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[Guesclin]

For just over a month, Mary Olson has held the position of Studio Head at Santa Monica Studio. She takes over from Yumi Yang, who took over from Shannon Studstill in March 2020. Studstill left in January to join Netflix as senior director of video games portfolio management.

Prior to joining Santa Monica Studio, Mary Olson gained significant experience in the video game industry. She has held a variety of management positions, primarily in creative and strategic environments, at Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, 343 Industries, Midwinter Entertainment and Behaviour Interactive Company.

Mary Olson - Santa Monica Studio | LinkedIn

Experience: Santa Monica Studio · Education: The Evergreen State College · Location: Greater Seattle Area · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Mary Olson’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.

www.linkedin.com

 

[Moses85]

 

[The Cockatrice]

Don't care, give me God of War Dynasty or whatever the fuck they wanna call the next one in Egypt.

 

[TrebleShot]

Next fool to fumble the GoW IP

 

[onQ123]

This is exactly where my mind went lol

 

[Hudo]

Any pics?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Having to work under a woman sucks major ass. They always have to overcompensate so they become total bitches.

Thats a rude way to talk about your mother.

 

[Success]

Yumi Yang COOKED with God of War Ragnarok.

It will be extremely hard to follow her up.

 

[Gonzito]

Does this mean that God of War will be again God of War instead of Gaylords of Wars?

 

[Gonzito]

Yumi Yang COOKED with God of War Ragnarok.

It will be extremely hard to follow her up.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Yumi Yang COOKED with God of War Ragnarok.

It will be extremely hard to follow her up.

Studio Head is not a creative role. It's management.

She's working on hiring and firing, contracting janitors to make sure the toilets are clean and planning the next office space expansion.

 

[SJRB]

Not the best track record, looking at her LinkedIn page.

 

[Success]

Studio Head is not a creative role. It's management.

She's working on hiring and firing, contracting janitors to make sure the toilets are clean and planning the next office space expansion.

You must be new to the AAA gaming development space.

Managing a huge AAA project like God of War Ragnarok takes a lot of skill.

 

[GymWolf]

Does this mean that God of War will be again God of War instead of Gaylords of Wars?

Kratos was fucking this chick before having little shit

 

[lh032]

yawn

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Not familiar with her. Is this good or bad?

 

[Loomy]

Not familiar with her. Is this good or bad?

Hard to say. The last studio she was head of shut down last year, but that was the result of consolidation, not mismanagement.

Honestly thought Yumi Yang would stick around for the long(longer at this point) haul, but that Netflix money is hard to say no to.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Studio Head is not a creative role. It's management.

She's working on hiring and firing, contracting janitors to make sure the toilets are clean and planning the next office space expansion.

Thanks for this comment. I think a lot of people don't understand this for a couple of reasons. First is lack of work experience in an environment like this, but second and maybe more of the reason why is because a lot of creatives end up as the head of the studio and juggle both, which can work out or not work out just like anything else.

She does probably have some say in terms of what games get presented to Sony.

My bigger questions would be does her resume suggest that she can do the job and was qualified for the job? And it is interesting that they went external rather than promoting from within. Yumi Yang had been there since before the first God of War.

What's interesting is that Yumi Yang's linkedin profile suggests she left Santa Monica in 2023... Who has been in charge at Santa Monica for the last couple years?

You'd think maybe Ken Roy would have been the obvious choice. Maybe he didn't want it and no one else had the requisite experience. One major problem for Santa Monica is that they've never really ventured away from God of War. As a result they don't really have a ton of producers.

What's also interesting is that they went external to Sony rather than maybe finding a producer or executive from another Sony studio to head things up, but just look at what Insomniac did post Ted Price going with a trio of leadership rather than simply promoting someone to replace Ted.

Presumably this was something that Hermen would have decided, but I'd say that SMS is at a cross roads. I feel like the obvious path for them was to go ahead and remake God of War 1 in the style of God of War 2018/Ragnarok similar to how Capcom remade Resident Evil. That combined with an original IP would have put them on good footing even if the new IP didn't land. I also would have loved to see Eric Williams take on Symphony of the Night.

That we haven't seen anything regarding Cory's game yet is somewhat troubling and maybe a reason why they didn't just give Cory the gig (again, maybe he didn't want it) or maybe his hands are full. Almost two years to the date, Hermen said he was totally inspired by what he saw from them.



The good news? Nothing on Glassdoor suggests that this are going haywire there. They're still hiring at a pretty decent clip and have a significant number of open roles. Seems like a healthy studio, who might just be caught between games. Don't know if they quite have the manpower for 2 AAA games in a short period of time and Ragnarok only just came out in 2022.

