The game industry’s steady growth means that more developers and publishers are turning to outside providers for their game development needs. According to the XDS 2020 report, 97% developers and publishers anticipate an increase in demand for external services. External service providers are sought after for two reasons: to create more content and to increase skill set. Both have held top positions for several decades.
This article will discuss the main benefits of external collaboration for developers and publishers.
Outsourcing of Game Development
The intersection of emerging technologies and new platforms is where our industry is standing. This will bring about significant changes in the way we live. Publishers and developers must face new challenges and meet new opportunities while still providing high-quality content and entertainment for gamers worldwide.
Newzoo, the world’s most respected and quoted source for market insight and games analytics, reported that all game categories saw an increase of engagement and revenue as a direct result of COVID-19. Mobile gaming saw the greatest increase. The total revenue from mobile games is $77.2 billion by 2020, a 13.3% increase year-over-year.
Outsourcing to a game development studio UK is an essential part of the thriving gaming industry.
Advantages of Game Development Outsourcing
Due to the strategic nature the process, it is not something you just do. You need to plan, implement, and execute the hiring of an external development team for games. What are the main benefits of outsourcing?
Benefit 1 – Finding a Partner with Similar DNA
A mobile game development partner may be able to deliver the required gaming experience to your audience. However, this should be done in a way that leverages your brand as well as conveys the original idea. Some vendors offer turnkey production and direction, in addition to game development.
Benefit 2: Games Launched On Time
A stressful release schedule can cause burnout, panic, and costly mistakes. The industry standard for Iterative approaches is the division of the project into phases and milestones. This allows external teams to assess progress and make any necessary adjustments. The plan is custom-made and can include market research, idea development and engineering. Important is to allow enough time for the project to be completed on time and manage any risks.
Developers will be more successful if they have a partner that is willing to meet deadlines.
To receive the final product that you desire, it is essential to maintain good communication with your vendor.
Benefit 3: Building more Content and Features
Many publishers and mobile developers already have a number of titles in their portfolio and are looking to partner with someone who can bring new ideas. It could be an ideal way to produce more content for the mobile audience. You can get a pitch from any vendor and present your idea. Then, you keep the IP. The game’s development team will be on hand to assist with the development.
Benefit 4: Flexible Skill-set Ramp-up/Ramp-down
The list of skills that are essential for game developers is growing, and may even be longer. What remains constant in that list? Expertise and creativity. If you are in need of someone to help with a specific area of production, but don’t have the expertise, we recommend looking for teams and not individuals. They are creative and have established processes, workflows, and work practices. You may also find them able to offer consulting in rare areas.
Is it worth the risk? It’s probably too risky to hire an internal team in this situation. Don’t worry, depending on the business model, an outside vendor will deliver a working prototype to you in time for your testing.
Benefit 5: Cutting Risks Utilizing External Expertise
The research paper Risk Management in Video Game Development Projects shows that managers in gamedev depend on prototyping, preproduction decision points and agile approaches to limit risk. Two of the mentioned risk factors are specifically relevant to video game development. As a result, the risk of not matching the development strategy to the project was identified to be a major cause for problems in the development phase. The ‘fun’ factor was another risk that could have impacted the final game’s success.
External game studios worked a lot as outsourcing contractors, creating games for other game designers and publishers. It allows them to draw on their experience across a variety of tech stacks, development approaches, and game design and economics, which helps to reduce ‘fun risk’ while also helping to stick to the game’s development plan.
