Blair Brown (Associate Producer)

Blair Brown Associate Producer

CURRENT GAMING OBSESSION?

Most of my time is spent playing Mass Effect: Andromeda! But when I get the chance, it’s Overwatch or couch co-op Diablo 3.

FAVORITE ALL-TIME GAME?

Fallout 2. I played it at the right time and at the right age, so I have a ton of nostalgia for that game. The setting, open world, ambient noise, music, characters—I truly felt like I was in a post-apocalyptic world. Everything about the game tied together perfectly, wrapped up in a brilliant sense of dark humor.

HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN VIDEO GAMES?

I’ve always loved games, but I assumed you had to be a programmer or an artist to work in the industry. I didn’t realize there are hundreds of different roles involved in making a game. But one fortuitous day, while I was bartending, a regular customer came in and said, “Hey, you should put your résumé in at my work. I think you might be a good fit for production.” Five years later, I guess he was right.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON THE TEAM?

I’ve been working on Mass Effect: Andromeda since October 2015.

GIVE THE READER AN IDEA OF YOUR DAY-TO-DAY TASKS.

Each day is different! That’s the great thing about being a producer. Some days I’m in meetings discussing marketing plans. Others days, I’m giving feedback on a new level design or mechanic. Sometimes, I’m testing a new quest or looking at bugs to decide the team’s work priorities. It all depends on where we are in the life of the project.

Also, I order a lot of lunches.

WHAT WAS THE TRICKIEST TASK ASSIGNED TO YOU?

Supporting a team of developers across three studios in three different time zones to create new and exciting open worlds. It took a lot of communication, patience, trial and error, back and forth, give and take, [insert more “X and Y” analogies here]. It was a large undertaking, and the team knocked it out of the park. I was just there to support them in whichever ways they needed.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ABOUT THE GAME?

All the effort and hard work that the developers put in. Mass Effect: Andromeda is a massive game, and—faced with the challenges of a new galaxy, new engine, and the legacy of the original trilogy—the team did an amazing job delivering a great and innovative Mass Effect game.

WHAT DID THE TEAM DO DIFFERENTLY TO ACCOMMODATE OPEN-WORLD GAME DESIGN?

As a developer on this kind of game, you have to be okay with creating content that a player might never see. That’s a new challenge for BioWare because we’re used to making high-quality, finely crafted, linear missions. When you spend a lot of time creating these missions, you want the player to play them! But in open worlds, you have to create beautiful work that a large portion of players might never experience. It’s a hard mental shift for developers.

I hope players explore these worlds a lot. We want them to see all our awesome stuff!

HOW DO YOU APPROACH TELLING A BIGGER STORY WITH AN OPEN ENVIRONMENT?

I don’t think the team necessarily tried to tell bigger stories, but rather told more personal stories within these open environments. That was the real challenge here, and I think the team succeeded. You’ll find lost exiles trying to make a buck, a murder mystery involving personal and political intrigue, settlers trying to make a fresh start in a new galaxy, and krogan caught between their clan and the Initiative. The planets you discover help develop the narrative of Mass Effect: Andromeda as a sprawling space opera, but we’re still BioWare—it’s about characters and intimate moments.