Indie Video Game Development Work

This book presents a study of so-called indie video game developers that are widely regarded as the creative and innovative fringe of the video game industry. The video game industry is an exemplary entrepreneurial high growth industry that combines digital media, cinematographic representations and interactive gaming technologies, and uses global digital distribution channels to reach local gaming communities. The study examines a number of issues, concerns, challenges, and opportunities that indie developers are handling as part of their development work. The love of gaming and video games more specifically is the shared and unifying force of both so-called Triple-A developers and the indie developer community. Still, issues such as how to raise financial capital or otherwise fund the development work, or how to optimize the return on investment when video games are released on digital platforms are issues that indie developers need to cope with. The study is theoretically framed as a case of an innovation-led sector of the economy, yet being anchored in the Swedish welfare state model, wherein e.g., free tertiary education and social insurances and health case at low cost are provided and supportive of enterprising. This book will be valuable reading for academics working in the fields of knowledge management, innovation, and the creative economy.

The indie game developer’s complete guide to running a studio. The climate for the games industry has never been hotter, and this is only set to continue as the marketplace for tablets, consoles and phones grow. Seemingly every day there is a story of how a successful app or game has earned thousands of downloads and revenue. As the market size increases, so does the number of people developing and looking to develop their own app or game to publish. The Indie Game Developer Handbook covers every aspect of running a game development studio—from the initial creation of the game through to completion, release and beyond. Accessible and complete guide to many aspects of running a game development studio from funding and development through QA, publishing, marketing, and more. Provides a useful knowledge base and help to support the learning process of running an indie development studio in an honest, approachable and easy to understand way. Case studies, interviews from other studies and industry professionals grant an first-hand look into the world of indie game development

Deliver Better Games Faster, On Budget—And Make Game Development Fun Again! Game development is in crisis—facing bloated budgets, impossible schedules, unmanageable complexity, and death march overtime. It’s no wonder so many development studios are struggling to survive. Fortunately, there is a solution. Scrum and Agile methods are already revolutionizing development outside the game industry. Now, long-time game developer Clinton Keith shows exactly how to successfully apply these methods to the unique challenges of game development. Keith has spent more than fifteen years developing games, seven of them with Scrum and agile methods. Drawing on this unparalleled expertise, he shows how teams can use Scrum to deliver games more efficiently, rapidly, and cost-effectively; craft games that offer more entertainment value; and make life more fulfilling for development teams at the same time. You’ll learn to form successful agile teams that incorporate programmers, producers, artists, testers, and designers—and promote effective collaboration within and beyond those teams, throughout the entire process. From long-range planning to progress tracking and continuous integration, Keith offers dozens of tips, tricks, and solutions—all based firmly in reality and hard-won experience. Coverage includes Understanding Scrum’s goals, roles, and practices in the context of game development Communicating and planning your game’s vision, features, and progress Using iterative techniques to put your game into a playable state every two to four weeks— even daily Helping all team participants succeed in their roles Restoring stability and predictability to the development process Managing ambiguous requirements in a fluid marketplace Scaling Scrum to large, geographically distributed development teams Getting started: overcoming inertia and integrating Scrum into your studio’s current processes Increasingly, game developers and managers are recognizing that things can’t go on the way they have in the past. Game development organizations need a far better way to work. Agile Game Development with Scrum gives them that—and brings the profitability, creativity, and fun back to game development.

You're part of a new venture, an independent gaming company, and you are about to undertake your first development project. The client wants a serious game, one with instructional goals and assessment metrics. Or you may be in a position to green light such a project yourself, believing that it can advance your organization's mission and goals. This book provides a proven process to take an independent game project from start to finish. In order to build a successful game, you need to wear many hats. There are graphic artists, software engineers, designers, producers, marketers - all take part in the process at various (coordinated) stages, and the end result is hopefully a successful game. Veteran game producers and writers (Iuppa and Borst) cover all of these areas for you, with step by step instructions and checklists to get the work done. The final section of the book offers a series of case studies from REAL indy games that have been developed and launched succesfully, and show exactly how the principles outlined in the book can be applied to real world products. The book's associated author web site offers ancillary materials & references as well as serious game demos and presentations.

