Game on!

A PASSIONATE young gamer when he was a student at Ripon Grammar School, Razi Abbas is thrilled to have landed his dream job in the gaming industry.

He works for Sheffield-based Sumo Digital, which develops its own products (including Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Still Wakes the Deep) and works with developers across the globe to help make leading games such as Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty and Forza Motorsport.

“Securing a job in the gaming industry, which provides a safe space for billions of people across the world, has been a dream come true,” he says.

But success didn’t come easily, and it took a lot of hard work and perseverance, he explains.

Having studied accounting and finance at the University of Liverpool after taking A-levels in business studies, chemistry and psychology, he says: “The video game industry is notoriously difficult to get into if you haven’t had years of experience within the industry itself.”

Razi started out in project management as a graduate trainee for Wolseley plumbing and heating, before moving on to work for the Co-op supermarket group and the University of Leeds.

His first big break in gaming came during the height of the pandemic in 2021: “That’s when I found my dream role; a video game producer for one of the UK’s biggest indie developers, Team17, who make the Worms games from back in the day.

“I was in a really fortunate position in that everything I had learned from being a project manager could be easily transferred to the role of a producer.

“This really was a dream come true and the one thing I say to myself is that if I could go back to school, I would focus my efforts on taking a path that would have got me into the video game industry sooner.

“Even when I went to university and despite doing accounting and finance, I knew I didn’t want to be an accountant. It was probably in my late twenties where I realised that the skills I had gained throughout my career up until that point would help me get into the gaming industry.”

Since moving to Sumo – one of the biggest ‘work-for-hire’ developers in the UK, with 16 studios across the UK, Canada, Poland, Czech Republic and India – his role as senior project manager is now focused on how the company operates as a business.

“I’m not actively involved with game development now but the projects I work on will touch each of our 16 studios in one way or another." 

“The path I’m currently on is the path that was made for me. When I talk about how I got here I tend to say I’m ‘lucky’ that I got a role in the gaming industry but I actually worked extremely hard to get here, gaining loads of transferrable skills from my previous roles so I could get to the role that I knew I was made for, within an industry that I desperately wanted to be in.”

In terms of his greatest successes, he says: “From a career perspective, seeing my name on the credits for a video game for the first time is really up there, especially when I was actively involved in the game’s development as a producer. Even though in my current role, I’m not actively working on game development, I still get credited, and it doesn’t get old! (*See some of the games Razi has worked on, below)

He learnt a lot from being thrown into the deep end, managing high profile projects for Wolseley, he says.

“I didn’t really know what project management was or that I could make a career out of managing complex, multi-faceted projects for large organisations. I was very much thrown into the deep end but quickly found my footing.”

The skills he picked up are extremely useful now: “At Sumo, I’m working on multiple projects at one time, so my day always starts with me reviewing mine and my project teams tasks for the day – we use what’s called agile project management methodologies and within that we produce sprint plans (these are a list of tasks that take place across a three-week period).”

One of the biggest challenges he faced in life was doing so badly in his AS-levels he had to repeat the year in order to get where he wanted to go - but it was also the greatest lesson he learnt.

“It would’ve been near impossible for me to get into the universities I wanted to. It really taught me the importance of working hard to get to where I wanted to go.”

His goal now is to become a creative director in the video game industry: “I want to be developing and executing the creative vision for games, informing the direction a video game takes throughout its development.”

He outlines a typical day: “Once I’ve reviewed the plan for the day, I’ll go straight into meetings with project teams and get to work on tasks that are specific to me.

“Now, I’m working a large programme of work focused around changing some of our operational processes, while also working on a medium sized system change project, so I must balance multiple priorities across multiple teams.

“The role of a project manager is very much around ensuring realistic plans are in place for projects, risks and issues are tracked and mitigated but most importantly it’s around getting the best out of your team and supporting them to do the absolute best work they can do – so a lot of my day-to-day is supporting and managing people, to be able to deliver our projects on time and in full.”

The best bit about his job, he says is working with the company’s incredibly talented development teams: “They make amazing games and being able to support them by delivering projects that genuinely change how they do things is great.