Like I said, this studio is at a crossroads. Fantastic track record, but can they do more and can they be more?

 

[samoilaaa]

This is a parody post, right?

Right?

 

[Ar¢tos]

As long as there is no annoying brat to babysit or a nagging work wife in the next game, I'm fine with it.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yumi Yang COOKED with God of War Ragnarok.

It will be extremely hard to follow her up.

Ragnarock was drawn out, narratively deficient and overall boring. It was a worse game vs GoW 2018 by quite a bit.

So not sure what cooking we are talking about.

 

[Lunarorbit]

Kratos was fucking this chick before having little shit

Fuck me, I never even got far enough in raganorak to realize she's in the game. I'll have to start that game over again when things calm down

 

[Fake]

Another fucking reboot.

 

[AJUMP23]

Good luck I guess.

 

[__SteakDeck__]

She used to have a top position at 343 and she also has she/her pronouns in her bio. So thats not good. But. As long as Cory Barlog is there, it might not be a complete show… for now.

 

[Valonquar]

Fuck me, I never even got far enough in raganorak to realize she's in the game. I'll have to start that game over again when things calm down

Yeah, it's brief in a dream sequence part. Kinda weird they had her character show up so briefly mid-game in the 2nd game when the 1st one was all about them going on the journey that she set them on by dying.

 

[Roman Empire]

Ragnarock was drawn out, narratively deficient and overall boring. It was a worse game vs GoW 2018 by quite a bit.

So not sure what cooking we are talking about.

It was a bloated and contrived mess. The gameplay changes are welcomed but in story and narrative GoW 2018 blows Ragnarok out of the water.

 

[Chuck Berry]

This is exactly where my mind went lol

Same

 

[Sooner]

That's Ashley

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

You must be new to the AAA gaming development space.

Managing a huge AAA project like God of War Ragnarok takes a lot of skill.

You must have poor reading comprehension.

The Studio Head does not manage individual game projects. They have virtually no creative input at all. There are project managers and producers and the most important is the Game Director who have the responsibility of individual game projects.

Studio heads are literally just managing the day to day operation of the studio, e.g. hiring needs, training needs, budgeting, facilities, team building activities, reporting to publisher etc.

At the very most, they will have some say in which games are presented to Sony to pitch at the very beginning of a project. But that's about it.

 

[adamsapple]

This is exactly where my mind went lol

The only Olsen that matters.

 

[yurinka]

Kratos was fucking this chick before having little shit

Fuck me, I never even got far enough in raganorak to realize she's in the game. I'll have to start that game over again when things calm down

Let's say they didn't capture my wife's beauty and prettyness in GoW 2018 and GoWR, maybe because you know, for the woke gang putting a hot female in a game is a crime or something:

I mean, she's the best:

 

[GymWolf]

Let's say they didn't capture my wife's beauty and prettyness in GoW 2018 and GoWR, maybe because you know, for the woke gang putting a hot female in a game is a crime or something:

I think that's just santa monica being shit at character modeling\faces other than kratos, it has always been their weak spot.

These are 3 ps3 games cutscenes

Believe me when i say that i don't need to post comparisons between ps4-ps5 games because it is the same (probably much worse the more we go forward with character fidelity), they REALLY need to step up their game when it comes to anything that it's not kratos bald head (and even him is less detailed than less than tertiary characters with one line of dialogue in forbidden west)

 

[Montauk]

I thought this said the Olsen twins for a second.

Disappointed.

 

[Black_Stride]

I thought this said the Olsen twins for a second.

Disappointed.

Mary-Kate Olsen has seen better days.

 

[Success]

It was a worse game vs GoW 2018 by quite a bit.

God of War 2018 MC = 94
God of War: Ragnarok = 94

Your opinion is an incredible minority.

You must have poor reading comprehension.

The Studio Head does not manage individual game projects. They have virtually no creative input at all. There are project managers and producers and the most important is the Game Director who have the responsibility of individual game projects.

Studio heads are literally just managing the day to day operation of the studio, e.g. hiring needs, training needs, budgeting, facilities, team building activities, reporting to publisher etc.

At the very most, they will have some say in which games are presented to Sony to pitch at the very beginning of a project. But that's about it.

If the game fails, it is the studio heads responsibility.

If the game is good, it is the studio heads responsibility.

How many times have you heard stories of a studio being mismanaged because of poor executive leadership?

You have 8 Years of Service on GAF.

I have 11 Years of Service on GAF.

