A chief gaming officer, or chief game officer (abbreviated as CGO) is an executive position whose holder is focused on

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

and technical issues within a

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

company.

Responsibilities

The chief gaming officer or chief game officer is in charge of heading both the

game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC ...

and the online/offline publishing functions of the company, and unlike most other

C-Suite Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

titles, reports directly to the

Chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

instead of the

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

. The CGO has authority to manage the

online game An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and sp ...

production cycle from start to finish. As head of game development, he or she is solely responsible for the conceptualization and

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is c ...

of new games, the budget allocations to different gaming projects, the budget allocation within each game, assembling a team of

software developer Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development inv ...

s and

game design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

ers, and ultimately, the approval of new games. As head of online publishing, the CGO also manages the online publishing,

web portal A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displa ...

, localization, and user interaction for all of the company products. The CGO negotiates and executes the appropriate agreements for

web hosting A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that hosts websites for clients, i.e. it offers the facilities required for them to create and maintain a site and makes it accessible on the World Wide Web. Companies providing we ...

and networking services for game delivery to the community, resolving issues with local

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privatel ...

s, and making sure that appropriate

online payment An e-commerce payment system (or an electronic payment system) facilitates the acceptance of electronic payment for offline transfer, also known as a subcomponent of electronic data interchange (EDI), e-commerce payment systems have become incre ...

agreements and systems are in place in each country. In addition to the online publishing of individual games, he acts as the portal manager, coordinating the development and publishing teams for the company web portal, which is of vital importance for a company delivering its products and collecting its user fees exclusively through the Internet. The CGO has the ultimate decision-making authority over the localization function, being the final person responsible for adapting each game to the geographical market where it is delivered. He interfaces directly with the community manager and

marketing manager Marketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and a ...

to ensure that the final product is delivered and marketed in the most effective way, consistently integrating customer feedback into new releases.

Usage

The first two video game companies that have employed this executive position are

Bigpoint Bigpoint GmbH is a German video game developer. The company develops stand-alone browser-based games as well as social network games. Bigpoint has over 200 million registered users (announced in June 2011). Bigpoint.com states that 337,104,419 ...

and Golden Worlds Entertainment Media Group. Some Esports teams, including British team Excel Esports, uses the title for their manager.

External links

Bigpoint Appoints Chief Game Officer
January 18, 2010 * Golden Worlds Entertainment Media Group appoints former CEO Kalicanthus as Chief Game Officer

References

Business occupations Management occupations Corporate titles Leadership Positions of authority Corporate executives {{Corporate titles