Game development | Game Business | COVID-19 Impact | Future of Games
A comprehensive guide to game development, marketing, COVID-19 impact on game industry and what future holds for it.
What it takes to make a video game, understanding the entire process of video game development, involving multiple significant roles and disciplines, marketing specific to games, how the industry has been impacted during the pandemic, it’s influence and what could we expect in future.
Introduction
Video game development¹ is the process of developing a video game, although what ensues in it’s creation is not as simple as it may look like and to many people it may seem a bit complex and believe us they have all the right to believe so. Games are produced just like a software is made after it undergoes a software development process. They are seen as a creative outlet and are intended to generate profit, an amalgamation of both art and science.
Before we head on to next section it would be wise to let you know in advance what you are in for, we would cover almost everything you need to know to get started about game development, game business and significant related subjects, so hang on tight and get a coffee or juice because you are about to go in for a ride, in the following order:
1. A general overview of the industry
2. Development process
3. Roles
4. Game industry marketing
5. COVID-19 impact on game industry
6. Future of games
A general overview (especially for newbies) regarding the game development industry is necessary and would aid in understanding the development process.
How easy it is for games to make profits?
Well-made games do rake in big profits more readily. However, it is important to estimate a game’s financial requirements, such as development costs of individual features, failing to provide clear implications of the game’s expectations may result in exceeding the allocated budget, in fact the majority of commercial games do not produce profit², such is the nature of the industry and is a living reality.
How significant is the need for innovation in the industry?
Innovation is what industry requires, as publishers cannot profit from constant release of repetitive sequels and imitations. Every year new independent development companies open and some manage to develop hit titles. Similarly, many developers close down because they cannot find a publishing contract or their production is not profitable. It is difficult to start a new company due to the high initial investment required. Nevertheless, growth of the casual and mobile game market has allowed developers with smaller teams to enter the market. A developer receiving profit from a successful title may store up capital to expand and re-factor their company, as well as tolerate more failed deadlines.
Can a sole developer make a game on his/her own while live up to the present day standards ?
Home computers and video game consoles in the early 1980s, a single programmer could handle almost all the tasks of developing a game — programming, graphical design, sound effects, etc. It could take as little as six weeks to develop a game. However, the high user expectations and requirements of modern commercial games far exceed the capabilities of a single developer and require the splitting of responsibilities.
On what factors length of game development depend?
The length of game development is influenced by a number of factors, such as genre, scale, development platform and number of assets.
In what way revenue generated is divided among the parties involved?
The game revenue from retails is divided among the parties along the distribution chain, such as developer, publisher, retail, manufacturer and console royalty. Many developers fail to profit from this and go bankrupt. Many developers seek alternative economic models through Internet marketing and distribution channels to improve returns as through a mobile distribution channel the share of a developer can be up to 70% of the total revenue and through an online distribution channel owned by the developer, almost 100%.
A video game is software with art, audio, and gameplay. Games with poor development methodology are likely to run over budget and time estimates, as well as contain a large number of bugs.
It is commonly suggested that game development is not suited for typical software life cycle methods, such as the waterfall model.
One method employed for game development is agile development. It is based on iterative prototyping, a subset of software prototyping. Agile development depends on feedback and refinement of game’s iterations with a gradually increasing feature set. This method is effective because most projects do not start with a clear requirement outline.
Development of a commercial game usually includes the following stages:
1) Pre-production
Pre-production or design phase is a planning phase of the project focused on idea and concept development and production of initial design documents. The goal of concept development is to produce clear and easy to understand documentation, which describes all the tasks, schedules and estimates for the development team. The following are the important phases in pre-production.
a) High concept
High concept is a brief description of a game. The high concept is the one-or two-sentence response to the question, “What is your game about?”.
b) Pitch
A pitch, concept document, proposal document, or game proposal is a short summary document intended to present the game's selling points and detail why the game would be profitable to develop.
c) Concept
Concept document, game proposal, or game plan is a more detailed document than the pitch document. This includes the high concept, game’s genre, gameplay description, features, setting, story, target audience, hardware platforms, estimated schedule, marketing analysis, team requirements, and risk analysis.
d) Game Design Document
Even before a full-scale production can begin, the development team produces the first version of a game design document incorporating all or most of the material from the initial pitch. The design document describes the game’s concept and major gameplay elements in detail. It may also include preliminary sketches of various aspects of the game.
e) Prototype
Prototypes of gameplay ideas and features are important because they allows programmers and game designers to:
- Experiment with different algorithms and usability scenarios for a game.