This is almost a 30% difference in experience. So I can understand why you have these gaps in your knowledge.

 

[mckmas8808]

This is exactly where my mind went lol

Me too LOL!

Thanks for this comment. I think a lot of people don't understand this for a couple of reasons. First is lack of work experience in an environment like this, but second and maybe more of the reason why is because a lot of creatives end up as the head of the studio and juggle both, which can work out or not work out just like anything else.

She does probably have some say in terms of what games get presented to Sony.

My bigger questions would be does her resume suggest that she can do the job and was qualified for the job? And it is interesting that they went external rather than promoting from within. Yumi Yang had been there since before the first God of War.

What's interesting is that Yumi Yang's linkedin profile suggests she left Santa Monica in 2023... Who has been in charge at Santa Monica for the last couple years?

You'd think maybe Ken Roy would have been the obvious choice. Maybe he didn't want it and no one else had the requisite experience. One major problem for Santa Monica is that they've never really ventured away from God of War. As a result they don't really have a ton of producers.

What's also interesting is that they went external to Sony rather than maybe finding a producer or executive from another Sony studio to head things up, but just look at what Insomniac did post Ted Price going with a trio of leadership rather than simply promoting someone to replace Ted.

Presumably this was something that Hermen would have decided, but I'd say that SMS is at a cross roads. I feel like the obvious path for them was to go ahead and remake God of War 1 in the style of God of War 2018/Ragnarok similar to how Capcom remade Resident Evil. That combined with an original IP would have put them on good footing even if the new IP didn't land. I also would have loved to see Eric Williams take on Symphony of the Night.

That we haven't seen anything regarding Cory's game yet is somewhat troubling and maybe a reason why they didn't just give Cory the gig (again, maybe he didn't want it) or maybe his hands are full. Almost two years to the date, Hermen said he was totally inspired by what he saw from them.

The bolded would LITERALLY be perfect!!!! So that means, it ain't happening.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

The bolded would LITERALLY be perfect!!!! So that means, it ain't happening.

Put me in charge...

Would have been perfect setup for a God of War tv series in the next couple of years and then you could have dropped a big third series of God of War for PS6 having brought even more people into the franchise with the remakes.

No one on PC can play God of War 1-3 (legally).

Sony's inability to tap back into the legacy IP and games is baffling to me.

 

[mckmas8808]

Put me in charge...

Would have been perfect setup for a God of War tv series in the next couple of years and then you could have dropped a big third series of God of War for PS6 having brought even more people into the franchise with the remakes.

No one on PC can play God of War 1-3 (legally).

Sony's inability to tap back into the legacy IP and games is baffling to me.

TOTALLY baffling! They honestly don't want to spend "REAL" money on true Remakes at this point. Just easy cash-ins. Capcom has shown people the way, yet 95% of the industry is still ignoring them. And they are making pure profit!

 

[Power Pro]

The only Olsen that matters.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

TOTALLY baffling! They honestly don't want to spend "REAL" money on true Remakes at this point. Just easy cash-ins. Capcom has shown people the way, yet 95% of the industry is still ignoring them. And they are making pure profit!

The Resident Evil remakes have sold better than the original games and God of War would be no different, especially with how much better 2018 and Ragnarok performed compared to the original 3 games.

Imagine three more games, all with the potential to sell 20-25 million copies across PS5 and PC... You're looking at maybe 60-75 million units? Say with an entry price of 60 dollars a piece, average sale price of 40 dollars?

You're looking at even super conservatively maybe 2 billion dollars in revenue, probably for less money than it cost to create Ragnarok... And if we're being more aggressive, you're looking at 3.4 billion dollars...

That's game changing for a studio like Santa Monica that hasn't branched outside of God of War since Kinetica...

 

[K' Dash]

Yumi Yang COOKED with God of War Ragnarok.

It will be extremely hard to follow her up.

 

[EN250]

Does this mean that God of War will be again God of War instead of Gaylords of Wars?

Wait, you think GOW18 and Ragnarok are gay? Lmao, wild take right there...

 

[mckmas8808]

The Resident Evil remakes have sold better than the original games and God of War would be no different, especially with how much better 2018 and Ragnarok performed compared to the original 3 games.

Imagine three more games, all with the potential to sell 20-25 million copies across PS5 and PC... You're looking at maybe 60-75 million units? Say with an entry price of 60 dollars a piece, average sale price of 40 dollars?

You're looking at even super conservatively maybe 2 billion dollars in revenue, probably for less money than it cost to create Ragnarok... And if we're being more aggressive, you're looking at 3.4 billion dollars...

