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Studio Knowledge Capture Kit

Why this exists

When EA closed BioWare in October 2026, the loss was not just a cancelled game: it was the people who knew why a story choice was made, where a tool broke, and which prototype was worth reviving. Former writers could only speak about the cancelled Mass Effect project once the studio was gone — and by then, there was no studio left to ask. Knowledge capture is what you do while the team still exists, not what you wish you had done after.

Workflow

1. Decision log (input: project history -> output: a dated log).
   For each major decision, record: what was decided, when, by whom, what
   alternatives were rejected, and why. Ten entries beat a hundred pages of
   meeting notes. Start with the decisions a newcomer would most
   misunderstand — the ones that look wrong without context.
2. Unwritten rules (input: interviews with 5+ team members -> output: a rules list).
   Ask each person: "What do you know that is not written anywhere?" and
   "What would break if a new person did it the obvious way?" Record
   answers verbatim first, edit later. The best entries are embarrassing
   ("we never use that exporter on Fridays") — that is how you know they
   are real.
3. Asset map (input: drives, repos, drives-of-drives -> output: one map).
   List every repository, shared drive, and personal folder that holds
   project material, with an owner and a "what happens to this" decision:
   archive, hand over, or delete. Unowned assets are the ones that vanish
   first; assign an owner to everything, even if the owner is "the archive."
4. Recorded walkthroughs (input: the 10 most-used workflows -> output: short videos + transcripts).
   Each walkthrough is one person doing one real task, narrating as they
   go, under 15 minutes, with a transcript. Prioritize tasks that fail
   silently (builds, exports, submissions) over tasks that fail loudly.
5. Handover packet (input: log + rules + map + videos -> output: one folder).
   The packet opens with a one-page "start here" note: what this project
   was, what state it is in, what is safe to touch, and who to contact
   (even if the answer is "nobody — here is why"). Store two copies in
   two places; a packet that lives only on a departing employee's laptop
   is not a packet.

What not to do

• Do not capture everything. Capture what a successor needs to avoid the
  expensive mistakes, and let the rest go.
• Do not make capture a performance review. People tell the truth about
  fragile processes only if capture is separated from blame.
• Do not promise the archive will "save the project." Its job is to save
  the knowledge; whether anyone revives the project is a different decision.

Template preview

Knowledge Capture Worksheet

1. Decision log (10 entries)

2. Unwritten rules

• Person:
• "Not written anywhere":
• "Breaks if done the obvious way":

3. Asset map

4. Walkthroughs (10 most-used workflows)

1. 2.

5. Handover packet

• Start-here note:
• Copy locations (2):

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