Selected Work

Fifteen years in AAA production, from environment artist to founding production leader. A few projects where the production system made the difference.

The Last of Us: Part I

The Last of Us: Part I key art showing Ellie and Joel
Studio
Naughty Dog
Years
2021 to 2022
Role
Producer
Scope
PS5, remake, shipped Sept 2022

What I owned

  • Background art production
  • Capacity planning across art and combat design
  • Accountability layer: standups, director reviews, dashboards
Problem

Ten months from internal ship, everyone felt overscoped and nobody had data. Art looked like the bottleneck, but combat design had not locked sections and did not know how much work remained.

Action

Scoped bottoms-up in 1:1s with every designer, built a capacity planner, and gave leadership blended headcount and date options.

Result

Found a 6-month overscope. Leadership added headcount and moved the date 3 months. I predicted design lock 10 months out and hit it within 2 weeks.

Design lock predicted 10 months out. Hit within 2 weeks.

Unannounced co-op FPS

BulletFarm key art: a red barn and windmill on open farmland under a storm sky
Studio
BulletFarm (NetEase-backed)
Years
2024 to 2025
Role
Founding Production Leader
Scope
PC/console co-op shooter, new IP, 17 growing to 21 people, 6 disciplines, 100% remote

What I owned

  • The entire production system, from zero
  • Director alignment and backlog
  • Studio operating rhythm and rituals
Problem

No sprints, no milestones, no shared view of completed work, with a fixed prototype date and a growing remote team.

Action

Mapped what existed first, then built a 3-week sprint with a 1-week hardening sprint, weekly Friday playtests, and a studio-wide show-and-tell every four months. Rolled it out through 1:1s with directors and every team member before announcing anything.

Result

Prototype delivered on date and focus-tested at 9 to 9.5 out of 10. Slips surfaced weeks early instead of days, and the remote team named the rhythm as a reason they liked working there.

Prototype on date. Focus tested 9 to 9.5 / 10.

Full credit list
MobyGames ↗ IMDb ↗

Your game ships when production works.

If any of this sounds like your production, let's talk.

Book a call → 30 minutes, free. A conversation about your studio and whether this is the right fit. zach@prodlab.gg Prefer to write first? Expect a response within one business day.