That's game changing for a studio like Santa Monica that hasn't branched outside of God of War since Kinetica...

I think you need to lower those estimations by almost 50%. I can see 10-15 million per game though (PS5, PS6, and PC). Your point still stands. Regardless if it's $2 Billion or $1.2 Billion in revenue, because each game would probably cost between $50-100 million to make.

 

[Nonehxc]

For just over a month, Mary Olson has held the position of Studio Head at Santa Monica Studio. She takes over from Yumi Yang, who took over from Shannon Studstill in March 2020. Studstill left in January to join Netflix as senior director of video games portfolio management.

Prior to joining Santa Monica Studio, Mary Olson gained significant experience in the video game industry. She has held a variety of management positions, primarily in creative and strategic environments, at Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, 343 Industries, Midwinter Entertainment and Behaviour Interactive Company.

Mary Olson - Santa Monica Studio | LinkedIn

Experience: Santa Monica Studio · Education: The Evergreen State College · Location: Greater Seattle Area · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Mary Olson’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.

www.linkedin.com

I feel betrayed.

Yumi is not yummy.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think you need to lower those estimations by almost 50%. I can see 10-15 million per game though (PS5, PS6, and PC). Your point still stands. Regardless if it's $2 Billion or $1.2 Billion in revenue, because each game would probably cost between $50-100 million to make.

I think the Greek Saga games have the potential to sell more than the Norse Saga games. 2018 sold over 23 million and Ragnarok sold over 15 million. With the advantage of transmedia, the potential there goes even higher.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think the Greek Saga games have the potential to sell more than the Norse Saga games. 2018 sold over 23 million and Ragnarok sold over 15 million. With the advantage of transmedia, the potential there goes even higher.

I thought the GOW movies or TV shows were going to be on the Norse Saga though.....

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Cautiously optimistic. Anybody coming from 343i is gonna be sus IMO, and she was Producer during MCC and Halo 5 era. Which, well that's better than being Producer during the Halo Infinite era, but it's not leagues better.

Hopefully they put in some strong work while at SSM, tho we won't know their influence until their next game (not that GOW rumored spin-off or Cory Balrog's sci-fi game).

That we haven't seen anything regarding Cory's game yet is somewhat troubling and maybe a reason why they didn't just give Cory the gig (again, maybe he didn't want it) or maybe his hands are full. Almost two years to the date, Hermen said he was totally inspired by what he saw from them.

Ready to blame SIE upper management yet or no?

Studio Head is not a creative role. It's management.

She's working on hiring and firing, contracting janitors to make sure the toilets are clean and planning the next office space expansion.

But by this logic, no one should've ever pressed Bonnie Ross, or even Matt Booty and Phil Spencer (since neither were involved in the day-to-day development/creative side operations of studio projects).

And clearly, those three deserve the criticism they've received. As should ay studio head. ALL the criticism? No. But they're not completely absolved of blame (or praise, if their projects are successful).

So...I kinda disagree, respectfully.

 

[Loomy]

You must have poor reading comprehension.

The Studio Head does not manage individual game projects. They have virtually no creative input at all. There are project managers and producers and the most important is the Game Director who have the responsibility of individual game projects.

Studio heads are literally just managing the day to day operation of the studio, e.g. hiring needs, training needs, budgeting, facilities, team building activities, reporting to publisher etc.

At the very most, they will have some say in which games are presented to Sony to pitch at the very beginning of a project. But that's about it.

You're massively misunderstanding the role of a studio head. With Santa Monica specifically, Shannon Studstill is the one who went out and got Cory to come back and make GoW 2018, literally changing the course of that studio.

Studio head is responsible for all the games in development at the studio. Depending on the studio, they're absolutely involved in the creative planning at the start of the process. They are in the room when games are being pitched, they give feedback on the games at various stages. They sign off on a game's roadmap - including release date.

That we haven't seen anything regarding Cory's game yet is somewhat troubling and maybe a reason why they didn't just give Cory the gig (again, maybe he didn't want it) or maybe his hands are full. Almost two years to the date, Hermen said he was totally inspired by what he saw from them.

Watch any interview or "making of" videos featuring Cory and you'll see he absolutely has no interest in anything to do with Management.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I thought the GOW movies or TV shows were going to be on the Norse Saga though.....

We don't know what it'll be about, but regardless of what the tv show focuses on, having God of War Greek games come out in line with it, will have them sell well.

Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 sold very well despite having nothing to do with the tv show.

Ready to blame SIE upper management yet or no?

For not forcing Santa Monica to take on a project that would probably tie them up for the next decade?