Game-Release Portfolio Recovery Leader

The mandate

Four studios work against different build, feature, quality and localisation definitions, while central publishing coordinates dates alongside platform and live-service dependencies. The role takes release-governance authority while creative directors retain product vision and accountable specialists own technical release.

The seat begins within three weeks and lasts nine months through two launches, one cancellation decision and appointment of a permanent portfolio executive. The first month reconciles builds, scope, critical defects, people load, platform gates and commercial commitments. Months two through six reset milestone and portfolio capacity decisions. The closing phase proves the model through launch, live incident and successor-led greenlight cycles without continuing emergency overtime.

Handover is complete when the successor has chaired six portfolio reviews, both authorised releases meet accepted readiness gates, every deferred feature has an explicit disposition, and no studio relies on unapproved sustained overtime. The successor inherits build and scope states, creative dependencies, defect and technical risks, platform obligations, localisation status, player commitments, workforce load and a twelve-month portfolio decision calendar.

The interim may reset governance, re-sequence shared resources, reject unsupported milestones, pause marketing release, require sustainable staffing and recommend cancellation. Final launch, product cancellation, creative scope, permanent executive appointments, workforce reductions, platform commitments or spend above CAD15 million needs chief-executive or committee approval. Creative directors own vision; technical and security officers own production release and incident judgments.

Monetisation strategy, franchise acquisition, game design, engine replacement and permanent studio organisation are outside scope. The interim will not improve milestones by hiding cut scope, recategorising defects or coercing unpaid overtime. Work concerns credible portfolio commitments and safe execution of approved products, not directing creative content or promising critical acclaim and player reception.

Why this seat is open

Repeated delay and unsustainable delivery exposed that central portfolio reporting could not reconcile what studios were actually building. The leadership exit came with two external dates still active. The publisher needs an experienced studio operator who can make transparent sequence and stop choices, protect creative authority and leave a successor with a sustainable portfolio truth.

What you will own

• Reconcile build, feature, defect, localisation, platform, publishing, live-service and workforce states across four studios, external partners, certification queues, release branches and emergency patches.
• Decide shared production and specialist allocation within delegation against release consequence and sustainable capacity.
• Establish milestone evidence that preserves scope movement, quality debt, uncertainty and accountable acceptance.
• Reset greenlight, date, marketing and launch-readiness forums around explicit decision rights.
• Protect workforce health through load, overtime, recovery, attrition and critical-skill evidence.
• Run launch, platform rejection, security incident, localisation delay and live-service surge scenarios.
• Induct the permanent leader and transfer portfolio, studio, people and platform commitments.

Candidate qualifications

• Has held executive production authority across multiple AAA, online or similarly complex game studios through release delay, certification failure and live-service transition.
• Can evidence a release re-sequenced or stopped because build and workforce evidence contradicted the public date.
• Understands creative production, builds, defects, platform certification, localisation, publishing and live operations.
• Has protected creative leadership while enforcing portfolio-level capacity and readiness decisions.
• Can distinguish delivered scope, cut scope, deferred work, accepted quality and launch commitment.
• Has handed a release recovery to permanent leadership after real launch and incident cycles.