- A great deal of prototyping may take place during pre-production before the design document is complete and may, in fact, help determine what features the design specifies.
2) Production
Production is the main stage of development, when assets and source code for the game are produced.
a) Design
Game design is an essential and collaborative process of designing the content and rules of a game, requiring artistic and technical competence as well as writing skills.
b) Programming
Programmers develop prototypes to test ideas, many of which may never make it into the final game. The programmers incorporate new features demanded by the game design and fix any bugs introduced during the development process.
c) Level creation
The game’s first level takes the longest to develop, from a time standpoint, as level designers and artists use the tools for level building, they request features and changes to the in-house tools that allow for quicker and higher quality development, due to the virtue of the dynamic environment of game development, the design of early levels may also change over time. Later levels can be developed much more quickly as the feature set is more complete and the game vision is clearer and more stable.
d) Art production
Game art design is the process of creating the artistic aspects for video games. Starting concept designs can also be created by the game designers before the game is moved into actualization. Artists work closely with designers on what is needed for the game.
e) Audio production
Game audio may be separated into three categories — sound effects, music, and voice-over.
- Sound effect production is the production of sounds by either tweaking a sample to a desired effect or replicating it with real objects. Sound effects are important and impact the game’s delivery.
- Music may be synthesized or performed live.
- Voice-overs and voice acting creates character gameplay interactivity. Voice acting adds personality to the game’s characters.
f) Testing
Quality assurance of a video game product plays a significant role throughout the development cycle of a game, though comes more significantly into play as the game nears completion. Unlike other software products or productivity applications, video games are fundamentally meant to entertain, and thus the testing of video games is more focused on the end-user experience rather than the accuracy of the software code’s performance, which indicates a key difference in how game software is developed.
g) Milestones
Commercial game development projects may be required to meet milestones set by the publisher. Milestones mark major events during game development and are used to track game’s progress. Such milestones may be, for example, first playable, alpha, or beta game versions. Project milestones depend on the developer schedules. The milestone list is usually a collaborative agreement between the publisher and developer.
Since the process of video game creation involves multiple roles, each is tasked with their own highly skilled specific job, let’s start with one of the most important roles: that of the producer.
Internal and external producers oversee the development. Internal producer works for the developer and manages the development team, schedules, reports progress, hires and assigns staff, and so on. External producer works for the publisher and oversees development progress and budget. Producer’s responsibilities include PR, contract negotiation, liaising between the staff and stakeholders, schedule and budget maintenance, quality assurance, beta test management, and localization. Project manager, project lead, or director are also some of the names by which this role is identified.
2) Publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by an external video game developer. Publishers are responsible for their product’s manufacturing and marketing, including market research and all aspects of advertising.
They usually finance the development of the game and also typically own the IP of the game.
Some important functions of publisher include but not limited to :
- deciding on and paying for any license that the game may utilize;
- paying for localization; layout, printing, and possibly the writing of the user manual;
- and the creation of graphic design elements such as the box design.
Independent video game developers create games without a publisher and may choose to digitally distribute their games.
