Fiene Ziegler, Team Lead, Community Management at InnoGames
In Career Spotlight, we profile women who work in the gaming industry. It is our goal to show the vastness and variety of jobs within the world of gaming and to share professional advice and perspective with our readers.
This week we profile Fiene Ziegler, Team Lead, Community Management at InnoGames. She shared her perspective on team communication, entering the gaming industry, and a few of her favorite RPGs.
Fiene Ziegler, photo courtesy of the subject
Could you please tell us a bit about InnoGames and what it is you do there as Team Lead, Community Management?
InnoGames, Germany’s leading developer and publisher of mobile and online games, is located in Hamburg. The company is best known for Forge of Empires, Elvenar and Tribal Wars. InnoGames’ complete portfolio encompasses seven live games and several mobile titles in production. Born as a hobby, InnoGames today has a team of 400 employees from more than 30 nations who share the passion of creating unique games that players across the globe enjoy for years.
I’ve been part of the Community Management team at InnoGames since 2017. I am currently taking care of a team of Community Management Specialists and Community Managers that are responsible for two of our greatest hits: Forge of Empires and Elvenar.
What are your major responsibilities in your role?
I would say my role splits into two parts. On the one hand, I am responsible for my team members: making sure they have everything they need to do their jobs, but also helping them find new challenges and develop themselves further in their careers.
On the other hand, I am coordinating the whole communication strategy for our games together with my team: ensuring we announce new features and events on time and on the appropriate channels, as well as briefing the customer support teams with all necessary information and updating our self-services accordingly. We are also in touch with our development team on a daily basis to make sure that our players’ feedback is being heard.
Do you play games personally? When did you decide that working in gaming was something you wanted to pursue?
I love playing games, especially RPGs. My first RPG I played was Might & Magic VI. I loved it so much and played it often as a kid. Later on, I delved into The Elder Scrolls and Forgotten Realms. They were like interactive fantasy books, and they got me hooked. Currently I am trying to get my hands on a PlayStation 5 so I am all equipped for Horizon Forbidden West.
I always wanted to work in a creative field, though working in gaming was something I would have liked but didn’t pursue actively at first. I noticed early on that my programming skills were not at a good enough level for me to become a game developer.
Back in university I was actively playing MMORPGs, and one of them was looking for Forum Moderators/Game Masters to help out. I was curious how it would be to help an actual gaming company, so I applied and was accepted. It was a fun time and made me realize that I wanted to work for this industry, specifically in Community Management. Luckily, I got offered a position as Community Manager for the same game later on.
How did the professional background you had previously prepare you for your current role?
In Community Management you are working with people, though mostly in a virtual environment. Therefore, it was important to me to be able to interact freely with a lot of different stakeholders and customers as well. During university I also worked in environmental education, and we had a lot of direct contact with visitors of every age. Knowing how to stay calm and be polite in difficult situations is a must in customer relations. You learn to deescalate and mediate between different parties. But it also taught me how to explain more complex scenarios to others, so they are able to understand my points. Before doing a guided tour for visitors I needed to memorize all the facts, being prepared for possible further questions, which is similar to making a business proposal in front of different stakeholders nowadays. I only worked there for a year, but it prepared me a lot for my later role.
What skills do you think you use the most in your job?
Communication and planning. We need to make sure we complete all our work in time and maintain a high level of quality. The most important aspect is to plan ahead and be prepared for unseen situations that may arise. I always try to keep an overview of what is going on in our projects and plan the tasks based on that. By making this one of my tasks, I prevent my team from having to worry about it so they can focus on theirs.
But all the planning would be in vain without proper communication. Especially in home office when we don’t see each other frequently in person, it is highly important to communicate more to make sure everyone has the information they need and knows what to do. Socializing within our team is also key for us, so we make sure to plan regular chats with our colleagues so we don’t lose the social exchange and team aspect. You only notice how important spontaneous coffee breaks have been after you don’t have them anymore.
How do you find working in the gaming industry different from other industries you’ve worked in?
The first thing that comes to mind is the dress code. Of course, we do not usually have in-person contact with customers, but we are able to dress more casual and as we please. This is not a given in other industries – especially when serving customers – and creates a feeling of freedom for me.
I worked in an institution run by our state government before, and the whole work structure was rigid. We had more regulations and guidelines in place that we needed to follow. Also, our technical setup in these other positions and industries wasn’t the best. A lot of things were done manually, and digitalization was still far away.
Working in gaming offers a lot of opportunities to work with modern technology, develop yourself, and get to know so many new people from all over the world.
What is something you’re proud to have worked on in your current role?
This might sound weird as it’s not a project itself, but I am definitely proud of the team I have. Our collaboration is amazing, and we always help and support each other. It’s great to see them moving forward in their careers and being able to do things they really love, and great for me to be there to accompany and assist them on the way. It’s especially rewarding when they are able to finish off a long-time project of theirs successfully.
Is there anything unique to InnoGames as a company or workplace that you’d like to speak to?
InnoGames has, in my perspective (and also in comparison to other gaming companies I have worked with), a unique company culture. It is obvious that we are all working towards a common goal – to bring awesome games to our players. And you can clearly feel this passion and motivation. We are being supported by each other and the company itself in many ways, which I am very grateful for.
What advice do you have for women who may want to start a career in gaming or professionals who want to pivot their careers into the gaming industry?
Gaming offers a broad variety of options to become active in, in addition to being an actual software developer. Therefore, if you really want to go into gaming, just go for it – but also be prepared to work hard. If possible, try to get a look behind the scenes beforehand, so you have a better understanding of what awaits you. Lots of channels and companies offer opportunities for engaged players to help out to some degree (e.g., as moderators on Discord or Steam). Of course, it doesn’t guarantee that you will get a job offer, but you gain experience and get to know people in the industry as well.
From my perspective, the gaming industry is luckily becoming more inclusive and supportive of women working in higher positions as well. Everything is possible when you work hard enough and are passionate about what you do.
For more information on InnoGames, check out their website:
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