A game’s development and length are determined by the game itself, the budget, and the number of players. On average, one game can take from 1 to 2 years, and for an AAA project from 2 to 3 years. However, this is approximate. After all, someone creates Resident Evil 3 Remake in 3 years, and someone from the indie environment spends almost 11 years of work on a conditional Disco Elysium. The stages of game development are also different, but you can reduce them to 10. Let’s talk about them briefly.
1. Idea
Just as once a monkey took a stick in his hand and thought of fighting off predators, so the development of games begins with the fact that someone comes up with an idea about a plot, character, or mechanics, which can become the basis for a future game.
And this is actually a difficult stage, as it involves designing what kind of game it will be, what its genre, visual style, setting, characters, who is the target audience оf the prоject аnd whаt plаtform thе gаme will bе оn. Thinking through all these details, a concept is formed, from which all other stages of game development will follow. It also includes the technical part: what engine it will be on and whether a new one needs to be created, what budget may be required, what kind of monetization is in the game. And a lot more. In addition, the entire concept must be verified by the publisher, if any.
2. Design document
When the concept is confirmed, many studios create a design document, consider the bible of developers, where all ideas are brought in, from location design, atmosphere, to characters. It is continually altered during the development process and until the game is launched.
3. Gathering a team
Usually, everything described above is planned by a group of people, not by entire studios [unless we are talking about a 3-person indie studio of course]. A team is being assembled that is needed to implement all the crazy plans and ideas recorded in the development document. And this is where the fun begins. A chief game designer or just a project manager is also appointed, dictating what and how to do it.
4. Pre-production
The newly formed group sets out to figure out how to put the concepts into practice. A brainstorming of absolutely everyone begins, from game designers, artists, scriptwriters, and programmers, ending with engineers, publishers, project managers, and other departments. They put the puzzle together piece by piece to see the whole picture.
5. Budget
If this has not happened yet, then somewhere during this period, the developer should definitely kneel in front of the publisher and humbly reach out, voicing a round number. If it’s a AAA project, the amounts can be in the millions, and they only increase every year. When the publisher approves, the amount is immediately doubled by two, since the second half of the budget is set aside for marketing, which will use the same amount of funds as development.
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6. Create a game
The most difficult stage begins – production. During this period, the entire game is collected. Levels, design, characters, sound are being created, programming is underway, voice acting is in progress.
7. Game testing
At the testing stage, poor and tortured QA employees check how the game works, find bugs, malfunctions. They often do the dirty work of finding problems.
After extensive testing, the game should be ready for alpha or beta testing. Regardless of whether it is open or closed. Here, some developers may cheat and release the game in early access in order to find new means to create it.
8. Preparing for launch
Typically, at this point in the game’s development, the game is shown to the public or the press. It can be a story or gameplay trailers, or even the first level, and viewers and scribblers begin to scribble their opinions on the Internet. Here the developers may have doubts about what they are doing. And is it all right?
9. Launch
This is Kotaku’s Jason Schreyer’s favorite stage in video game development, as it keeps him busy for years to come with a never-ending news story. It is here that the developers called the death march when developing Max Payne 3, as everything that can be completed and everything possible is being completed.
10. Post-release support
The final stage of game development is to maintain and release at least a Day 1 patch. After, other patches will also be sawn. If this is a service game, new content is created for it, which will be constantly updated. If it’s a story game, you can release DLC for it.
Finally, it is worth saying that not all games are equal and this is a conditionally general development model, moreover, a simplified one. Plus, all games are different and require a different approach to their creation. That is why Resident Evil 3 Remake is created in three years, and Disco Elysium – 11 years.