3) Developers can range in size from small groups making casual games to housing hundreds of employees and producing several large titles. The development team includes the following roles:
a) Designer
A game designer is a person who designs gameplay, conceiving and designing the rules and structure of a game. Development teams usually have a lead designer who coordinates the work of other designers. They are the main visionary of the game.
b) Artist
A game artist is a visual artist who creates video game art. The art production is usually overseen by an art director or art lead, making sure their vision is followed. The art director manages the art team, scheduling and coordinating within the development team.
c) Programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer who primarily develops video games or related software. The game’s codebase development is handled by programmers. Individual programming disciplines roles include:
- Physics — the programming of the game engine, including simulating physics, collision, object movement, etc.
- AI — producing computer agents using game AI techniques, such as scripting, planning, rule-based decisions, etc.
- Graphics — the managing of graphical content utilization and memory considerations; the production of graphics engine, integration of models, textures to work along the physics engine.
- Sound — integration of music, speech, sound effects onto the proper locations and times.
- Gameplay — implementation of various games rules and features
- Scripting — development and maintenance of high-level command systems for various in-game tasks, such as AI, level editor triggers, etc.
- UI — production of user interface elements, like option menus, HUDs, help and feedback systems, etc.
- Input processing — processing and compatibility correlation of various input devices, such as keyboard, mouse, gamepad, etc.
- Network communications — the managing of data inputs and outputs for local and internet gameplay.
- Game tools — the production of tools to accompany the development of the game, especially for designers and scripters.
d) Level designer
A level designer is a person who creates levels, challenges or missions for video games using a specific set of programs. These programs may be commonly available commercial 3D or 2D design programs, or specially designed and tailored level editors made for a specific game.
e) Sound engineer
Sound engineers are technical professionals responsible for sound effects and sound positioning. They sometimes oversee voice acting and other sound asset creation. Composers who create a game’s musical score also comprise a game’s sound team, though often this work is outsourced.
f) Tester
The quality assurance is carried out by game testers. A game tester analyzes video games to document software defects as part of a quality control. Testing is a highly technical field requiring computing expertise, and analytic competence. The testers ensure that the game falls within the proposed design, that is it both works and is entertaining.
Marketing³ trends changing the industry landscape
First of all it is vital that you know that the game production has similar distribution methods to those of music and film industries.
The publisher’s marketing team targets the game for a specific market and then advertises it. The team advises the developer on target demographics and market trends, as well as suggests specific features. The game is then advertised and the game’s high concept is incorporated into the promotional material, ranging from magazine ads to TV spots.
A game’s demo may range between a few seconds to hours of gameplay. Demos are produced with public relations, marketing and sales in mind, maximizing the presentation effectiveness.
What market analysis is important in game making business?
Market analysis is important as it helps in determining if a game will sell and identifies the audience’s desires. During this stage, game developers examine gaming trends, follow fan sites, and may interview or poll gamers regarding what they’re looking for in a game.
Since we are done with the prerequisites to understand the larger goal, the following trends are changing the industry landscape.
a) Growing adoption of digital distribution
Physical game sales are in decline since patterns suggest growing adoption of digital sales. Improved internet speeds, larger hardware storage capacities, and lower footfall to retail stores are driving even stronger digital sales growth, as digital sales and distribution of games continues to grow, publishers need to prioritize digital distribution when setting their marketing strategy.
b) Evolving business models
Game revenue models are evolving, impacting the lifecycle of games as well as the actual gameplay mechanics. Revenue models, such as the free to play model, continue to gain traction with the adoption of microtransactions across multiple franchises on all platforms.
c) The rise of gaming as a social forum
The rise in the use of games as a means to socialise has been accelerated during the COVID-19 lockdown measures. Virtual spaces within large player base games are also being used as gathering points where players socialise and experience a live event. We will continue to see the development in online multiplayer services for immersive experiences.
d) Data and customer insights
As the gaming industry shifts more towards digital, it will become easier to build closed-loop marketing strategies with easier access to more granular data. It will be important for developers to garner customer insight on the areas of the game being utilised more heavily, identifying retention issues or signals and also establish where additional monetisation elements could help to improve profitability. It’s a journey game marketers are all on as we move closer towards closed-loop marketing.
e) Cloud delivery is the next big disruptor
Cloud gaming platforms threaten to disrupt the traditional routes to market for publishers with the promise of Netflix-style access to libraries of instant games. The cloud gaming platform landscape is shaping up to be highly competitive, and differentiation will be key.
