As my first guest of June, Osama Dorias shares with us what’s his role is all about, but also his thoughts about our industry and what needs to change.
Osama is actually one of the first game developers I contacted on Twitter for my blog, and he is the first person who replied as well! With our own busy schedules, we finally made it – after a few emails, I had everything I needed to post this great interview. It’s a pleasure of mine to have been able to be in touch with him and to share his experience with you all now.
I am so glad to be having you here, Osama! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m really happy to be here Johanna, thank you for having me! I’m a career game designer with 15 years of experience across multiple platforms, genres, and specializations. I’ve been fortunate enough to have contributed to over 30 games in my career.
I’m also a game design professor who has been teaching for the last 12 years. And I’m a public speaker on the advocacy topics of diversity, representation, and wellbeing in the video game industry. I’m also an event organizer who has put together festivals, game jams, workshops, and other activities throughout the years.
Johanna: The list of all the things you do in the video game industry is very impressive! I would like to think that I will be doing the same in 10 years, but… One step at a time. Anyway, I think it is so nice that you are able to fight for what is important to you, and help others feel heard and not alone when fighting their own battles.
When was the first time you were introduced to video games?
I remember going over to my cousin’s house when I was maybe 4 years old, and I saw them holding something while watching TV. The moment that I realized that they were controlling the little tanks my mind was blown and I threw a fit because I wanted to try! That was 40 years ago, the game was called Combat, and I’ve been in love with video games ever since!
How did you enter the industry? Have you always been in game and content design?
I’ve been making games since I was a young child, but I never considered a career in game design. That changed when a friend of mine, who is also of Arabic descent, got a job as a game designer for a major mobile game studio.
At that point I already had a portfolio of silly flash games that I had fun making. He became my first mentor in the industry and he helped me build a proper portfolio and start applying for jobs.
I must have applied for hundreds of postings, but I only had 1 callback. Thankfully I received an offer from that company, and the rest is history.
What does it mean to be a Lead Content Designer?
It’s not the most common title in our industry, but usually it’s a combination of Mission, Quest, and Activities design. Though my personal focus relating to content design career-wise has been more on the missions side.
What does your day look like and what challenges are you facing when making a game?
I think “wrangling kittens” is the best analogy! Generally, my team comes up with a mission idea, then we have to check to make sure that this idea fits with the game across all other disciplines, and that means having alignment from all of the other related teams on the project.
Does the story of our mission fit in with the main plot? Do the required player verbs make sense? Are the rewards for completing the mission in line with the game’s economy? Is the mission even technically feasible?
Johanna: I can’t even imagine how much time it takes to do all of this for a AAA game…! I like that you’re focusing on missions because I am a huge fan of games featuring open worlds and lots of side quests. It’s nice to learn more about what’s behind the scenes!
There are a lot of meetings, discussions, and concessions as we seek alignment for the best player experience possible! It’s a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work!
And then, after all of that, we have to actually build the thing!
Do you have examples of games with great content design to share with us?
There are too many to count, but Witcher 3 stands out as one of the best showcases of good mission design in a game. Every mission takes you on a sometimes completely unexpected emotional journey. It’s a master class in content design.
Johanna: Still on my to do list! I need to take some time to play it before 2024…
How much has game development evolved since these past years?
Tremendously. There were so many major revolutions on how we look at games that have happened throughout my career. Most notably, game designers have more access to data and feedback than ever before. We can make a lot more informed decisions and have to rely less on guesses than in the past.
But also, especially in the AAA space, games are a lot harder to make now. They require more people and much more can go wrong throughout the process. There’s a certain level of faith that the dev team has to have in the final product and the decision makers on the team.
As a Lead, which qualities are the most important to bring out people’s creativity?
I see my role as one of facilitator. I’m not here to impose my tastes and opinions on the team. My job is to set the boundaries of what we want to create, for the purpose of having a cohesive offering for our players, and to then have my team be as creative as they can be within those boundaries. We can get the best work out of people when you allow them to put as much of themselves into it as they can, so my role is to make it as clear as possible what fits and doesn’t fit before they start tapping into their passion and creating from the heart!
You hosted two different talks at GDC 2023, one of them being about occupational burnout in games. What could you share about this topic, that is way too common in our industry?
There are deep, ingrained, structural issues in our industry that we collectively need to reevaluate and change so that we stop burning out such a large number of our creatives year after year. These are not personal issues, they are systemic ones. We have to foundationally rethink our creative processes and put the health and wellbeing of our workforce before all other considerations. Otherwise, there will be no one left to make games.
Johanna: I actually watched the whole conference and that had a big impact on me. Though I never felt close to burnout in my life, hearing you talk about mental health issues and how you dealt with those was definitely inspiring – and from what I saw on Twitter, it definitely helped many other people from our industry!
As part of the International Game Developers Association, you also discussed Muslim identity in the games industry. To you, what should be done to improve representation and diversity?
More than anything else, we need more seats at the table. Everything else will improve if there are more people from traditionally Muslim countries involved in game decision making. Muslims account for a significant percentage of game players and yet the number of Muslims making games is completely disproportionate.
Of course we’re not the only marginalized group that should have a seat at the table. The more diverse and representative of the actual real world the industry becomes, the better outcome it is for everyone.
We can hear you discuss various topics with Rami Ismail and Fawzi Mesmar in the Habibis podcast you are having every Friday. What can our readers expect when listening to it?
We generally talk about games, Arabic culture, and the reality of our industry. But also, we love each other and it shows. Readers can expect to have 3 adult men express this love with each other on a weekly basis Inshallah. 🙂
Anything else you would like to share?
Yes. I truly do believe that things are getting better in our industry. I don’t want people to lose hope. We are slowly getting to where we need to be. We just have to keep focusing on what’s important. The people. It’s always the people. Much love.
Osama Dorias – Lead Content Designer
LinkedIn / Twitter / BlueSky
Thank you so much Osama for your time! I see you guys in two weeks, in the meantime take care – and drink a lot of water because it’s getting hooot out there!
