The Handover Series Ep 3: Not Mine, But Theirs

With about a month left on my notice period, we signed on a big project. A new, fairly complex game had to be created. With the timelines short and the team relatively new, we decided it made the most sense for me to take the lead on it.

"It's perfect", I thought, "my last hurrah. My swan song. A legacy I can leave behind."

So, we got to work. It was the busiest notice period I have ever had. We stayed up nights and worked weekends - just to get it absolutely perfect. I made sure to document and templatize whatever I could, so that it could be easily modified if a client needed something different in the future.

"She did so great", they would say. "She really thought of everything."

Little by little, as my last day came closer, the nerves piled on. Team members far more capable than they give themselves credit for, wondered how they would deliver the game once I had left. And that's when it hit me.

My legacy wasn't this game, or the games I had built before. It was this team - new and old - of capable, confident people who saw these games as their own. And by trying to control every aspect of the game, I was taking that sense of ownership away from them.

Slowly (or as slowly as possible, with a ticking time bomb over us!), things changed. They led the meetings. They made the decisions. They took the calls. And, visibly, their confidence soared.

I still finished the writing, of course. I proof-read, re-checked the scoring, was around for any support they needed, both before and after my last day. But, the final outcome? That's all them. From the minute you hit Play, to the final 'The End', it's their baby.

And I couldn't be prouder.