In spring⁴ 2020, gaming quickly emerged as one of the most popular activities during the initial outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic as user engagement and spending surged between February and April of that year. Especially younger generations Gen Z and Millennials spent more time on gaming as the medium was a convenient way to spend time during initial stay at home orders, lockdowns, and social distancing.
- Gaming during lockdown⁵
As of June 2020, time spent video gaming during the COVID-19 pandemic increased by double digits in all regions, with Latin American gamers increasing their time spent on video games by 52 percent. Asia-Pacific was ranked second in terms of increased user engagement with a 42 percent increase of gaming time. Multiplayer games proved especially popular during COVID-19, and the most popular gaming genres based on increase in time spent were fighting, MOBA( multiplayer online battle arena), and battle royale games.
2. Gaming sales⁶ post COVID-19
Looking back at gamer spending in 2020, worldwide digital gaming spending on in-game content and paid downloads has increased by 12 percent and 21 percent respectively, highlighting the growth of digital revenues. Nearly all major gaming companies generated most of their recent revenues via digital content. This development is not only due to COVID-19, the industry has continuously made inroads to live service revenues and in-game monetization.
The Future⁷ of games is a much talked about topic, one that has seen excessive speculation caused by the advancement in heavyweights like AI, virtual reality and additional technologies like cloud gaming and streaming, digital distribution and new business models too are responsible for shaping the landscape of the gaming industry.
An overview of the numbers paints an illuminating picture. In 2019, the gaming industry generated $120 billion in revenue, and experts predict it could reach $200 billion within two years; 100 million viewers tuned in to watch players compete in the World Championship of the game League of Legends — a larger haul than the telecast of the Super Bowl; and, by 2021, it’s projected that 2.7 billion people — about one-third of the global population — will be gamers. This in itself is enough to make us understand the reputation of an industry we are dealing with.
Virtual reality and augmented reality games, while comparatively niche, continue to climb in revenue too.
1) Role of AI⁸
Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction; it’s lodged itself into the fabric of our everyday lives — from Gmail’s Smart Compose to self-driving cars to facial recognition software.
a) AI & Non Player Characters
The idea of AI has been expressed in gaming for decades, most prominently in non-player characters (NPCs), like the colorful ghosts in Pac-Man or the innocent bystanders in Grand Theft Auto.
Characters like these are typically programmed with what designers call a “finite state machine.” In the plainest possible terms, this means that NPCs follow a script, or an if-then statement.
In recent years, gamemakers have taken a more sophisticated approach to NPCs. For example, some are now programmed with a behavior tree, which enables them to perform more complex decision-making. Still, NPCs can only do what is written in their code. Their behavior, however intelligent it seems, is still determined in advance by the game’s designers.
b) AI and Content Generation
Artificial Intelligence isn’t just part of the gameplay experience. It’s part of the game-making experience. For several years now, designers have been using AI to help them create games. AI can generate game assets, which frees up designers from painstakingly drawing each individual tree in a forest or rock formation in a canyon. Instead, designers can offload that work to computers by using a technique called procedural content generation, which has become fairly standard practice in the industry. Procedural content generation is also used to create game levels — sometimes randomly — so the player can enjoy a fresh experience each time. The 2016 game No Man’s Sky took this technique to the extreme. The entire open-world environment of the game is procedurally generated, meaning that the player traverses through a world that was not sketched out ahead of time by the game’s creators.
Some gamemakers also rely on neural networks to tailor-make game levels for players through a process NYU professor Julian Togelius calls experience-driven procedural content generation. For example, in 2009 researchers collected player data for Super Mario, quantifying each player’s preferences as they played.
c) AI and Analytics
AI may not yet be up to the task of creating entire high-quality games from scratch, but it can certainly provide valuable feedback to the game’s designers, who can fine-tune their creations on the fly and it’s quite common.
