In this exclusive interview, Scott Mitchell of GhostRecon.net was able to briefly chat with the one and only Miss Kimi Matsuzaki, the senior Community Developer for the highly anticipated Ghost Recon Future Soldier title set to be released in March 2011 by Ubisoft. Now before you go and get too excited, water boarding was not authorized, so we weren’t able to uncover any new intelligence on Future Soldier, although Kimi did suggest a possible follow on interview at a later date that would specifically address components of the game. What we were given was a rare look at life as a Community Developer working for Ubisoft, as well as Kimi’s personal reflection on various video game related topics. I hope you enjoy the interview and appreciate the time Kimi spent answering our questions.

GRNET: We'll open with something easy to break the ice. You're so busy on Twitter and with GRFS promotional work; do you ever find time to play games?

Kimi: This is a funny question because ever since I started working in the game industry, I actually began playing LESS games! I don’t know if it was game fatigue after being exposed to games all day long (not playing all day, but just having it be part of the workplace), or simply just less time spent on “what I want to play” versus “what I should play”. My gaming taste has definitely evolved over the years. I went from being a hardcore, PC only, shooters only, MP only gamer, to one that will play SP on consoles that aren’t shooters. Back in the day I had the mentality of “Why should I play SP by myself when MP is available to play with other people?!”

I guess I could credit working at 1UP.com for exposing me to games beyond PC MP shooters, since there were other games I had to play for work.  I hate to admit it, but I don’t even own a gaming PC anymore; it just takes way too much to keep up with the upgrading. There’s really something great about coming home from work after sitting at a computer in a computer chair all day and being able to relax on the cushy couch with a controller, DS, or laptop.

GRNET: What is your platform of choice and why? What are you currently playing and what's your game of choice for a 30 minute fix?

Kimi: My current platform of choice is the Xbox 360 because I’m an achievement *ahem* lover. Currently I’m playing Red Dead Redemption on 360, Pokemon Heartgold, then Tiki Resort and Castle & Co on Facebook. After all this time of being able to avoid any FB games like Mafia Wars or FarmVille, I got hooked on Tiki Resort because it reminds me of vacation. (GRNET: Her Xbox Live Account is releasable to the public and is Live Kimi)

GRNET: While many of us gamers might think working for a major video game developer / publisher like Ubisoft is a dream job filled with benefits like free copies of all newly released Ubisoft titles and a cafeteria full of old retro arcade games, surely there are days when everyone has to set the joysticks aside and do some real work. What does an average work day as a community developer for a triple A title like Ghost Recon consist of?

Kimi: The typical workday can be pretty mundane, just like any other job. Don’t get me wrong, of course it’s more entertaining than doing something like data entry, but it’s still a job in the end. Because I do a lot of coordination with worldwide offices, my morning is spent catching up on communication from San Francisco’s end of previous day and Europe’s beginning of the day. I usually eat my breakfast and drink coffee while catching up on email, then skim the social media channels to see if anything needs immediate attention, such as nobody being able to play the game.

In the back end, this job is a lot of coordination, and passing things back and forth. One part of that is passing feedback from online to the devs and other departments within Ubisoft. The other part is communication in the other direction, tracking down information if I don’t already know it, then get it approved if needed. As far as releasing information and answering questions, it’s all on a case by case basis. Sometimes I know that the info is already out there, and I can quickly post a response. Other times, I have to see how one question/answer works into the grand plan. In a perfect world it would make my job so much easier just to throw everything out there when people want to know, but that’s not realistic. Things change, get cancelled, or shifted, and if you’ve already begun talking about something an expectation is created that something is likely to happen. Maybe life would be easier on everyone if a game was announced a month before launch, then all the information just dropped at one time a week before launch, huh? Haha!

On the fun side, I do a lot of planning and execution for assets such as written stories, videos, and random releases on our social media channels. I’m really keen on working as much as I can in my allowable communication to show off the behind the scenes of developing the game I am assigned to at the time, to share all the talent that goes into making a title. I’m the one at the studio right there chasing down the devs and trying to get them to make time to do fun stuff. They’re always busy doing their job of making the game, so I have to constantly try to work around their schedule. Sometimes things will just fall in my lap, like if I walk by somebody’s desk and see something cool sitting on their desk, or something they’re working on, and I’ll think, “Oh this is cool, I bet the community would like to see this!”

