Michelle Chapman - Sumo Digital Talk


This week we had an industry talk by Michelle Chapman. Michelle is the Technical Design Director at Sumo Digital, a large company that has worked on many successful titles such as Forza Horizon 2&4, Forza Motorsport 7 and Hitman 2.

Michelle's talk was about their journey through the industry and how the role of Technical Designer has developed over time. This was interesting as they described the unconventional way that they have progressed into their current role and how the industry itself is still growing and learning how to make game creation more efficient.

The part I enjoyed the most was how they were honest about their experience of the industry, telling us about the ups as well as the downs of their journey and how they dealt with the all too common struggles within the industry. These being, a company Michelle was working for closed down which meant they were out of a job and when they first entered the industry they were subject to unwelcoming conditions, becoming victim of 'crunch culture'. 

Overall, I found this talk refreshing because instead of glossing over the bad parts they were honest about the industry as a whole and explained how they are working with others to improve the conditions of different roles. I believe this talk was well received and helped better prepare myself and others to enter the industry in the future.



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