What_I_Do
I work with studio heads, EPs, and production directors who need experienced production leadership for complex, high-stakes projects. I drive predictable outcomes by helping teams see dependencies clearly, surface risks early, and make decisions that stick.
Production Leadership
You might need help if:
- Live ops updates keep shipping 2+ weeks late
- Cross-functional teams aren't sure what anyone else is working on
- "Scope creep" has become the default explanation for delays
- Adding more PMs hasn't reduced the chaos
How I can help:
I map dependencies, surface hidden risks early, and set up tracking systems the team will actually use (not another Jira board everyone ignores). I've done this for systems-heavy AAA (BioShock, UE5), live platforms (Horizon Worlds, 6 studios), and mobile pipelines shipping monthly.
The result: sustainable rhythms instead of permanent crunch.
Multi-Studio & Live Ops
What I've actually done:
- Led production across 6 external studios shipping 10 concurrent titles in a live ecosystem
- Owned all systems & features development for BioShock with 8-10 concurrent development pods
- Shipped first paid avatar offerings for Horizon Worlds, partnering with product to scale monetization
- Built and managed episodic narrative pipelines delivering monthly content drops on mobile
What I'm good at:
Getting content, tools, platform, and partner teams aligned around shared milestones. Turning vague multi-year roadmaps into plans people can actually use. Making "we'll figure it out later" mean something specific with clear owners.
Selected_Experience
25+ years shipping games across AAA console, mobile, PC, and VR. From BioShock to Tomb Raider to Star Wars. From 200-person teams to solo developers.
| Company / Project | Role | Period | Key Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Horizon Worlds |
Senior Content Producer | 2023–2026 |
Production owner for six external studios across 10 different titles in a live, cross-platform consumer ecosystem.
|
| Cloud Chamber / 2K BioShock (UE5) |
Lead Producer, Systems & Features | 2020–2023 |
Owned all systems & features development: combat, systemic AI, player mechanics, world interaction, characters, gameplay animation.
|
| Fogbank / FoxNext Storyscape |
Senior Production Manager | 2018–2020 |
Owned end-to-end production planning for episodic narrative content on mobile.
|
| Planet Moon Studios | Senior Producer | 2006–2010 | Disney's Tangled, Smarty Pants, After Burner: Black Falcon |
| Crystal Dynamics / Eidos | Art Producer | 2004–2006 | Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition |
| LucasArts | Associate Producer | 2000–2004 | Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Sam & Max titles |
What_People_Say
"Nate is simply one of the best producers I've worked with in 25 years in the industry. He has amazing instincts for what makes a game work and understands how to frame complicated development challenges so teams can understand the larger picture and prioritize the right efforts. As a producer Nate is organized, has great judgment and most importantly the ability to effectively balance the frequently competing imperatives of creative and production and make a clear decision that all stakeholders can understand and rally behind."
"Nate cares very deeply about his team and their ability to be successful. He is always defending them, attempting to protect them, bringing their problems to leadership's attention, and working to make their on-team lives better. Throughout a giant production task, we continuously worked on structure and invented new processes. Nate led and contributed to a monumental amount of work. He was a fantastic contribution to the team culturally."
How_We'd_Work_Together
Discovery (Week 1)
60-minute conversation about your production situation. I'll ask uncomfortable questions about what's actually broken. You'll know by end of call if I can help.
Diagnostic & Proposal (Week 2)
I audit your current process, talk to your key leads, and propose a specific 60-90 day engagement with clear deliverables and success metrics.
Embedded Execution (Months 1-3)
I work directly with your team 20-30 hours per week. Weekly 1:1s with leads, bi-weekly stakeholder updates, and hands-on production planning, dependency mapping, and risk management.
Transition or Extension
Clean handoff to your internal team with documented processes and playbooks, or we extend for another phase if it's clearly delivering value.
[Engagement Details]
About_Nate
I've been in game production since 1996. Started testing off-road racing games at Accolade, worked through LucasArts on Star Wars titles, led art production on Tomb Raider, ran systems and features for BioShock at Cloud Chamber, and most recently managed production across six external studios at Meta.
I tend to get called in when productions are complex, distributed, or just grown too messy to see clearly. Maybe it's a live service that can't hit its cadence. Maybe it's a multi-studio project where nobody's quite sure who owns what. Maybe it's just ambitious work where the path forward isn't obvious yet.
What I'm good at: driving predictable outcomes when nothing feels predictable. When priorities are competing, when teams are distributed across studios and time zones, when leadership needs someone to translate between creative ambition and actual constraints—that's usually where I can help.
My approach is pretty straightforward: ask questions, listen to answers, get the right people talking to each other. Years ago someone taught me "Managing by Walking Around"—literally walking someone from their desk to someone else's desk to start a conversation. Remote work required updating the method, but the principle's the same: facilitate the conversations, then get out of the way so people can do their work.
I don't believe in hero production. If your team needs heroics every sprint to ship, something's broken at the systems level. I'd rather help fix that than normalize the chaos.
The best games I've worked on came from teams that were happy, healthy, and empowered to own their work. Permanent crunch is a production failure, not something to be proud of.
Based in San Francisco · Working remotely with teams worldwide · Certified ScrumMaster
Let's_Talk
Free 30-Minute Production Audit
If your production is broken and you know it, let's have a conversation.
- I'll ask about your team, process, and what's keeping you up at night
- You'll get at least one actionable insight even if we don't work together
- No pitch, no pressure—just honest assessment
nate.schaumberg@gmail.com
415.370.6262
I typically respond within 24 hours on weekdays.
Not Ready For a Call?
Send me an email describing your situation. Include:
- Team size and structure
- What you're shipping and when
- What feels broken or at risk
Even if we don't end up working together, I'm happy to point you in the right direction.