The 5 "words" roles needed to create a video game

If we look at the money that moves the video game industry it is clear that this is a serious business.

That's what the statistics say, but what my conversations with neighbors at the pool say is different!

The other day I was taking a bath with my neighbors; one sells cars, another is a lawyer, another is a pharmacist, the other builds kitchens ... and I do ... "the words in the video game” as they refer to what I do

This “puddle” in my urbanisation has been crucial to survive those 40-degree afternoons that this summer we had in Spain. It also served as a “social headquarters” in which one more summer I found that my neighbours consider that dedicating myself to video games means that I don’t have a “real job”☺️

They often make fun of me as I don't have a real job (but good vibes!) and although I did not just earn their respect yet☺️), I am the idol of their children as I work making video games!

The other day in my umpteenth attempt to explain that this is a real job I was talking to them about the people who create the content of the games that players around the world enjoy so much (including their children!)

Creating the narrative part of a game the truth is that it requires more effort and professional diversity than we might think at first.

If you never stopped to think about it (like my neighbors) this post is for you!

The 5 "words" roles needed to create a video game

Narrative designer: Once upon a time ….

The Narrative Designer is the alma mater of the video game creation as he participates in the crafting of a game’s story, he creates characters, defines the story of what’s happening in each of the scenes we are playing. He’s building story arcs and he’s contributing to building the player’s emotional journey.

And this last part of the player emotional is the key difference between a writer writing books, or a movie writer creating a script for a film.

A book or a movie is somehow statistic, the story remains constant, you cannot change what’s happening (unless you read one of those books that I read when I was a kid which sent you from one page to another depending on the option you chose, or that special episode from Black Mirror when you chose the plot) 

Source: Medium

In video games, however, players interact with the narrative on a completely different level. Players become the story. Their actions and their decisions shape the way the story is told, no one's first experience while playing is identical to another.

The Narrative Designers' goal is to focus on the high-level story, visualize the tone of the game. 

Game writers

Although sometimes the 2 terms are used interchangeably, a narrative designer and a game writer are not the same. Game writers …. they understand the plot of the videogame, the characters character, and theme, and the crucial difference is that they know how to put dialogue in the service of all three. The writer crafts narrative

A writer creates text within a game world, which can range from the description a player reads when they click on an icon, to the flowing conversational dialogue between two characters, or the description of a vast fortress in the game

Source: Joel Anton

Another major difference between both roles is when are involved in the game development phase while Writers are often recruited after the start of product development, Narrative Designers on the other hand are typically needed from the initial inception of a product as they are integral to the creation of the game.

UX writer

The UX writer we usually find them in those companies that develop mobile games. They focus on Creating microcopy for our mobile phones. UX writers need to ensure that copy is concise, useful, informative and on top of that, it needs to fit in with the narrative design of the game as much as possible to give the player an immersive gaming experience! Wow, those are many areas to master, aren’t they? 

Example of UX writing work Alto’s Adventure

UX writers are very important when creating a mobile game because words embody just as much design ethic as a wireframe.

UX writers work alongside design teams to create player-centered copy for the games. 

Video games copywriter

This is another role related to creating words but it deals with the video games from a different angle as the copywriter focus on marketing and the promotion of the game

Copywriter responsibilities creation per content type 

Source: Wheatleys

The game copywriter focusing on creating content that makes appealing and creates a need to buy that game. It’s all about creating a call to action so you buy the game!!!!

Localization/Globalization specialist

Of course, we could not forget the function of the language specialist… What's the point of investing so much effort in the narrative of the game, the creation of microscopy, or the marketing material if later the players do not understand English? It does not seem like a good idea that much effort is put into creating the perfect narrative, perfect tutorials, and then not translating for international audiences. It is for this reason that the role of a localization specialist is essential to break the language barrier and make everyone enjoy the game independently of their language!

If you want to know more about how to localize a video game, this article I wrote may interest you !!!

In summary

Although in video games animation, art and music are all elements super important to provide a proper player experience, we should not forget about the impact of words on player experience

The language, the microcopy, the worlds created through words when creating a videogame is of high importance. 

The way we speak to the players defines the way they’ll behave toward our game. Therefore the level of communication must be understandable, fun, and human friendly enough to create an end to end player experience. 

Have a wonderful week and remember not to forget the “words people” next time you are enjoying playing a video game 😛

@yolocalizo