Anyone involved in the creation of video games is aware that development is a complex but essential process that must be mastered to produce a beautiful final result. However, due to instability and bad management, not all businesses understand how to construct the workflow efficiently, and things quickly spiral out of control.
Understanding and adhering to a video game development pipeline is crucial, which provides an accurate breakdown of the various stages of a project’s development and enables you to plan and streamline your workflow.
We’ll discuss the critical game development phases in this post and some of its unique characteristics. Additionally, you’ll discover more game production advice and learn how to find a trustworthy partner for creating amazing video games.
What stages of game development are there?
The five critical stages of the game development process are pre-production, production, quality control, launch, and post-production maintenance.
Stage 1: of the game development process
Although each step in the game development process is essential, the initial planning cycle directly impacts all subsequent cycles. It’s critical to begin the process of creating a computer game by gathering details about the intended end product, such as technological specifications. Managers and product owners collaborate to outline the project’s fundamental idea and establish its goals and business.
Competitive and market analysis. It is vital to ascertain which game genres are now experiencing their highest levels of popularity and revenue.
The intended market. It’s critical to ascertain the target market for your product to tailor the game’s development to their tastes.
They are selecting the platform. The most common criteria for choosing a platform are its popularity and the company’s coding prowess.
We are distributing resources. The number of specialists, necessary tools, and the schedule for the production of video games must all be determined before a project can be carried out.
Concept painting Characters, settings, props, and other gaming components are created by concept artists.
Monetization style. Make money from in-game purchases, advertisements, or selling a product for a set price?
Risk assessment. It entails forecasting all potential dangers and selecting the appropriate strategies for damage control.
Marketing approach. Considering how to appeal to as many consumers as possible with the game is essential.
A Game Design Document (GDD), which contains more specific criteria for a game, is developed after gathering all the necessary data and specifications for a project. These include game mechanics, level design, environment, gameplay style, and concept.
Stage 2: The production
The production stage, which is broken down into multiple internal steps, is the stage that takes the longest and requires the most significant labor.
Stage 3: Quality control
A game of any complexity needs to be tested to ensure that it is error-free and bug-free. It is because a single issue can hurt the user experience and the overall enjoyment of a game. As a result, functional, non-functional, and beta testing are frequently carried out.
Stage 4. Start
The final stage of game production is the product debut, which is highly anticipated by all. But the story doesn’t end with the launch. Even after a game is finished, there are usually still enough bugs and faults. Therefore the game development team keeps adding new features and improving the game concurrently with its release. At the same time, testers gather the first user feedback to help developers make significant adjustments.
Stage 5: Post-production
Fixes and upgrades must be continually monitored after a game is released on the market to ensure that it is stable and performs as intended. Studios should ideally provide updates frequently to adhere to the evolving technical specifications of platforms.
Many businesses update the in-game content and occasionally add intriguing new mechanisms to keep players interested in a game. It necessitates sustaining quality through ongoing upkeep and routine testing of new game iterations.
