Meet Squanch Presents: Sivonne Ward!
IS THAT A NEW INSTALLMENT OF 'MEET SQUANCH'? Yes, yes it is.
You know what's cool about producers? They're a lot like ropes, strings, yarns, cables, and such. Items of the knotting variety if you will. A good producer ties up all of our loose ends and makes sure there are zero kinks in the Squanch system. We need 'em. truly. And Sivonne Ward is one of the best to ever do it.
NOW PRESENTING: Sivonne Ward, Associate Producer at Squanch Games!
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Sivonne Ward, Associate Producer
What do you do at Squanch Games?
I’m an associate producer at Squanch. On the day-to-day, this means I work on task management, scheduling, basically all things organization for my teams. In a more abstract sense, my job is really all about communication - making sure teams are in sync and the project is going as smoothly as possible. My teams span a lot of the game - user interface, environment art, level design, and visual effects - meaning that communication is vital to making sure our creative goals and artistic direction are shared between all groups and the work is waterfalled down between them to actually get into the game. It’s honestly a really cool job, getting to be right where the magic happens and working alongside extremely talented people to make some really Squanch-y experiences.
How did you get into the industry?
Funnily enough, I was actually raised in the gaming industry. My dad was always a gamer, and when I was about twelve he made his debut into games production. I’d never thought I’d be following in his footsteps, but here I am! When I was wrapping up college and looking into possible career paths, he suggested I look into project management. As a kid, I’d had no idea what my dad did at work, but as an adult, I realized it was actually pretty darn cool - once I decided on project management I just needed to decide on the type of project. While not a hardcore gamer myself, games appealed to me as the perfect cross-section of technology, art, and media which I’d studied in school. So I started asking people in the industry about what they did while honing my knowledge base, and eventually got an interview - then the rest was history!
As an Associate Producer, how do you stay organized?
You know, something I’ve realized is that producers all have their own methods. For me, I’m constantly redefining how to stay organized and testing what tools work for me. Generally, I’d say the thing that helps me the most is WRITING EVERYTHING DOWN. Whatever it is, get it written down and in a place you can actually find it.
The tools really matter. Right now, I’m actually writing this Q&A in a tool I am totally nerding out over - it’s called Notion and it has been SUCH an amazing tool for personal organization (I manage my own to-do lists and notes in there) as well as team planning, scheduling, and task management. If you’re struggling to keep your notes or tasks organized, I really recommend creating a calendar database that you can move to-dos around on and only show what’s left to be done. It decreases visual clutter while also allowing you to check things off your list, the best part about making lists!
We know you love The Sims, can you tell us your favorite Sims expansion?
The Sims is definitely my favorite series! I’d have to say the Sims 2 Seasons was my favorite - my grandma sought it out for me as a gift, years after it came out (Sims 3 was already on the scene) and I just remember being so excited to play it! It’s so “early 2000s” and adds such a wholesome extra layer to the main game. I’m a sucker for any game that adds snow and mittens to gameplay!
What was it like to work on Mythic Quest on Apple TV+?
Working on Mythic Quest was a really great opportunity to experience the seldom-seen cross-section of games and television. It was really cool working with my team of artists to produce game/art assets for the show. They really stretched their skills to match completely new styles, content matter, and direction. I was really proud to see what they’d created realized on a TV screen!
Can you tell us about one of your favorite projects?
This isn’t a games project, but a project from university that I still think about to this day. I was in an entrepreneurship class and our prompt was to “reinvent the dining table.” As a freshman in college, we didn’t have a ton of resources but for some reason, my team and I decided to literally re-invent an actual table (instead of figuratively adapting some element of eating culture, like the rest of our class).
We decided on making interlocking triangular tables that would adapt to groups of different sizes - not exactly an easy assignment. The fun part was actually building these connectable tables - my classmate and I went with our teacher to pick out planks of wood which we helped him measure & saw, then we got to work sanding, staining and polyurethane-ing. We painted the table legs, put it all together, and at the end of the semester, we sat with our parents at the 13 interlocking tables we had built.
While I’m not usually the most handy person, there was something so satisfying and exciting about building something from the start and bringing a new experience to people that they enjoyed. Now, obviously no longer a freshman in an entrepreneurship class, I aim to keep building experiences that people enjoy and support my team to make that possible.
What do games mean to you?
For me, games are all about connection. They’re how my little brothers learned to type (Minecraft, of course) and get to know our cousins living on different continents. They’re how my dad supported our family and moved us across the world. They’re how people communicated when stuck at home during a devastating pandemic and found a break from the constant stress with joy and humor. Games have this amazing ability to bring people together across space, language, and circumstance.
Would a Great White or a Killer Whale win in a battle to the death?
To be honest, I know very little about either, but from my brief five minutes of research on Wikipedia, I’d say killer whale for sure. For one, they’re way bigger, like five times bigger than a great white. Secondly, they apparently have 15,000 more psi (pounds per square inch) bite strength than a great white. So, I’d say they could either head-butt or bite their way to victory, no problem.
Also, apparently, killer whales are orcas, which is actually a type of DOLPHIN. So now we know they’re not only some of the deadliest organisms in the universe but the smartest. So long and thanks for all the fish indeed!
What did you major in, and do you feel like you put your education to good use in your career?
In university, I majored in interactive multimedia. While I've not had a direct 1-to-1 application of my schooling in my job, I can say that I have utilized many of the skills I learned in my classes. College taught me how to balance classes, work, a social life, and everything else. Interactive multimedia was what I specialized in at the Journalism school I attended, but I still was required to take reporting classes, which taught me how to approach and interview strangers (which previously terrified me) and forced me outside of my comfort zone, researching topics and learning coding languages, videography, and graphic design in order to visually share those takeaways.
Production has actually allowed me to apply a lot of these skills - you have to be comfortable starting up conversations, bringing different groups together to talk about potentially stressful topics, taking detailed and useful notes, and then putting your thoughts together in a coherent fashion that can be shared and relayed to other people. Long story short - I’d say my schooling has been put to good use!
What else should we know about you?
I’m pretty well-known around the “remote office” for being a huge Simpsons fan. No matter the occasion, I usually have a quote or reference at the ready. After all, “you don’t make friends with salad!”
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