How To Start A Video Game Development Business

Humanity has always needed entertainment. With the advent of the digital age, computer games have become especially popular, because they can become a real immersion in a new world. Sociologists are sounding the alarm that computer addiction deprives a person of his personal life, but the development and publication of computer games are growing at an increasing pace. However, there is an alternative opinion, which considers such games to be a new direction in art, which had no analogs before. 

If we ignore the problems of the modern world, you can see that major computer game developers have multi-million dollar annual income, which sometimes exceeds the income from creating high-budget films. This business was spawned by the development of technology only at the end of the twentieth century, and therefore today has many prospects. But a novice developer will have to make his way to the stars through thorns for a long time.

The development of a video game involves the presence of two companies – a developer and a publisher. A developer is a company that directly creates a game, tests it, brings it to mind, and in general, is completely focused on the technical component. 

The publisher, on the other hand, is engaged in the promotion of the game, its sale, and demonstration, and it is he who determines what should be in the game and what should not. The creators of games are directly comparable to people of creative professions, their impulse is aimed at creating something ambitious, grandiose, and surpassing everything hitherto seen.

The publisher is a prudent realist who pays for the development and wants not only to return his money but also to earn on sales, so it is not profitable for him to sell a raw product that will not be bought. This is the main confrontation between the publisher and the developer because the first is simply forced to limit the ambitions of the second and direct his activities in the direction that will bring money while reminding the developer of the deadlines. Also, browse around this site.

Therefore, many developers become their publishers, trying on their own to convey their offspring to the players. History knows many successful people who independently achieved their goals without the help of third-party companies, but for one such genius, there are hundreds of teams that, in the end, no one will know about.

The entire video game industry is conditionally divided into 2 components: large companies and indie developers. Large companies publish “AAA-class” games that are aimed at a wide audience and meet the needs of a very large number of people (a kind of pop production, although there are genius ones among such projects); individualists develop an inexpensive game and sell them themselves.

As a rule, these are several people or even a single programmer who registers as an entrepreneur immediately before the sale of the game. There are a lot of high-tech games, but they require significant funds, so indie developers survive by implementing a brilliant ideas. The game can be technically very simple, but at the same time be a masterpiece thanks to an unusual and interesting idea. But still the best option for everyone,

Many talented programmers start the hard way as game developers. But this is also a business, and without commercial consciousness, it is hardly possible to win a place among competitors. Of course, you can become just another maverick by devoting yourself to developing a brilliant project to eventually release it and make money from it, or, which is also not bad, earn recognition from a major video game studio and join it as an employee. 

However, if we consider game development as a business, then attention should be paid to the publishing component. In general, the division into the developer and publisher companies is due to the total difference in business processes, even though both are engaged in a common task.

The developer does not have to be a commercial organization at all (as, for example, a writer is not required to register as an entrepreneur), but a publisher is a taxpayer who takes over all the organizational work. However, it is quite possible to remain one company that develops the game, just everyone minds their own business, and managers sell, and do not sit at computers. 

So, to start your similar activity, you need to register as a business entity by indicating the code (OKPD 2) 58.21 Computer game publishing services. If the entrepreneur himself is eager to create games, he can join the workflow not only as a manager but also as a lead programmer.

If computer technology is not his professional activity, then you can either find a ready-made team of developers and offer them cooperation or look for specialists one by one. As noted above, the staff may consist of one person and may include more than a hundred people in different positions. The following people are directly involved in the development:

Programmer. A person who writes code creates an engine and another programming. The staff of programmers can include many positions for writing individual game parameters.

Game designer. His work is not designed in the usual sense of the word, but rather in direction, he finds the perfect balance of all components of the game.

Artist. Creates the appearance of all characters and the game as a whole. Separately, a specialist in textures and 3D models is singled out.

Animator. Engaged in the development of character movement, and should be able to create animation for non-existent creatures. He also works in the motion capture studio, if there is one.

Musician. It is designed to create not only original compositions for filling, but also to select all kinds of environmental sounds and, in general, the entire “sounding” part of the game.

Screenwriter. He writes not just a script, but one that can be interactive and multi-variant. Works closely with the designer, constantly discussing with him the revision and change of the script as needed.

Tester. In the early stages of a project, they are the employees themselves. At later ones, a beta test of the game is thrown out, which can be free for the company, because fans begin to test the game, unless, of course, there were people who showed interest in the project even at the stage of its development. But even in the state itself, there should be special people who constantly check the quality of all elements.

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