GRNET: What's your favorite perk working at Ubisoft?

Kimi: I’d definitely say that it’s having the opportunity to sit beside the dev team and experience the game as it shapes up, and the process it goes through from start to finish, along with all the talented devs I get to interact with on a daily basis. Coming from being a gamer, this is a fabulous opportunity to get to see behind the curtain every day. I could never be a level artist, or programmer…I guess the closest thing I could do on the team is to be a producer, but what I do now is great because I can interact with the team and also do fun stuff like the videos.

 GRNET: As the Senior Community Developer for Future Soldier, one of your primary jobs is to interact with the online community to not only promote the product to the fans and potential customers, but also relay the overall attitude of the players back to the developers. That being said, what determines the success of a game, from your perspective? Is it sales, review scores, feedback from the fans, or some other measure of success?

Kimi: For me, the game is successful if the general mood online is positive. You can’t expect everyone to love your game, but if the majority of people are enjoying the game then to me that’s a success. Of course, a game’s success is a multi-faceted answer because if the majority of people posting online like a game, this doesn’t automatically mean that a game is a monetary success. It could very well be a cult hit, but if it doesn’t sell enough to even break even, a company and publisher may be very hesitant to continue in that way, because after all it’s a business right?

But again when it comes to my personal feeling of the game, community, and job, to me a game is successful if the overall attitude is positive. It could be hard to tell since people who are loving the game may be too busy playing to come back online and say “This game is great!”, but as long as I’m not seeing endless “OMG this game is terrible, what a waste of money, the devs are a bunch of talentless fools”, then it’s all good. When a game releases I think it’s natural to expect a couple of minor hiccups, but if nothing major comes along and people are playing the game and enjoying it, then especially for the dev team it was well worth their blood, sweat, and tears.

GRNET: What's more stressful, pre-release or post-release?

Kimi: I’d say that pre-release is the more stressful phase of the two because there are so many limitations when it comes to talking about the game. Up until the last minute we may have one game intention but until that game goes into submission, things can change and/or get dropped. If we don’t talk about something then people feel we’re ignoring them, and that’s certainly not the case. But I don’t want to, and I’m sure nobody wants to see endless postings of me saying, “I hear what you’re saying but I don’t have an answer for you right now.” I try to do it here and there to at least show that I’m around but believe me, I’m as frustrated not being able to give answers as the community is to not have them. And again, going back to this video game thing being serious business, yes, top sites may get to premiere some information first. Ubisoft needs to give top sites information to entice them to give top spot coverage, which in turn translates into reaching the masses with said coverage. Keep in mind that a majority of gamers wouldn’t be in the practice of scouring the web for game info, but may just go to major game news sites like IGN, Kotaku, etc. If a game never got that sort of coverage and only relied on online buzz, it could very easily be a critical darling and gamers would never see a sequel.

GRNET: How much of your work day is spent on Facebook and Twitter in the performance of your official duties?

Kimi: Only a small percentage of my workday is devoted to social media channels. I have a Twitter program open all day long so I can post quick hits as they come along, which doesn’t really distract from whatever else I’m working on. But for something like Facebook and forums, that takes more of my attention so I’ll hit them periodically throughout the day when I’m taking a break from emailing, planning, coordinating, and doing all the necessary but less fun back-end stuff.

GRNET: Do you support any titles other than Ghost Recon?

Kimi: Right now I’m supporting Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and to a much smaller capacity, an unannounced title. Because I’m a Senior Community Developer and I’ve been with the department from the start, I spend some time supporting the other ComDevs on their titles in an advisory capacity but since they’re pretty much old hats at this now it’s much less than before.

GRNET: What are you most excited about when you think of Future Soldier’s release later this year?

Kimi: What I’m most excited about having Ghost Recon: Future Soldier releasing is finally being able to play a game that I’ve worked on every night when I go home. I kind of transitioned off of Far Cry 2 before it released, so really the last thing I played in a related capacity was GRAW 2 DLC. It’ll be great to have something to devote my nights to that I personally know the faces that went into making the game possible.

