The Game Production Academy

Back in July 2020, me and Callum chatted about all things game production.

Welcome to Game Production Academy. I am Liam Wickham. This channel is for game producers and production leaders who want more predictable delivery without burning teams out. I cover planning, leadership and risk management with practical tools you can use immediately - templates, examples and case breakdowns. 

I am also the author of Risk Management for Video Game Professionals (CRC Press, 2026). If you teach or study game production, you can use the same material to build industry-ready practice.

Links

Risk Management Book
game-production.com/riskmanagementbook

Free Resource Library
game-production.com/freeresources

Newsletter
...

This is the podcast version of my YouTube walkthrough.

In 2025 I launched a comprehensive Udemy course on the topic and you can find it here:

https://www.udemy.com/course/risk-management-in-video-game-development/?referralCode=D6412142A30B4794B550

Part 3 is a walkthrough of generating a Risk and Issue Log that you can download and use/abuse at your leisure.

Here's the links to those files as promised:
Excel
Google Sheets

Part 1, a more general introduction around risk management in the game industry,  can be found here.

Part 2 goes into more detail on actual risk and issue examples.

Welcome to Game Production Academy. I am Liam Wickham. This channel is for game producers and production leaders who want more predictable delivery without burning teams out. I cover planning, leadership and risk management with practical tools you can use immediately - templates, examples and case breakdowns. 

I am also the author of Risk Management for Video Game Professionals (CRC Press, 2026). If you teach or study game production, you can use the same material to build industry-ready practice.

Links

Risk Management Book
game-production.com/riskmanagementbook

Free Resource Library
game-production.com/freeresources

Newsletter
...

Part 2 goes into more detail on actual risk and issue examples. I have based the categories on the only current academic research I could find on the topic. You can read that in full.

In 2025 I launched a comprehensive Udemy course on the topic and you can find it here:

https://www.udemy.com/course/risk-management-in-video-game-development/?referralCode=D6412142A30B4794B550

Topics covered in Part 2 include:

• High level risks
• Staffing risks
• Schedule & Budget Risks
• Inadequate specs (I decided to skip talking about Design specs here as that deserves its own section some other time)
• Fun Factor
• Change management
• Expectations of third parties such as publishers
• Summary

Part 1, a more general introduction around risk management in the game industry,  can be found here.

Part 3 is a walkthrough of generating a Risk and Issue Log that you can download and use/abuse at your leisure.

Welcome to Game Production Academy. I am Liam Wickham. This channel is for game producers and production leaders who want more predictable delivery without burning teams out. I cover planning, leadership and risk management with practical tools you can use immediately - templates, examples and case breakdowns. 

I am also the author of Risk Management for Video Game Professionals (CRC Press, 2026). If you teach or study game production, you can use the same material to build industry-ready practice.

Links

Risk Management Book
game-production.com/riskmanagementbook

Free Resource Library
game-production.com/freeresources

Newsletter
...

This is the audio version of my popular Risk Management YouTube video.

In 2025 I launched a comprehensive Udemy course on the topic and you can find it here:

https://www.udemy.com/course/risk-management-in-video-game-development/?referralCode=D6412142A30B4794B550

This is a general chat around risk management for those involved in making video games. This is an introduction to the topic and is aimed at game producers. 

Topics covered include:

• Why should you take risks and issues more seriously when making a game?
• What does risk management in the gaming world look like?What are risks and issues anyway?
• Why Risk and Issue logs are so useful
• How to tie in to Leadership meetings to really make this all useful
• Complexity of game making affecting risks/issues
• Example of how plans change, dependencies arise, etc and how your log can track this and assist in planning
• Producer accountability
• Continuous improvement of you and your team(s)
• Conversations, collaboration and transparency that arise for a positive approach to risk management
• Following through and taking action: how this leads to gaining trust, faith and momentum

Part 2 goes into more detail on actual risk and issue examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d9CSoy_z3w

Part 3 is a walkthrough of generating a Risk and Issue Log that you can download and use/abuse at your leisure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PljB6IBZW2w&t=421s

I mentioned some other articles on risk management for gaming. Here they are:
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131309/risk_management_with_development_.php
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/191523/managing_risk_in_video_game_.php

Welcome to Game Production Academy. I am Liam Wickham. This channel is for game producers and production leaders who want more predictable delivery without burning teams out. I cover planning, leadership and risk management with practical tools you can use immediately - templates, examples and case breakdowns. 

I am also the author of Risk Management for Video Game Professionals (CRC Press, 2026). If you teach or study game production, you can use the same material to build industry-ready practice.

Links

Risk Management Book
game-production.com/riskmanagementbook

Free Resource Library
game-production.com/freeresources

Newsletter
...