Focus on the Problems You Solve

I’m in the midst of running my cohort-based course for boosting the careers of those in game audio, and this week, we started to work on our positioning. We’re really starting to think more deeply on the sorts of problems that we audio folks are truly solving.

Ultimately, we’re wondering: What are we helping with that goes beyond just “making good sound/music?”

All too often, we think just because a developer or director says they need audio, that that’s the only issue we’re helping with.

But, the most valuable team members of any discipline think deeper than that. They realize that they’re:

1. Saving everyone time

2. Polishing prototypes so that it’s easier to get funding

3. Creating documentation so that future audio hires can jump into the team easily

4. Building pipelines that could work on not just one project, but speed things up for several more games down the line

5. And countless other commonly-overlooked issues

Not to mention the fact that just being a good person to be around can be invaluable on a tight knit team, working in a stressful environment.

So, while you’re navigating the wildness of this industry, have a good deep think and ask yourself: what problems are you really helping to solve?

Focusing on that can help you realize how helpful you really can be.