolGames: Keeping everything moving in the right direction is key to success

Capturing every single element of the game production process is the secret of success to her job, according to Gigi Wong, Game Producer here at CoolGames. This can sometimes feel like a roller coaster ride, but ensuring everything runs smoothly drives our business KPIs while ensuring a great player experience.

Q: How would you describe your job at CoolGames?
A: As game producer my role is to ensure the production process of our games runs smoothly and drive our business KPIs. My daily activities include planning and extensive communication with the team, stakeholders and external partners. I make sure they are up-to-date with the past and current status of our game projects and also of what’s coming up.

Q: What is the most important skill for a game producer and why?
A: A good game producer is like a spider. We create intricate webs to capture every single element of a project. And believe me there are so many elements to a project it can feel like a roller coaster ride. The best game producers are also smart and fast problem solvers who make sure everything heads in the right direction and nothing gets side tracked.

Q: How would you describe CoolGames’ company culture?
A: It’s an informal environment where everyone can freely speak their mind. Everyone’s opinion matters and are listened to which I really appreciate.

Q: How international is the CoolGames team? What’s cool about working with people from around the world?
A: We have people from around the world working at CoolGames. It makes the culture so much more diverse and interesting. I have learned about so many different cultures from my colleagues. And on a lighter note it’s always cool when colleagues bring food to the office after they visit their home country. I have tasted very delicious and sometimes unique food from all over the world!

Q: What are some of the developments with HTML5 gaming?
A: In the past 6 years HTML5 games have become more popular than ever. Back then we were developing games for a few small platforms, but now we’re creating games for the Big Tech companies like Facebook, Google and Snap.

Q: What is a challenge and a pleasant surprise you experienced since working from home?
A: The biggest hurdle we had to solve is how to make sure we communicate effectively. In the beginning that was a challenge. We weren’t understanding one another because we couldn’t see each other’s emotions through software like Slack. It created a communication barrier, and not everyone was ready for that sudden change.
But now things have improved a lot. We now are much better at quickly jumping on a video call instead of sending an email. That makes communication much easier and impactful.

Q: What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently?
A: It was so cool Snap chose CoolGames to bring Hasbro’s Battleship to Snap Games. We’re all so proud of the game and the fact it’s one of the most played titles on Snap Games. We are working on some exciting new features to be released soon. Check out the game when you have the chance!

Q: Can you tell us about a challenging moment and how you resolved it?
A: A couple of years ago we partnered with a Japanese company to create a game for their platform. We had to overcome many cultural hurdles, especially when it came to expectation setting. We solved this with good communication. We set up a proper communication flow and managed expectations by setting clear agreements for both of our companies. Everything worked out well and the game was launched successfully. That project was valuable to me because I learned so much about how to best work with global partners. I’m still using the learnings today.