“Also having an insider’s view of a lot of gaming related projects that haven’t been announced – I have to sign non-disclosure agreements so I can’t talk about any of that.”

The worst bit in any project management role - not specifically the one he’s in now - he says, is: “People’s resistance to change despite there being obvious benefits to that change can be quite challenging to navigate.”

Razi adds: “I really appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the RGS alumni magazine. When I was at RGS, I was one of a handful of Asian students and I didn’t have someone I could look to from a similar background to provide the guidance and support I probably needed at the time.

“I hope that our current students, regardless of their background can look at some of the content above and understand that your goals and career outcomes are always achievable and that RGS and its former students can provide you with the right support, guidance and mentorship to get there.”

*Razi, pictured top right and top left in his RGS form photos, helped develop the first three games, below, as a producer at Team 17

*At Sumo Digital, Razi has been credited on a number of games, with the most commercially successful being Still Wakes the Deep, a horror game set on a Scottish oil rig

What was the most important thing you learnt at RGS?

That working hard and remaining focused really does pay off and to get where you want to be takes effort, resilience and tenacity.

What extra-curricular activities were you involved in while at RGS, both in and out of school, and how valuable were they?

My extra-curricular activities were very sports-focused, specifically cricket. I played cricket every year I was at RGS, predominantly for our first team and every now and then captaining our second team and I also played for Studley in their first and second teams.

In terms of what I gained from playing cricket, it certainly helped me understand the importance of a singular team working to a unified goal. It provided me with a sense of community, camaraderie and also allowed me to understand how to get the most of a team by leaning into their skillsets.

What do you wish you’d known back then?

That going to university isn’t the be all and end all of having a good career – while I really appreciate having the opportunity to go to university, I know now there are other routes to get to where you want to be as long as you’re driven, you work hard and you don’t falter from your morals and the things you’re passionate about.

What was your dream when you were at school?

So, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a really long time and I definitely didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was at school; I was good at a lot of things but I didn’t excel in any one thing, which sometimes meant I felt quite lost when figuring out where I wanted my career to go.

What is the one piece of advice you’d give students interested in following a similar career path?

The best piece of advice I received from a former manager was that seeking the next promotion is not always the best way of approaching the next step in your career. Never underestimate the benefits of sidestepping into a role at the same level as it could potentially give you an opportunity to broaden your skillset and expertise, putting you in a much better position to excel in a role that’s the next step up.

When I moved from Wolseley to the Co-op, I changed roles from a project manager to a project support officer which, on paper, is a downgrade. However, I learnt so much in the PSO role that it allowed me to really quickly move into a more senior project manager role.

Who was your favourite teacher and why?

Mrs Caldwell (Miss Boltby at the time) was absolutely amazing! She always knew how to get the best out of me and help me get there. My love for chemistry came from her and if I didn’t end up on my current career path, I would’ve focussed on pursuing a career in something chemistry related.

*Who or what inspired you when you were at school?

Outside the really great and supportive teachers we had, who were obviously massive inspirations for myself (Mrs Caldwell, Mr Pearman, Dr Grime (possible bias to the chemistry department here), Mr Mann, Mr Clarke (the list goes on) my biggest inspiration and support throughout my time at school was my sister (and she actually still is).

She’s the oldest sibling and I’m the youngest and we’ve always been really close. While I was at school she was of vital importance in helping me have a strong work ethic and helped me get my bum into gear more than once and really I wouldn’t have ended up where I am if it wasn’t for her continuous support.

What would you say has been your greatest success?

From a personal perspective; getting married, buying a house and starting a family is absolutely my greatest success. My three-year-old daughter is my reason for being and nothing will ever trump her.

And biggest disaster?

I’m not sure I’ve had any major disasters from a work perspective. But I’ve definitely experienced things that haven’t gone to plan when it comes to my projects that have led to significant delays or things going wrong – in these situations I’ve always found it’s best to remain level-headed, composed and maintain strong levels of leadership and communication to your teams in order to get past any hurdles.

*What do you miss most about Ripon?

Definitely the people – I made some amazing friends while I was at school and a lot of my core memories with that friendship group were made around Ripon.