Toby Jennings: from Gamer camp to industry

In the short time since graduating from Gamer camp, Toby Jennings has had an illustrious career, working on a number of high profile games including Marvel Avengers, Batman Supervillains, LEGO Dimensions and more recently, Playstation's Sackboy A Big Adventure. We caught up with Toby to learn more about his experiences, and what it took for him to break through into the industry.

What have you been up to since graduating from the School of Games, Film and Animation?

Since I graduated from BCU I have been working in the industry for six year - which has flown by! In the months following graduation I was able to get my first role as a Junior project Coordinator at Tt Games working on a range of the LEGO franchise games, including Marvel Avengers, Batman Supervillains and LEGO Dimensions. My course leader, Zuby Ahmed, was a great help giving me advice, feedback and support on my applications which helped get me this role. I spent 3 years there working on a total of 5 Triple AAA projects before I made the move over to Sumo Digital as an Associate Producer. At Sumo I have had the chance to work on a wide range of different and exciting genres of game including Hitman 2, Spyder for Apple Arcade and Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

What was your favourite thing about your time studying at BCU?

My favourite thing about BCU was the group of students that I got to study with. The way the course was run, we became a close-knit unit of developers and friends working together on one project. I met one of my best friends who ended up being my best man at my wedding on my first day at BCU.

Why did you want to work in gaming?

I had always played games as I grew up, but it was only really during my UCAS application that I considered working in games a possibility. I shifted from an audio and Radio course to Games at the last minute for my Undergraduate. I realised that there is a real business behind the games I played and that there was an opportunity for me to find a place there, in something I was passionate in.

How did BCU prepare you for a professional career?

I will always appreciate what BCU did for me and my career. Gamer camp was run as a ‘real’ dev studio with everyone expected in and working from 9 to 5. The autonomy and responsibility this gave us helped give us a real sense of what is expected of someone working as part of a development team. As a Producer, having the opportunity to work with dev from Studios including Unity, Sony PlayStation and Codemasters allowed me to gain real industry knowledge first-hand and gave me a foot in the door with some great industry contacts, some of which I work with now.

What has been the highlight of working in the gaming industry?

I think the highlight for me was getting the opportunity to work on truly Triple AAA games straight out of University. My first game credit was on LEGO Dimensions at Tt Games, which went on to win a BAFTA! The game was made up of so many fantastic IP’s including things like Sonic the Hedgehog, Ghostbusters, Lord of the Rings and The Simpsons and I never thought I’d have the chance to work with brands like that in my first job.

What’s the biggest change from study to industry?

I think the biggest change for me was the scope of the work and team when I joined the industry. At Uni, our team was maybe 15 people at its biggest size, whereas on my first game project at Tt the team was probably closer to 150 people working across a 20+ level game. The other biggest difference was the ‘chaos’ of game development. You can never predict what issues could come up on a day-to-day basis, that could delay your milestone or release. I remember we had a delay of 3-4 days at Sumo when Sheffield experienced terrible flooding and the roads surrounding the studio were submerged! You will quickly learn to be prepared for anything and have contingencies for every eventuality.

What has it been like working on “Sackboy A Big Adventure”?

This project was a huge undertaking for the studio and the entire development team put so much effort and energy into making this a truly special release. I came onto the project in the last few months of development, and I only played a small part in giving additional production support to the team as they approached completion, but I felt lucky being able to see it all come together in the last few months before launch.

What advice would you give to Undergraduates starting on the course?

I think the best advice I can give is that your path into the industry will be unique, there is no one way into the industry and that’s ok. What worked for me won’t necessarily work for you. There is, as with anything, an element of luck when you are looking for jobs, but if you put your all into your work and show your passion and dedication to your craft it will be noticed and rewarded. In the meantime, get involved in as many small-scale opportunities as you can; do game jams, watch talks from expos, code games at home, it will all be beneficial in giving you additional experience and it could be the thing that makes you the next household name! And who knows, in a few years time you may be working with me here at Sumo.