Leadership in Games, or Why I’m not Insane for Studying This

11 Nov

So today I was pointed in the direction of this article about leadership by Brendan Sinclair at Games Industry International, focused on Dr. Ray Muzyka (one of the co-founders of BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect and Dragon Age). Sinclair’s piece examines Muzyka’s theory of leadership, namely, that “The unfortunate truth is it’s easier to be a half-assed or outright bad leader.”

While I know very little about Muzyka’s style as the leader of BioWare (a position which he has since left), what I do know is that both the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series are obsessed with questions of leadership, both good and bad, and work very hard to train their players on making the proverbial tough choices that leaders have to make. One of the best things about both series, in my not-very-humble opinion, is that both games ask their players to become leaders within the virtual gamespaces of the Milky Way galaxy and Thedas (respectively), forcing them to consider issues of ethics, of compromise, of loyalty, and of – to paraphrase one of the characters from Mass Effect – ruthless calculus.

Muzyka suggests that leadership is more important now than it ever has been – which is a phrase that has appeared in the literature (philosophic, fictional, and nonfictional alike) of every culture capable of writing. While I don’t subscribe to the “now more than ever” mentality, I do think that leadership is always important to social, political, and even scientific progress, and that it serves as the core reason for the success or failure of a work of art, an individual, or a civilization.

Muzyka suggests that the primary challenge in the twenty-first century is distraction:

There are a plethora of gadgets that enable people now, but technology can be overwhelming, and even paralyzing. It doesn’t replace good leadership or focus, Muzyka said. Good leaders need to cut through the noise and provide a clear path forward for their team. That starts by providing clear and consistent core values. It’s not just about what you consider important; it’s about what you don’t consider important.

Although Muzyka focuses more on the leadership capabilities of an industry developer than he does on the overwhelming presence of leadership in the company’s games, it’s clear that the development team as a whole has a good idea of what leadership is and what it should be, given their depiction of it through both narrative and mechanics in their games.