Have You Thought About Game Development as a Career in India?

India is witnessing the creation of a large gaming ecosystem with global gaming products. It is among the largest markets for game downloads among emerging economies and is set to witness the growth of game development market sharply, according to Xpheno.

Spider Solitaire in 2D

A Game Developer is a professional involved in the overall process of creating a video game from concept to actual product. A game has various components and a developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines. Game developers may specialize in a certain format or may develop for several systems. Some focus on particular types of games, programming, design, art, testing, porting games from one system to another, or translating games from one language to another.

Game genres are expanding and evolving with the growing trends, variety, and experimentation. Simulation and sports, puzzlers and party games, action-adventure, survival, and horror are examples of game genres. Technological advancements such as Cloud gaming, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality(VR) gaming, 3D, mobile gaming, etc. have transformed the gaming landscape.

Skill Set Required:

• Hands-on experience and technical ability. If you ever wondered, what is the use of C++ in real life, well here it is. C++ is the language of games and hardware, and C# (C sharp) is another language used in creating games.
• Knowledge of application program interfaces (APIs) and libraries.
• Experience with full-cycle game development.
• Knowledge of existing elements of other games to know what makes a game click with its audience, and to refine and improve game ideas.

Nintendo’s Pokémon Go is an AR game

• Staying abreast of gaming genres, trends, and technologies.
• Analytical mindset and problem-solving aptitude to resolve complex software and coding issues creatively, effectively, and optimizing game performance.
• Creative and innovative approach to stand out in the gaming industry.
• Understanding of player psychology, cultural tastes, and preferences to capture and retain players’ attention and interest quickly.
• Working with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), 2D and 3D design tools to create game assets and implement existing assets into the game.
• Time management skills to manage, crunch, meet deadlines and client requirements.
• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science is not compulsory but it is generally preferred by recruiters.

Core Responsibilities:

Planning

• Generate game scripts, storyboards, environment, activities, scoring, and progression, and contribute to the overall game concept that can be scaled and manipulated accordingly.

Grand Theft Auto III, a 3D Game

• Assemble the suite of software and platforms that will power the games.
• Prototype, iterate, and polish gameplay, features, etc.

Designing

• Create graphics for game art and maps.
• Animate characters and objects.
• Produce the audio features such as character voices, music, and sound effects.
• Develop game menus, milestones, and checkpoints.

Programming

• Translate requirements into complicated but clean and efficient code that implements the game’s logic and allows the player to interact with the game world and its characters.
• Refactor code to improve the design of existing code.
• Programming the game’s terrain.

Testing and Debugging

• Create unit tests and validation procedures to assure quality and ensure the game is resilient enough to withstand maximal gameplay.
• Troubleshoot during the development process and after the game ships to players.

Maintaining and Upgrading

• Provide ongoing tech support after the game has been launched.
• Work on upgrades to the game, produce add-ons and game packs.
• Handle new feature requests and make improvements to the game.

How you can start your journey as a Game Developer :

• After learning the basics of programming, it is time to choose a game engine such as Unity or Unreal Engine. This is the platform on which you can create your first game!
• Then, you can begin to mimic existing games, starting by adding your unique features as you become more comfortable both with coding and the game engine you are using.
• The best way to grow as a new game developer is to begin working for a small game development studio. Several studios offer internships that help new developers to continue learning under the guidance of experienced game developers.

Online Courses That Can be Pursued:

1. Harvard’s Intro to Game Development (A 12-week course which teaches you all the basics free of cost).
2. A 6 months Full Stack Game Development Course from an Indian Ed-Tech Start-Up Outscal (You have to pay them fees only if you get a job after course completion).

Companies Where You can Work As A Game Developer:

1. You can work with International gaming companies such as Nintendo (They launched Mario and Pokémon and made our childhood awesome), EA Sports, Ubisoft, Sony Computer Entertainment.
2. You can also work with Indian companies such as Octro Inc., Nazara Technologies (They launched the WCC game. Now, I bet if you are a cricket fan you would have played this game at least once).

Average Salary of a Game Developer:

The average salary that a fresher in this field can expect is around ₹ 4- 4.5 lakh per annum but it can easily go up to ₹ 9 lakh per annum with 5 to 7 years of experience in the domain.

The game development process involves interleaving, multidisciplinary aspects, art, music, programming, and the control and integration of those aspects. Behind every game are the countless hours of hard work of game developers who leverage their talent to bring their vision to reality, and transform the gaming world.