Things to consider when outsourcing game design & development

Today, there are about 2.5 billion gamers in the world and that number is expected to continue to rise. In terms of revenue, the gaming industry generated $35.4 billion in 2019, and about 2.3 billion gamers were waiting for new experiences in the same year. 

(Source: Neit)

An introduction to the gaming market

The gaming market is growing by leaps and bounds every year. And with that, the number of companies and developers are turning to external providers for their game development services. They say there are increased chances of coming across unique ideas, content, and skills that could be used in their favour. Time after time, there are new platforms being introduced and the technologies are evolving and reshaping industries and the world. This is not just changing the way people work but giving them new possibilities and strategies to work. And, to stay in the market, it is absolutely necessary to keep up with the emerging technologies and the new platform releases. Nevertheless, with all the other jobs going on, it becomes difficult for companies to keep up with the changing trends in the gaming market that helps them produce fun games and deliver high-quality content for the people.

Meanwhile, the option of hiring a game development team that has the skills, the expertise, and the knowledge to create a game to its best potential is what anyone would want. Though the process of hiring could be onerous if one doesn’t know how to get what he/she is looking for. The process requires planning, implementation, and execution.

A company that provides the services of game design and development are aware of the know-how that goes into creating a good game. And, a good game development company will provide you with the right team size (programmers, graphic and instructional designers, a content writer, illustrator, animator, voice actor, and a few quality assurance testers) that are required for a particular game with the appropriate skills to meet the demands of the game. Outsourcing game development on the other hand comes with a lot many advantages. It helps companies grow by taking advantage of the expertise that comes from hiring the right people for the job. Advantages:

• • Cost-effective 

• • Time-effective

• • Reduced overheads

• • Staffing flexibility

• Risk management

Hire a game development team that triumphs

The process of developing a video game involves coding, programming, designing, sound effects, engineering, and testing. And, it is the game developer who turns a game design into an actual game. Hence, it is important to know the difference between video game design and game development. The design focuses on the game’s look and feel like the latter centers around the development process. Let’s get down to the attributes to consider when outsourcing game design and development.      

1. When a company is outsourcing, it is actually assigning a specific business process (here, game design and development) to another company that specializes in it. And, there are several roles that are a part of the development process. A computer programmer with the knowledge of HTML5, Javascript and CSS, a designer with creativity and knowledge of game art and CSS, a sound engineer, and a quality assurance analyst who does the testing and debugging. These are the main roles that are important to the process.

2. The quality that a game developer agency provides matters the most. Reviewing the previous work of the agency or their portfolio, if they have one, is what will help you in knowing about the kind of work they have done for their clients, what are their capabilities to deliver what you expect, how successful the work has been. You can also ask them about the challenges they have faced during the process and how they tend to overcome them. Good game development uses a strong game development portfolio to showcase their excellent work to their clients.

You may also read: Why outsource game development to Indian developers?

3. Now to work on your game development project, it is necessary that the agency has the essential resources to bring out the best of the idea. And by resources, I just don’t mean the machines, softwares, developmental platforms, technologies but also the people and their technical capabilities. Also after the first test-run, there might be some changes and modifications that need to be made as per the result. That means the agency must have the infrastructure that supports making these changes for the improvement of the game.

4. The team of game designers and developers must also have the potential to cope with the bugs and errors by debugging and beta testing to give an end result that is polished and acceptable. Ensuring the quality of the game at every step is significant. And, every member should test the game on their level and report bugs, if they find any but other than that one person should actively be responsible for playing the game, and finding bugs. 

5. Data protection and privacy is a concern that must arise when outsourcing a job. You need to make sure that the agency is professional and so not compromise with the client’s trust. To ensure data protection and privacy, mention a contract that includes the company’s policies and security guidelines.

6. Good communication is a skill and most people fail to understand the importance of this. It is important for the game development team to understand your vision, be clear on the project requirements and the deliverables. To achieve that the company should be in frequent contact with the agency and with someone who can understand and communicate efficiently. Also, they should schedule stand-up meetings with the team to get regular updates on what’s happening and if there are any challenges being faced.

7. An agency that understands and values timely delivery of projects and that there should be no gap between what is expected and what is delivered. So, all the details, features, outlooks, deliverables, and the timeframes should be documented and given to the development team by you and you need to ensure that you choose someone who is capable of delivering the requirements. 

8. A company that follows agile development methodology and breaks the prerequisites into sprints so that you are aware of the entire development process and the progress that is happening every way.

9. Reputation of the game development company is also one thing that has to be taken into account. And, to understand that, their work history should be looked into, their previous work experience with their clients, reading the reviews and other client’s testimonials will speak tons of their reputation.

The Closing

At Logic Simplified, the game development team of proficient designers, developers, producers, artists, sound engineers, and testers provides game design and development services with their skills and expertise and assure high-level quality work and testing along with quick turnaround time. Their individual passion for their work makes them produce games that are entertaining and impart an immersive experience to the gamers.