Blog Archives
What Jobs Are There At A Game Development Company?
A game development company, also called a game developer or game studio, is a company that makes games. Although that may seem obvious, it is distinct from a game publishing company, which funds, markets, manufactures and sells games. Some game studios are owned by game publishers; an example of this would be Infinity Ward, which is owned by Activision. Others, such as Naughty Dog, are independently owned companies that may work for several publishers. Other developers are individuals or a group of individuals, called “indies”, who work freelance.
Most of the employees at a game studio work on one or more development team. A development team is managed by a development director (also called a producer, project manager, or team lead) who is responsible for assigning team members their work tasks, monitoring work progress, and providing them with what they need for doing their work. Large teams may have a number of production people involved in project management.
The rest of the team is comprised of people working in one of these three disciplines:
- Design: Responsible for determining the game premise, rules, objectives, obstacles, resources, story and other play elements. Large teams may be comprised of a lead designer overseeing system designers, user interface designers, technical designers, content designers, level designers and writers.
- Artist: Responsible for creating the game’s art. Large teams may be comprised of a lead artist or art director overseeing concept artists, user interface artists, 2D or sprite artists, 3D modelers, riggers, animators, and environmental artists.
- Programmer: Responsible for implementing the game design, art and other assets on the game platform. Large teams may be comprised of a lead programmer or technical director overseeing engine programmers, system programmers, user interface programmers, audio programmers, artificial intelligence programmers, multiplayer programmers, tool programmers and scripters.
Some development personnel may not be needed throughout the entire project and therefore work outside of the team structure so that they can assist multiple teams at the times when they are needed. These include:
- Middleware programmers: Responsible for developing tools that will be used on multiple projects.
- Audio team: Responsible for creating the game’s music, sound effects, and voice-over.
- Quality Assurance: Responsible for testing the game to make sure that the game is fun play along all player choices and that everything has been successfully implemented.
If the game’s scope is larger than the studio’s staff can handle or requires specialized skills, then the studio may outsource some of the work to third-party companies responsible for such tasks as additional artwork, cut scenes, motion capture or foreign language localization.
Finally, there are employees who handle the functions all companies need:
- Office manager: Responsible for ensuring that everyone has the supplies and resources they need to do their jobs.
- Accountant: Responsible for paying bills and handling payroll.
- Human Resources: Responsible for employee benefits and assisting in the hiring (and firing) of employees.
- Information Technology: Responsible for ensuring that employees’ technical needs, such as internet access and email, are met.
- Business Development: Responsible for finding new business opportunities and clients to work for, and keeping current clients happy.
Then there are the employees who work at a game publisher, but that’s another post for another day.
Immersion: It’s All in the Details
One of the advantages of working from a home office is that my schedule is very flexible. My wife and I had been trying to talk the kids into going to Disneyland for the past couple of months, but they are at an age where it just isn’t that exciting to them anymore. Since we couldn’t use our annual Disneyland passes again for another two months (most of the summer is blacked out for pass holders), the two of us decided to take the afternoon off and drive out to The Happiest Place On Earth, leaving the kids perfectly content to remain at home and play Minecraft.
I love Disneyland. My family used to make annual pilgrimages to Disneyland several times a year, and as an adult, I try to visit at least twice a year. (When I worked at Disney Computer Software, I had a Silver Pass that allowed me unlimited free visits to Disneyland, and I would go to the park about once a month).
What has always made Disneyland special to me is what a meticulous job it does transporting visitors somewhere else — a river cruise through exotic rainforests, a crazy ride through Roger Rabbit’s Toontown, a spaceflight to the forest moon of Endor. The illusion is complete enough that we are able to suspend disbelief and get into the spirit of pretending that we are really there. How is the illusion created? Through total immersion, right down to the smallest detail. The staff (or “cast members” as they are called) are all wearing costumes styled for the attraction in which they work, the building fixtures are themed appropriately, and even the trashcans are decorated so that they fit into Frontierland, Tomorrowland or whichever land they are placed.
I try to do something similar with the games I develop. When I produced Rendezvous: A Space Shuttle Flight Simulation, I directed that the message “Program Loading” be changed to “Rolling Vehicle Onto Launchpad.” For DuckTales: The Quest for Gold, I wrote the player manual so that it took the form of a “Junior Woodchuck Guide.” When planning the quests for Heroes of Might and Magic III, I instructed the writers to make references to the storylines of both the Heroes and Might and Magic franchises, and stay away from corny references to geek-culture found in previous games in the franchises.
Immersion is one of the reasons why players play games. Immersion, when properly done, appeals to our desire for novelty through new and imaginative experience. Although not every player has this desire to a great degree, many types of players do. Game designer Richard Bartle classified MUD (Multi-user dungeon) players into four types: Killers, Achievers, Socializers, and Explorers. Explorers like to explore the world, right down to its finer details. Such details also appeal to to the gamification player type that Victor Manrique classifies as an Enjoyer: players who are motivated by positive emotions such as joy, curiosity, inspiration, mystery and awe.
However, even a tiny detail that is out of place can jar the player out of the immersive experience. Have you ever seen a movie scene in which a spy agency is trying to trick a captive into thinking he was safe somewhere else, only to be made aware that he is being tricked due to a radio playing a sports broadcast from the wrong year or a clock chiming for the wrong time zone? The same thing can happen in games, where an incorrect detail can cause the player to no longer be captivated by your game.
David Mullich 