S2 E9 Episode Title: Better Production Techniques, inspired by The Sims featuring Cory Tsang
Have you ever wished your production tools and process were more like the games you make? Lead gameplay engineer turned lead producer Cory Tsang is here to tell you that configuring JIRA can be like… engineering Sims objects. And he should know, because as one of the original Object Engineers on the Sims franchise from the Sims 1 era, he’s built everything from toilets to magic cauldrons. But halfway through his career, Cory’s adaptability and drive for growth took him to Zenimax Online Studios where he had the opportunity to spend a decade honing a new craft as a Senior Producer, making JIRA sing for teams of up to 100+ artists on a thriving massively multiplayer online role playing game. Whether you’re a Sims fan, a manager in video games struggling to hit the right pace, or an individual contributor who feels like JIRA is another world, this episode is for you.
Listen Now: Season 2 Episode 9
Enduring Play Season 2 Episode 9 Transcript
AI disclosure: While no AI is used in the production of this podcast aside from background removal on some guest photos, Otter.ai is used to assist in transcription of these episodes as I have a physical disability that would prevent manual transcription in time for broadcast. I review these transcripts to catch major inaccuracies, but they may still be somewhat inaccurate. Please report major issues to info@ideaplatz.com.
Featured in this Episode: Cory Tsang [he/him]
Former Lead Producer at ZenimMax Online Studios
What marks Cory’s career is change and adaptability. Paying his way through school as a systems administrator at Carnegie Mellon, Florida International University, and University of Illinois. Doing Virtual Reality research at the Beckman Institute in the CAVE. Entering the game industry through a start-up. Growing with and leading The Sims from a tiny expansion pack team, scaling up for Sims 2 and Sims 4, spinning up new teams for consoles, secret handheld projects, and working with external teams to produce The Sims on other platforms. Transitioning from Engineering and Design into Production for a AAA studio making Elder Scrolls Online and facing all of the challenges from pre-production through a challenging launch and into a decade of success. Throughout it all, what has driven him is tackling new challenges and solving problems with a desire to keep on learning.
Cory is currently a Senior Producer at thatgamecompany (yes, that one.) He spent 11 years at Electronic Arts / Maxis as a Lead Gameplay Engineer / Technical Designer on the Sims franchise, then joined ZeniMax Online Studios to help launch the Elder Scrolls Online and see it through over a decade of operations as a Senior Producer in the art department.
Show Notes
Cory’s Links
| Cory Tsang on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-tsang/ |
| Cory Tsang on MobyGames | https://www.mobygames.com/person/70260/cory-tsang/ |
| The Sims 25th Birthday Bundle: Sims 1 and Sims 2 on Steam | https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/48443/The_Sims_25th_Birthday_Bundle/ |
| The Elder Scrolls Online | https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home |
Reference Material
| History of The Sims | Gamespot Vice Smithsonian |
| Sims in the Guinness Book of World Records | https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/682902-best-selling-social-simulation-videogame-series |
| Sims 4 at 70 Million Players | EA Press Release |
| Finite State Machine (Wikipedia) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite-state_machine |
| About EDITH | http://simantics.wikidot.com/wiki:edith https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=685286#google_vignette |
| In Memory of Tim LeTourneau | Gamespot GamesIndustry.biz |
| Elder Scrolls Online (Wikipedia) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online |
| JIRA Guide | https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/getting-started/who-uses-jira |
| Agile Guide | https://www.atlassian.com/agile |
Show Outline
| Episode Preview | 0:22 | Planning and The Sims |
| Episode Description | 0:46 | Cory Tsang, Engineer and Producer |
| Podcast Start | 3:14 | Introductions |
| Narrative Cutscene | 5:28 | History of The Sims |
| Level 1 | 7:35 | 7 Generations of Toilets |
| Tutorial Level | 11:26 | State Machines & Edith |
| Level 2 | 12:57 | Thriving Engineering at Scale |
| Host Commentary | 15:37 | Sustainability and Sims 1 |
| Remembrance | 16:48 | Remembering Tim LeTourneau |
| Level 3 | 17:41 | Producing with Curiosity and Context |
| Host Commentary | 21:16 | Development Director |
| Level 4 | 21:55 | The Cost of Crunch |
| Tutorial Level | 25:18 | JIRA and Agile Basics |
| Level 5 | 27:05 | How toilets inspired better JIRA process |
| Narrative Cutscene | 28:14 | Elder Scrolls Online |
| Host Commentary | 31:16 | Individual Contributors |
| Level 6 | 32:37 | Self-Motivated Meaning for Tasks |
| Host Commentary | 35:47 | Connecting Sims objects to JIRA tasks |
| Level 7 | 36:54 | The sprint solution |
| Level 8 | 38:01 | Slowing down to speed up: a case study |
| Level 9 | 41:31 | Mastering your production tools |
| Level 10 | 43:37 | Insight from production tools |
| Level 11 | 45:15 | Sims-inspired planning hierarchies |
| Level 12 | 49:15 | The why of production |
| Level 13 | 51:12 | Chain of impact |
| Level 14 | 53:38 | Working out loud |
| Level 15 | 56:39 | Putting the quest for the right work on easy mode |
| Boss level | 59:59 | Partnering with IT to level up your tools |
| Bonus level | 1:02:14 | Finding meaning in the journey |
| Final level | 1:04:40 | Links and follow-up |
The Game Development Strategy Guide
Enduring Play is the companion podcast to The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games that Thrive. Season 1 features the interviews that inspired the book, and Season 2 expands our understanding of how to create sustainable gaming experiences. The book is available at all major online booksellers and at publisher Rosenfeld Media’s website.
Use code ENDURINGPLAYS2 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order – and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 2 offer expires July 31, 2026.
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