Game development As a Service: 10 Fun Facts to know

Have you got a great idea for a video or mobile game? You can bring it to life by hiring a company that specializes in game development services. More than 227 million people in the United States play video games for more than one hour every week. 74% of households have at least one member who plays video games, with 76% of Americans under the age of 18 playing games. Even 7% of people over the age of 65 play video games! With a target audience this size, developing our own game can be extremely lucrative as well as rewarding. 

In this article, we’ll dive into custom mobile game development services – what they involve, how much they cost, and what you should expect. 

1.    What Are Game Development Services?

Custom game development services include the process of creating games and designing, developing, and releasing those games. Game dev services can be extremely extensive and include the ideation, concept generation, design, development, and testing of a game. Game developers may include programmers, sound designers, artists, and designers. 

There are huge opportunities in the gaming industry. You can use games to promote your products online and offline, boost your revenue, and more.

2.    What are Mobile and Video Games Built On?

If you hire a company that offers game development as a service, they’ll probably use a platform called Unity. Unity is used by developers across the globe to create cross-platform video games for Android and IOS apps. 

3.    What are the Most Popular Genres of Video Games?

There are hundreds of different genres, each with its own fan base. Some of the most popular genres include:

• Action games that focus on physical challenges, e.g., first-person shooter or survival games; 
• Adventure games that focus on narrative and problem-solving; 
• Action-adventure games that combine these two genres;
• Strategy games that focus on strategic thinking; 
• Simulation games that copy real-life scenarios or worlds. 

4.    What are the Stages of Video Game Development?

When you hire a game development service, the company will follow a specific process to ensure they deliver your game on time and according to budget. Here are just a few of the steps:

Pre-production

During this stage, the company will decide on the budget, game type, gaming platform, and target audience. This is the stage that sets up the framework for completing the development project. 

Production

This is one of the most difficult and dynamic phases. The studio takes the ideas created during the pre-production phase and converts those ideas into assets and source code. This is the longest and most expensive phase of your project. Design, programming, and graphics teams will work together to complete the video game. 

Testing

During this phase, testers will check the accuracy of all areas of the video game. They implement a playthrough to ensure that the game works correctly. They may even release the game to a selected audience of gamers to gather feedback from the market. 

Launch and marketing phase

During this phase, the company may or may not be involved. This is where commercials, articles, screenshots, and previews are released to the market to drum up interest. The team may still apply minor edits in the background before it’s released across specific platforms.

5.    What Happens After a Game is Released?

You probably won’t be able to release all of your developers, just because the game has launched. After the final version of the game is released, it goes into the post-production phase. This includes maintenance, e.g., bug-fixing and releasing new content (like additional levels). You should keep adding content to your game to keep players engaged (and to keep earning money if you offer in-app purchases).  

6.    What are the Programming Languages that Developers Use?

Programming skills are what make your game playable. A full team of developers needs to work on the video game environment along with designers and audio experts. The programming language you’ll need depends on a number of factors, including whether or not you’ll release the game on a specific console or mobile phone. 

The most popular language is C++ because it allows for a lot of autonomy in the design process. Java is easier than C++ to master, so a few people prefer using Java. Web-based games would use HTML and JavaScript.

7.    What Gaming Engines will you use?

Video game engines enable the general architecture of a game. The most popular engines are Unity, Unreal Engine, AppGameKit and GameMaker. 

8.    How Much Does it Cost to Make a Video Game?

It’s nearly impossible to answer this question because it depends on so many different factors and variables. The cost will be determined by the game type, platform, features, number of developers, and even which country your developers are based in. A simple 2D mobile game can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 or more, depending on its functionality. A 3D mobile phone game will cost close to $250,000. Building games for consoles like Xbox or PlayStation is even more expensive. It can cost up to $750,000 to complete an indie game. Bear in mind that most of this is tied to development costs. Just hiring a single developer to work on a game for a year can cost up to $100,000. That’s why many companies prefer to move offshore, where a developer may charge as little as $30,000 to work on your project for a whole year. 

9.    What is the Most Popular Video Game in the World?

The answer may surprise you – Tetris. This very simple game has sold more than 520 million copies around the world.

10.    What is the Most Popular Game Console of all Time?

The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling game console of all time, with 159 million units sold. 

Conclusion

The video game world is exciting, and the possibilities for developing a new game are endless. You can become a part of this world by hiring game development services.