GRNET: Several of Ubisoft's “money maker” games have the name Tom Clancy in the title. Granted, Ubisoft has owned the property rights for video games and related merchandise bearing that name for a number of years now, does Mr. Clancy ever stop by, communicate or have any involvement with games and merchandise bearing his name?

Kimi: I’ve not personally seen Tom Clancy at the studio during the time I’ve been here, and I’m not involved with the licensing stuff. But, I imagine it’s like how his name is still put on books that someone else actually writes…I guess his name itself is a brand as well. I have heard stories, though, from people who have been at the studio for years about his visits and sitting there in their offices back when he used to still own the studio. I remember when it was announced that the Tom Clancy name was purchased by Ubisoft a bunch of us were joking, “Dude, we OWN Tom Clancy. We own him!” He’s probably sitting on some ranch in Montana, cackling as he sits on his throne of money. (GRNET: Agreed. Although the exact details of the detail remain undisclosed, TC is rumored to have made in the 9 figure range off of the deal)

GRNET: After receiving and distributing a number of "behind the scenes" photos taken while filming the Future Soldier live action video, you recently posted on Twitter comments to the affect that you and your fellow co-workers watched the video clip for the first time on a big screen and weren't quite sure what to expect. How much daily interaction do you have with the development team, how much info do they share with you and how hard is it to keep it a secret from everyone else?

Kimi: I had some knowledge of the live action video but only in its development stages. I think what I was commenting on was how there’s nothing like seeing it for the first time in its finished stage, on a big screen nonetheless. For the team, it was the first time they’d seen it, since any of them that were involved were only for assets and such, not the actual filming.

With the Paris team, I have some interaction with them, but it’s mainly done by the onsite ComDev, UbiLeak. With the Red Storm guys, I have access to pretty much everything and everybody. I wouldn’t say so much that it’s difficult to keep a secret, but at times it can be frustrating to be one of the people on the front lines who can’t share everything and to have people think that we’re simply not doing our jobs because we don’t have their answer at that very second. I’m the very one in the office constantly asking for things, knowing that at least 50% of the time I’m going to get a “No” or “not yet”, but that’s what I’m here for, to advocate the communication.

GRNET: A couple of weeks ago there were a few geek websites that posted stories about Microsoft employees who use iPhones (which are obviously made by Apple, one of Microsoft's biggest competitors). As much as 10% of Microsoft's workforce use iPhones. Does Ubisoft frown upon or have any policies that prevent employees from playing products made by their chief competitors?

Kimi: Ubisoft understands that many of us that work for the company are gamers ourselves, first and foremost. We definitely play competitor’s games both for our own enjoyment and for research. While I don’t have everyone from RSE on my friends list, I’d say there were nearly 10 of us on my friends list playing Red Dead Redemption last night! Some of us even play Quake over LAN during breaks. There are game libraries at both Red Storm and Ubisoft Montreal that any employee can borrow a game from. (GRNET: That sounds like a pretty decent perk too, LOL.) But out of professional courtesy to what we’re doing, you’ll never see one of us online saying something like “Halo is the best game ever made in the entire world! I want to eat, drink, and sleep Halo!!!!”

GRNET: What title or franchise do you foresee to be your biggest competitor for Future Soldier?

Kimi: I don’t know if I could name one. Modern Warfare is definitely a competitor for pretty much any other shooter out there, because it’s become this behemoth just like World of Warcraft. I think that one thing the Ghost Recon brand does pretty well is being a bit different from the others. It isn’t set in “right now” and also not in the far future with aliens and crazy guns. It’s sort of like “Picture what the next generation will be like”. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of any other shooter title that’s in that space.

GRNET: We know that you've seen Sam Fisher's iconic headset (or what we’re assuming was Fisher’s headset) and what appears to be one of the gas masks from the set of the GRFS live action video. Have you had the opportunity to experience any of the other gadgets and weapons (functioning and/or props) firsthand?