This book targets game developers, publishers, journalists, and any person who makes computer and video games their passion. The book analyses the best-selling games of 2001 by examining what made them commercial and critical successes. Computer game industry inside information, advice from well-known gaming sages, and interviews from notable developers provide tips on what makes games fun and great. Includes CD.

The biggest challenge facing many game programmers is completing their game. Most game projects fizzle out, overwhelmed by the complexity of their own code. Game Programming Patterns tackles that exact problem. Based on years of experience in shipped AAA titles, this book collects proven patterns to untangle and optimize your game, organized as independent recipes so you can pick just the patterns you need. You will learn how to write a robust game loop, how to organize your entities using components, and take advantage of the CPUs cache to improve your performance. You'll dive deep into how scripting engines encode behavior, how quadtrees and other spatial partitions optimize your engine, and how other classic design patterns can be used in games.

"The Business of Indie Games provides exceptional insight into how the video games industry works. It shares valuable information on how to successfully self-publish and secure publisher support. Whether you’re making your first game or tenth, this book is a must read." – Paul Baldwin, Curve Digital "The video game industry is a tough business and anyone looking to succeed in indie development should give The Business of Indie Games a read." – Graham Smith, Co-Founder of DrinkBox Studios "This book is a fast track to success for anyone managing a game launch and looking to raise funding for their projects. It shares knowledge that you only learn after years of triumphs and failures within this industry." – Scott Drader, Co-Founder of Metalhead Software "There’s nothing like The Business of Indie Games taught in school. You learn how to make a game, but not how to conduct business, market, and launch a game. This book dives into topics that every indie developer should know." – Yukon Wainczak, Founder of Snoozy Kazoo "I’ve seen no better guide for understanding how the video game industry really works. An important read for anyone whose work touches games, including those of us looking to engage the community." – Carla Warner, Director of STREAM for No Kid Hungry The Business of Indie Games explores what many universities forget to cover: how to sell and market your own indie game to potential publishers and developers. While many classes help students on their way to designing and programming their own games, there are few classes that equip students with the skills to sell their own product. In essence, this means future indie game developers are not equipped to talk to investors, negotiate with publishers, and engage with major platforms like Steam and Nintendo. Authors Alex Josef, Alex Van Lepp, and Marshal D. Carper are looking to rectify this problem by helping indie game developers and companies level up their business acumen. With detailed chapters and sections that deal with different engines, negotiation tactics, and marketing, The Business of Indie Games is the perfect omnibus for up-and-coming indie game developers. The future of gaming curriculums is not just in teaching students how to create games but also in preparing them for the business of games.

If you know nothing about game development, you're basically me before I started working on my first game DARQ. This book assumes no knowledge of game development on the reader's part. As a first-time developer with no prior experience in coding, modeling, texturing, animation, game design, etc., I managed to launch DARQ to both commercial success and critical acclaim. With zero dollars spent on marketing, it was featured in major media outlets, such as IGN, Kotaku, PC Gamer, GameSpot, Forbes, and hundreds of others. Ultimately, DARQ became #42 Most Shared PC Video Game of 2019, according to Metacritic, with the average user rating of 9 out of 10. In my book, I'm sharing with you exactly how I did it. The book guides you through a step-by-step process of making a game: from downloading a game engine to releasing your first commercial title. The book features advice from 15 industry professionals, including Mark Kern (team lead of World of Warcraft), Quentin De Beukelaer (game designer of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Ghost Recon Breakpoint), Bjorn Jacobsen (sound designer of Cyberpunk 2077, Divinity: Fallen Heroes, Hitman), Austin Wintory (Grammy-nominated composer of Journey, ABZÛ, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate), and others. The foreword is written by my mentor John Corigliano, Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, and 5-time Grammy Award-winning composer.