How Game Developers Can be Game Changers for You?

Games have always been popular with kids, teenagers, and even adults. With modern technology, including AR, VR, and advanced Computer Graphics, Games have become as real as possible. Developing Games requires specific skills, strategic thinking, and new ideas. The gaming industry is flooded with competitors, with each trying to create immersive games that can catapult them to become market leaders. PUBG, Fortnite, and Clash of Clans are some of the most popular games, with thousands of players worldwide competing to win prizes. 

Although it requires a team of expert coders to develop top-notch video games, the investment of time and money does pay dividends over time. If the game becomes popular and spreads globally, it becomes very lucrative. Having such attractive games requires a lot of imagination, creativity, technical acumen, and out-of-the-box thinking. Already, there are games in which you mimic life, that is, do things you actually do in real life and interact with other game players as fellow human beings. Such games are becoming more popular than the ones in which the scenario is far from reality. Software companies developing games earn a lot of money from Internet Service Providers(ISPs) and advertisers who want to promote their products online. 

Thus, Game Development may appear futile, but it is more profitable than some of the other software development activities. So, having a team of expert coders who can come up with a game that entices the world is something you can aspire for. Developing a game can be divided into several stages.

Stages of Game Development

Concept Generation

The most important aspect of a game is the concept on which it is based. With several games flooding the gaming arena, it requires a brilliant idea to set yourself apart from the rest. Without a concept in mind, Game development cannot begin, and thus brainstorming is required amongst team members to come up with a unique concept that can be turned into a game. Programming languages provide a lot of scope for turning any concept into code and interactive visuals.

To start with, the target audience should be ascertained, and whether the game will be in 2D or 3D. The game's background, characters, and features should also be discussed. This is the most challenging part of game development, as a unique and sellable concept is required for success.

Proofing the Concept

The first thing that needs to be ensured at this stage is whether the concept is technologically implementable. Once this is confirmed, other aspects, like the cost of development and the team size required for development, can be determined. There are some Gaming Studios that have a publisher investing money in Game Development. Hence, in such a scenario, the Gaming concept must be approved by the publisher. If it is an independent studio, one can go for Crowdfunding.

Pre-Production

In this stage, various project team members meet, including writers, artists, engineers, and developers. Writers will write the script or dialogues in which the characters will speak; artists will draw sketches of the characters, and engineers and developers will work on the code. All these team members will have to interact with each other to ascertain whether the project they are working on is feasible both conceptually and technically. 

Production

This is the stage in which the actual game development process begins, and characters are developed exactly as they were visualized during the concept generation. The audio team works to ensure that all movement creates a sound that is real. Level designers create levels to suit different styles and the difficulty of the game. Voice-over artists record sounds for different characters who perform various actions in the game and interact with other characters. Programmers write the code, which is the backbone of the game and the platform on which it runs. Project team leaders ensure that the different teams are accountable for their work and finish their work on time.

All the activities are time-consuming, and many times, months of work are scrapped, much to the disappointment of the team members.

Testing

After completing the development process, it is time to find & fix the bugs. The best way to find bugs would be by getting feedback from the users who play the game. They must note down the defects they notice while playing the game. Game Software Testing can be of two types first is stress testing, and second is fun testing. In the first type, users will try to repeat an action thousands of times, and in the second, users will play the game in a haphazard manner to see if the game crashes or continues to function. Not all bugs will be found during this stage, but attempts should be made to iron out as many bugs as possible. 

Launch

This is the most joyful part for the game development studio as news about sales pours in. However, still, work needs to be done, and new bugs will come up as more enthusiasts start playing the game. A situation may arise where the company may have to launch a new version of the game to eliminate several bugs. However, most of the time, these are minor bugs and do not require significant changes to the code. This issue can be addressed by releasing updates or Downloadable Content(DLCs).

Post-launch

A lot of work needs to be done post-launch, which will decide how much the game becomes popular. Developing only one successful game is not the end but the beginning, and companies want to develop many such games. Hence, taking feedback from players is the best way to assess how good the game is and whether updates are required. Sometimes, post-launch management is more difficult than the development phase. 

“The value of the video game market in the US is 85.86 billion USD, and video game industry hardware revenue in March 2022 was 515 million USD.” - Statista

How Game Developers Make Money

Game Development is a long and arduous process, and all the project members who work on it expect rewards at the end of the day. They will not be disappointed if the game becomes popular and players worldwide start playing.

Game Developers earn more money than anyone else, although the way they earn it keeps changing. Advertisements and in-app purchases are not providing many earnings as compared to subscription models and selling branded merchandise. A new way is selling services to other developers, which is more lucrative than other methods. Developers also sell/lease assets and plugins for income generation.  

Game Developers are also tipping players to promote their games. The use of Cryptocurrency is also helping to spread the wealth between Developers, Streamers, and Players. In the case of Free games, ads are used to make money, which can be based on pay-per-click or pay-per-view models. It is one of the most effective ways to earn money for Game Developers by engaging the players and influencing their behavior. These games also offer an ad-free experience if the players are willing to pay a small amount. 
 

Future of the Gaming Industry

The gaming industry will grow further in the upcoming years due to technological advancements. We look at some of the aspects which will help the industry grow. 

1. Virtual Reality (VR) will be extensively used in the gaming industry 
2. Companies like Microsoft & Sony have games like Wii U and Sony Cross-Play, for which they have Second Screening Device
3. Open Source Platforms will be the next big thing in the gaming industry as developers need not buy expensive SDK software, which will enable them to sell games at a lower cost
4. Along with Virtual Reality(VR), Augmented Reality(AR) will also be used in games, which can feed additional information
5. Cloud Gaming will also become popular where players will only need to have a stable internet connection so that they can play the game on the cloud

Wrapping the Game Up…

Games are here to stay; only the technology used to develop or play them will change over time. As we have discussed, online games make much money through various modes. This makes Game Developers a much sought-after commodity who can help you earn millions of dollars in a short period. For finding the best Game Developers, You can rely on Goodtal.