2) Virtual Reality⁹
For decades, virtual reality has tantalized gamers with the prospect of a fully immersive experience. But the technology has yet to deliver on this promise. There are promising developments on the horizon. But first, a few challenges need to be addressed.
What’s holding VR back?
For the future of consumer VR to be more than a niche hobby for people with high disposable income — or a once-in-a-while theme park experience — several hardware challenges will need to be overcome. Namely, the bulky headsets.
Companies are busy making VR more consumer-friendly, and it’s only a matter of time before both the weight and price of headsets drop. But even when those hurdles are cleared, the fact that the typical VR experience is so socially isolating might limit its upside.
It is suggested that the future of VR is more through social VR. Many believe if VR is to succeed then it requires haptic feedback, for example it could be used to simulate the feeling of guns, making FPS games more immersive.
Technology is improving incrementally. This isn’t meant to be pessimistic. It’s a reflection that the games industry is already quite mature.
3) Augmented Reality
We all were testimony to the summer of 2016, when parks and plazas swarmed with smartphone wielders on pokemon catching missions. The masses were playing Pokémon Go, an augmented reality mobile game in which virtual images, in this case, colorful critters called Pokémon — overlay a person’s view of the real world. The game, which is free to download and play, has since generated over $3 billion in sales, mostly from in-app purchases.
A critical difference between AR and VR..
Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation in which a person’s entire field of view is overrode by that simulation. The most common method of participating in VR is through a headset. Augmented reality, on the other hand, refers to the overlay of digital objects atop a person’s natural field of view. Typical AR devices include mobile phones and specially made glasses.
4) Mobile 5G: The AR game changer
Telecommunications companies are in the early stages of rolling out 5G for mobile devices. Soon, smartphones will be much faster, and laggy game experiences will be a thing of the past. This is not just great news for mobile games in general, which currently chew through a phone’s computational power. It’s also great for AR games specifically, which, without real-time data input, aren’t worth playing.
5) High Fidelity¹⁰ graphics in video games
In the pursuit of ultra-realistic graphics, video games have come a long way. Are we there yet? Recently, the company Nvidia created a graphics card that enables video games to feature something called ray tracing. It’s a technique that allows light in games to behave more naturally. In the past, things like shadows and reflections and lens flares were essentially painted onto objects within the game. This gave the illusion that light was coming from the sun or moon and reacting as it would when it hit a surface. With ray tracing, an algorithm basically allows it to do just that, but for real this time. The technology is in its nascent stages, but it’s expected to be a game changer. Graphics will only get better. That is, if companies want to pursue it.
6) Are we heading towards a communal experience¹¹?
The future of entertainment is gaming and the future of gaming is community. Augmented reality will continue to unlock more, not less, social interactions, because encountering the real world is what distinguishes AR from VR. The quality of an augmented reality game hinges, first and foremost, on the presence of reality. If the current trends and future forecasts of the gaming industry clue us into anything about ourselves, it’s that our desire to escape is far outpaced by our desire to connect.
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Please refer to the references below, for further reading:
References1. Video game development | Video game development Wikipedia2. profit | The Beginners Guide to Video Game Development by Dustin Tyler3. Marketing | COVID-19 impact on the gaming industry worldwide - statistics & facts by J. Clement4. spring | Global Gaming Industry: Growth, Trends and Forecast 2020-20255. lockdown | 6 key marketing trends changing the gaming industry by Bruce Broadbent6. sales | The Secrets to Marketing in the Gaming Industry by Chris Haughey7. Future | What Does the Future of the Gaming Industry Look Like? by Hal Koss8. AI | Future of gaming by Quartz9. virtual reality | Future of Video Games: Trends, Technology, and Types by Maryville University10. fidelity | The Games Industry on What Gaming Might Be Like in 2030 by Cam Shea11. experience | What’s The Future Of Gaming? Industry Professors Tell Us What To Expect by Matt Gardner
