WoU, Who?

Since joining the TALES, Veronica has led the team to all sorts of milestones. Our Game Producer, responsible for keeping this epic project on the move, sat with us to discuss the World of Us, what it means and how they contribute to the collaboration. 

“I used to work at Rockstar Games, in their Performance Production department. During my time there, I worked very closely with the directors, writers, actors, engineers, and animators to help create audio environments and performances that would completely immerse a player. I quickly learned how much detail and effort goes into every single moment of a game.” So, how does the World of Us project stand up against one of the world’s best-known gaming companies? “This is my first time working on such a collaborative project. When I joined, I expected more rigidness with what TALES was asking the Digital Creators to make. Instead of giving them a list of what they needed to make for the WoU, we provided a generic list of assets as a guide of what can be featured in-game, but they were welcome to go ‘off book’ if they wanted.”

World of Us is, as its name implies, a global project. And with this, some areas need to be navigated more carefully. “There are a lot of different time zones to keep in consideration.” Keeping track of the people is as important as keeping track of the work. “It’s important to make sure tasks are finished and milestones are achieved, but also that everyone has the support they need to do their job.” Thinking with such a global mindset has been part of Veronica’s way of living since childhood. “My parents are flight attendants, which allowed me and my sister to travel and experience as many different cultures and customs as possible from a very young age.”

She’s been fortunate enough to understand the impact of the representation of local cultures. “We have trees and bushes coming from the Danube Delta and Kouilou, and flowers and animals from Acre and Kerala. This matches with what the Digital Creators saw on their trips, and the game is more authentic because of it.” While the World of Us may be a digital escape, the inspiration that has been drawn to create it stays as true as it can to local lore and landscapes. Why improve on the things we love, eh?

No stranger to collaboration in her role, Veronica couldn’t hold back on the value of a strong team. “We would be lost without our Game Designer, Anna’s, brain! We can see from the assets being created what comes from allowing the team to have more input on what they create and why.” This way of working together isn’t the industry standard and that’s why we think it pushes the work to include even more insights and create a more well-rounded environment. “The experience is part of the learning process.” We couldn’t agree more. 

Coming from a background in entertainment, including Television Production, an educational game isn’t necessarily the most obvious next step. But that doesn’t stop her from dropping some excellent truth bombs. “You can teach more than one lesson with game design. For example, a mission can be as simple as finding 5 animals. The main “lesson” is that the player learns about different animals, but to find the animals it involves logic, deductive reasoning, and maybe even collaboration from other players.” But when it comes to a game designed to teach and enrich young minds there are many things that need to be taken into consideration. “The themes aren’t necessarily topics you’d learn in a classroom setting, sometimes they’re more subtle.” Nowadays, academic education takes precedence over a lot of emotional education. In World of Us, we’re looking to find a balance. “This game also teaches players how to communicate without using words. They will need to reach out to other children for help and trust that working with someone new can help them complete a puzzle or plant a seed.” 

And our final question, what would make this project a success? “We’d love it if a child in a grocery store is able to spot a fruit their avatar ate in the WoU. Then we know we’ve done our job.”

A massive thank you to Veronica for allowing us to pick her brain. Next up on our 'WoU, Who?' agenda: Marcela Zanon who steadfastly holds the reins of Community and Engagement.