Wētā Workshop’s Tales of the Shire is being created in a strange environment. That’s according to lead producer Calliope Ryder, who shared personal insight into this game’s creation during a solo panel at GCAP 2024. While the game is a Wētā Workshop production, it’s defined by a scrappy spirit and ambition, with its team of creatives contributing a wide range of skills and passions to bring it to life.
As Ryder described, Wētā Workshop did not have a specialty in video games prior to Tales of the Shire. While there was a small team of specialists within the studio, most folks hailed from diverse disciplines: they were video producers, marketers, writers, researchers, Tolkien scholars, artists, and so on. Utilising transferable skills, many of these folks contributed to getting Tales of the Shire off the ground.
Marketers and video producers helped to create dazzling marketing collateral spotlighting the skills of the entire Wētā Workshop team, and the vision for a cosier adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit. With the help of artists, the team produced various concepts and in-engine vignettes. They borrowed graphic designers from other Wētā departments to work on pitch decks, and asked studio folks to contribute their voices for reels. Artists studied Wētā’s forgers and weapon makers to inspire the culture of the dwarves in the game.
Read: Tales of the Shire now launches in March 2025
In the end, Tales of the Shire began to take shape with ample team effort, and cross-collaboration of skills. In the process, Ryder told GCAP 2024 attendees she learned much about leadership, about amplifying individual skills, and about navigating a complex organisation. The lessons she shared are applicable not only to game development, but to wider workplace practices.
Building credibility and trust
As shared by Ryder, one of her biggest lessons learned while working on Tales of the Shire was how to be an effective, trusted leader that serves and represents her team.
After successfully navigating the complex approvals process, work on Tales of the Shire began in earnest, with a small (and swiftly growing) group working on the title over a number of years. Despite gaining approval for the project, the team still needed to navigate an array of complications, from pivoting timelines and process plans to pleasing a variety of shareholders, like publisher Private Division and parent company, Embracer Group (now split into multiple companies, including Middle-earth Enterprises).
For Ryder, as one of the leaders of Tales of the Shire, that meant needing to prove credibility and trustworthiness immediately, to establish a rapport that would allow her teams to thrive. In sharing advice for accomplishing this, Ryder made clear it was important to demonstrate reliability in tangible ways – keeping your word, listening to feedback and applying it when helpful, and documenting every decision and meeting. It also meant being an honest leader. Never lying, never withholding key information, and crucially, never being an “over-umbrella” for your team.
“As a producer, we want to shield the team … from all the stuff in the background,” Ryder explained. “I had over-shielded the team to the point where they weren’t aware that we were in a bad position, which could lead to feature cuts that they really cared about.”
“The team needs to know when it’s raining. They just need to not be getting wet.”
As Ryder explained, a good leader builds trust on all sides, with management and shareholders, but also with team members. They should be honest, even when the truth is scary or daunting – and that means sharing information openly, even when it means acknowledging flaws or challenges. If withholding information would harm the team down the line, it must be shared, and as early as possible. The most important information should be shared first, and elaborated on where needed.
“Share the menu, not the recipe,” Ryder explained.
In discussing this process, Ryder also made clear that leaders should not shoulder the full burden of stress alone.
Recognise burnout, and ask for help when you need it
In a personal anecdote, Ryder shared a moment when it all became too much. Tales of the Shire had daunting deadlines looming. Nobody above Ryder had experience shipping games. The size of the project was overwhelming, and the pressure of expectations were high. It led to Ryder skipping a publisher dinner, going home after work incredibly frazzled, and breaking down over the sound of pots and pans in her shared kitchen.
It was the result of shouldering too much, and stubbornly attempting to go it alone. But as Ryder made clear, it was an incredibly unhealthy approach, and taught her a key lesson: that leaders should always ask for help when they need it, and learn to recognise signs of burnout. No job is worth sacrificing your mental and physical health.
Read: 6 calming games to play if you’re stressed
Leaders should take ownership and lead by example, so teams feel safer, better organised, and better represented – but leaders should recognise themselves as individuals, first.
While stress is an inherent part of most jobs, Ryder also explained that management of this stress is key to maintaining your health, and the health of your teams. It’s every element of leadership that plays into creating a healthy work environment: listening to your team, building trust, asking for help when needed, not over-shielding. This can also be baked into organisation structure, with a simplicity of process and clear job roles helping to create a more cohesive environment.
In defining a workplace structure and team-based approach, Ryder gave the following advice: you should avoid the temptation to over-process. Consistency reduces complexity (a common idiom in management). Don’t adjust processes until you understand and analyse them.
Most importantly, leaders should foster a culture of collaboration, with clearly defined roles and an understanding of workplace flows and processes. A good leader is someone who is approachable, but firm. In control of their emotions, but able to use their power to enact change. They must be trustworthy, and return trust.
These are lessons that Ryder has learned across multiple years of navigating complexity while working on Tales of the Shire. It’s clear these learnings have been hard-won in many regards, but their value can’t be understated. As the games industry grows tighter, amidst waves of layoffs, effective leadership is more needed than ever – and with an understanding, empathetic approach, any workplace can be improved for the better.
