The gaming industry has boomed since COVID, and studios are busier than ever developing new games. The Game development industry grew by 23% over the course of 2020, and is expected to continue growing at an annual compound rate of 11% per year through 2024.
Both independent and larger gaming studios are turning to game development outsourcing companies to help and speed up their operations in order to stay up with the demand for new games. 86% of businesses rely on outside organizations for at least some parts of their game development process as of 2008.
Outsourcing game development company can help your game studio manage costs and timelines, and provide on-tap access to specialized teams. Let’s take a deeper look at how your company can partner with an outsourced game development firm, and what the benefits are.
Key benefits for outsourcing game development
Choosing to work with an external game development agency can benefit your brand in a number of ways, including:
Access to specialized expertise at a lower price
Although your company might have some of the internal resources required to finish a project, it might not have access to Unity programmers, for example. Instead of paying exorbitant salaries to specialist programmers situated in U.S. tech centers, consider partnering with a development company that can do work of comparable quality while incurring lesser overhead.
The ability to scale up or down quickly
Your team may simply not have the bandwidth to complete the project within your target timeframe. By partnering with an external agency, you can gain access to programmers, designers, QA specialists, and more.
It’s possible that your team won’t have enough time to finish the project before the deadline. You can have access to programmers, designers, QA specialists, and more by working with an outside firm. When the project is finished and you no longer need specialized resources, they can scale down to provide whatever assistance you need to get the job done. They can work with your team as much or as little as you’d like.
A faster time frame
In comparison to hiring internally, you can save expenses and expedite project completion by adding resources to your team. When working with an agency, you can define a target launch timeline together and have faith that they will be able to meet your demands.
Types of outsourcing models
Depending on where you are in the production process, your needs, and your available resources, you can choose to outsource game development to varying degrees. Alternatively, they can cooperate with internal teams to work on the code base, generate graphic assets, design sound, supervise QA, or work on other parts. Outsourcing companies can take an idea straight from the concept and storyboarding stage.
Some common development models include:
Full-cycle development
In this scenario, your team would hand off the concept, storyboard, and pre-production components to your external team, who would then take care of the programming, art design, sound design, QA, and other components, getting you through to the product release and any subsequent upgrades. Although it is the most expensive model, it may be a viable choice for businesses that are creating a game to support their core operations but lack the internal personnel to oversee the process.
Specialized programming languages
Game development often makes use of one of two core programming languages, Unity/C# and Unreal/C++. By choosing a game design outsourcing firm with expertise in these programming languages, you can supplement your in-house team and have confidence that the combined team will be able to deliver on your technology needs.
Art outsourcing
Each game’s universe normally has hundreds of different art assets, including people, scenery, tools, weapons, prizes, and many other types of visuals. Once the programming is finished, stock objects will need to be replaced with vibrant, original graphic pieces. A brand style guide and a list of the necessary assets can be sent to an outsourced development company, and they can take care of all the unique graphics. If your in-house team has strong programming skills but not enough time or art direction knowledge, this can be a suitable fit.
VR simulations
Virtual reality technology is now mainstream in gaming, and 3D games require an intense amount of specialized graphic assets. An outsourced partner that specializes in 3D graphics and rendering can help you complete this process.
Co-development
Your team might choose to engage closely with an external development company to create a co-development workflow strategy that incorporates experts from both teams. This can be a terrific alternative if you have the technical know-how to supervise but require more resources to support your project.
Let’s examine how and when to choose an outsourcing firm now that we’ve looked at some of the game development outsourcing models to take into account.
How to evaluate a game development outsourcing firm
When considering a variety of agencies, it’s important to both look at past work, and ensure that the team feels like the right fit for you.
Start out by exploring some of the games that the team has played a role in designing. When you dig into their work history, ask them:
- What specific role(s) did they play in the game development process?
- What was the budget and time frame associated with the project? Did they meet expectations in delivering the specs in the budget and time frame expected?
To acquire a sense of the working environment, you should also read reviews from outside sources or speak with previous clients personally.
It’s crucial to understand their method and communication in addition to their primary competencies. Will they collaborate with you as a team, giving you regular updates in a transparent manner and displaying their work at various stages of the process? To ensure that you are comfortable with the workflow and how they make decisions or determine when to check in with your team, it is crucial to understand their development approach and how they interact with you throughout the entire process.
Partnering with an outside game development studio can be a great method for businesses of any size, whether or not game creation is your primary offering, to swiftly hire the specialized talent you need and launch. To find out how we can assist you with your game development needs, get in touch with iTech Art for a free consultation.
