Levelling Up: Megan Garrett, senior commercial manager at Genba Digital

Megan Garrett, senior commercial manager at Genba Digital, talks about working on Elden Ring and the need to thrive in a fast-paced environment

What is your job role and how would you describe your typical day at work?

I’m the senior commercial manager at Genba Digital, a digital distribution company operating within the games industry. We connect Publishers and Developers with digital stores and platforms, and I look after some of our biggest AAA accounts, launching a variety of new releases every year. My day-to-day is working closely with publishers to help maximise their sales through promotions and launches, whilst helping to grow the Genba business as we navigate the ever-changing digital games market. Recently, I was lucky enough to be involved with the highly successful third-party release of Elden Ring with our partner Bandai Namco. Other important aspects of my job include line managing two other commercial managers on the team, presenting new commercial strategies to increase growth in emerging markets, and my favourite part – travelling to events across the world to meet clients and potential new business partners.

What qualifications and/or experience do you need to land this job?

There are a lot of games companies that offer internships or ‘fixed-term contracts’ for a short period of time to help offset busy periods. I was lucky to secure a three-month contract at SEGA Europe, which in turn landed me a permanent role for the next two years of my career, before I transitioned into Commercial roles at Activision Blizzard and Genba Digital. I believe that employers are looking at you as a person, rather than what you studied for A-Levels or degree. My one piece of advice for someone with minimal experience is to put yourself out there. Attending industry events, you can meet and talk to people at relevant companies, and it’s worthwhile maintaining your LinkedIn profile. Recently, I have been very active on Discord servers and there are several game industry specific ones including ‘Women in Games’, where there are sections for job postings or mentorship.

If you were interviewing someone for your team, what would you look for?

In the Genba Commercial team, I’m looking for someone who is ambitious and demonstrates being able to thrive within a fast-paced environment. We all work very hard to ensure that we are going above and beyond, the person to come into the team must be able to integrate with ease and journey with us through the highs and lows! We’re a diverse team and we strive to have a collaborative approach with each other. We work with multiple retail and publishing partners around the globe, so you are constantly mixing with different personalities, cultures and seniority. I believe if someone can adapt to challenging situations and be comfortable with communicating with a variety of people, they’ll go far within the games Industry. It’s also an added benefit if they are into video games and we can geek out on exciting announcements!

What opportunities are there for career progression?

It’s easy to get lost at some companies and be a small cog in a huge machine and trying to make an impact. There are plenty of opportunities, however some of these take risks. Going to smaller companies or studios over a big AAA publisher means more exposure to the business, more autonomy, and you grow exponentially. Genba Digital has recently been acquired by the Azerion Group, meaning there are even more opportunities for people to branch out into new roles within games, advertising and distribution. It’s amazing to see how far Genba has come and the people I work so closely with excel in their careers. It makes it all worthwhile. If I hadn’t taken the leap to leave a big publishing background, I wouldn’t be where I am now.