 

Kimi: Let’s see…we had one guy visit with a bunch of guns that we got to get our hands on. A Special Forces advisor visited and took some of us out into the field to do formations, and also to get a look at some night vision toys. When some guys from Paris visited, we went to the gun range with the personal arsenal of one of the designers. In addition to shooting a USP Compact and M4 style carbine, I got to shoot a Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun that had so much recoil he had to hold my shoulder so my entire body wouldn’t fly back! The sound guys went on a bunch of shoots to capture real weapon and helicopter sounds, but I wasn’t along on that. We went on a trip to an undisclosed location to capture foliage and sounds. That was great, and I’d say one of the best parts of the job, getting to travel and experience things I wouldn’t ordinarily do.

GRNET: Are there any plans or special events to use the Frag Dolls to promote Future Soldier and will they add this game to the list of games they compete in?

Kimi: I’ve had talks with the Frag Dolls about what we could partner in that would make sense. They’ve always supported Ghost Recon games and the majority of the girls are skilled in shooters so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them representing in the game servers, community nights, and Frag Doll Fridays. As far as competing, I really don’t know what their plans are.

GRNET: What is your perspective on the relationship between video games and violent behavior? Generally speaking, do certain scenarios that involve innocent civilians being harmed or potentially harmed cross the line or is it perfectly acceptable to include morally challenging scenarios in a game?

Kimi: I don’t think that video games are any more violent than watching an R rated movie, or even network television. Obviously the big difference between playing games is passive versus interactive, but the overall content can be similar. If players actually stick to the intended ESRB rating, the player should be mature enough to distinguish the morality presented in games. The game can present it in a mature way that’s representative of a possible scenario, and not just gratuitous killing. Really, not to get up on a soapbox or anything, but bottom line it comes down to the parenting. For a Mature rated game, for sure the gamer should be old enough to understand the difference between things happening in games not translating to how one acts in life. In the Teen rating starting from age 13, it would be a specific decision of the parent on whether their child is mature enough to understand the difference, as well as education on the parent’s part. If a parent is going to allow their child to play a game with morally challenging scenarios, the parent needs to be responsible enough to first make sure the child understands the difference between a video game and real life, and also have the dialogue with them. They need to be involved, not simply, “Here’s a video game, I don’t know what’s in it or what the rating is”. I would like to think that for the most part, our generation that pretty much grew up on gaming and are now having kids have that groundwork to do that sort of educated parenting. Look at that cute boy, Lil Poison. He’s been playing M rated games since he was six years old, and while some people may immediately scream, “Bad parenting!” his father is right there with him being involved. So, Lil Poison knows he’s playing a game and competing, and not applying his “learning from a video game” to real life.

GRNET: What advice can you offer someone who is interested in pursuing a career in the game industry?

Kimi: Decide why you want to work in the industry in the first place. Is it because you think you’ll get to play games all day or because you have a passion to become part of a team creating something that millions may possible play? You need to figure out whether your intentions are right or not (because really, nobody sits around playing games all day. It *is* a job, there *will* be BS that goes along with it, like any job). Sure, working in games is a lot of fun, but it’s important to take a mature approach to it as a career. Understand the business side of things, read reports on how games are made, and understand technical stuff about games. Also, find out where your passion is. Don’t just enter into it thinking “I want to do whatever I can get to get into the industry”, because then you’ll likely become a jack of all trades, master of none.  Once you decide what you want to specialize in, get the necessary training, but don’t only rely on “a game design degree” to get your foot in the door. You will need to practice your craft as much as you can outside of the schooling if you choose to get it. And finally, a foot in the door is always good. Say you get a job as a tester. You can then learn what the company culture is like, the specifics of how each team does the job, and then continue to learn based on these learnings so that once a position opens up that you’re ideal for, you have that team knowledge under your belt as well as already being a known face on the team in a different capacity.

GRNET: Bonus Question. Who has cooler gadgets, Sam Fisher or the Ghosts?

Kimi: I’d say the Ghosts, simply because they have big firepower, and I like that! Who doesn’t like things that go boom?

GRNET: Thank you Kimi for your time and the effort you put into answering these questions. Hopefully we didn’t steal you away from any pressing GRFS matters like prepping for E3, wink wink.

In closing, I’d like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Ubisoft for approving these discussions and a hearty thank you to Ubi Kimi for her support and devotion to a game most of us remain passionate and committed to. This relationship we have partnered in from the beginning has witnessed a number of changes and turnover in development teams, but the fans have always remained and this bond remains a tremendous asset to us all.

Scott Mitchell