“A game is the complete exploration of freedom within a restrictive environment.” - Vineet Raj Kapoor, Game Developer and Author
Video games are credited with transporting players to a different world where they can exercise their freedom to their heart’s content. Games are not just a form of entertainment or diversion but are now being used in different fields, such as learning and therapy. Currently, over one-third of the world’s total population consists of active gamers, garnering a revenue of nearly $180 billion in 2021 and estimated to cross $200 billion by 2024. Mobile games accounted for approx. $92 billion, which is 52% of the total revenue of the gaming industry worldwide. No wonder the top gaming app development companies have such fierce competition to create the best games.
This brings our attention to the topic at hand, how are gaming apps developed? What is the process of bringing an idea to life and making it accessible to the worldwide audience at the tip of their fingers? Much like any other production process, gaming app development begins with a gaming app development pipeline.
What is a Gaming App Development Pipeline?
A gaming app development pipeline covers the entire process from conception to completion. It helps developers to build a timeline, budget, prioritize tasks, and reduce inefficiencies in the delivery process. Since games are basically ideas that take life, there are times when certain things may not work out, so the gaming app development pipeline has to be quite flexible to accommodate changes and creative or technical revisions. It basically presents a broad timeline of the app development process to not just developers but also other stakeholders.
Stages of Gaming App Development
Developing a gaming app is an alluring yet complex process. It allows you the creative freedom that is often restricted when developing common mobile applications and gives you more power to unleash your creative vision and ideas. While mobile applications are developed to make our lives easier, mobile games add color to our lives and keep our brains engaged in fun activities. Some people use games as a means to alleviate their stress or anxiety, while others indulge in gaming to spend their free time. E-sports are even set to make their debut in the Asian Games 2022 this year as they have gained proper recognition worldwide.
(Source: E-sports event covered by CNBC)
There are 4 major stages of gaming app development, each infused with multiple steps that make-up the entire development process. The 4 stages are as follows:
1) Pre-Production
2) Testing
3) Launch/ Production
4) Post-Production
Now let’s discuss the processes that are undertaken under each of these stages to get a closer idea of the step-by-step process of developing a top-notch gaming app.
Pre-Production
This is the stage where the idea of a gaming project begins to take form. In pre-production stages of game development, we talk about the idea behind the game, why it should be created, and how to go about it. An idea that takes the form of a story. The questions that are asked at this stage usually sound like:
- What is this game about?
- Who is the target audience?
- Who are our competitors in the market?
- What will be the budget for this game?
- Which platform will the game be built and released?
- How will we monetize the game?
1. A Mind-blowing Game Idea – The first step in the pre-production stage and the gaming app development process is to come up with a mind-blowing idea for a game. The idea could be inspired by real-life events or based completely on fiction and would require heavy world-building in the concept. One could also simply go about it and rather than thinking out of the box, you could take inspiration from already existing games and start from there.
2. Build The Concept – Following the formation of the game idea, you need to create a story that will give purpose to the gamers. Gaming stories are crucial in the development of successful mobile or video games. They peak the interest of the gamer and give them a reason to play the game. The more engaging the story, the higher the level of concentration, attachment, and will to win is formed in the minds of the players. However, this doesn’t apply to games like puzzles, cards, chess, etc.
(Source: Leo's Fortune, a game with a good storyline)
3. Develop A Game Plan – In order to execute your ideas more effectively, you need to come up with a proper game plan. You can use agile methodology to devise a game plan. The main components of a game plan include deciding on the graphics, art and design, characters, settings, and key features of the game.
You can ask questions like this:
- Will the game be 2D or 3D or VR?
- What characters will we include?
- Are we world-building?
- What will be the key features and core points of the game?
- How many and what game settings are we including?
(Source: VR game experience, wikimedia)
4. Decide The Estimated Cost Of Game App Development – There are many factors to consider when deciding the budget of a gaming app. A few of them are the cost of the mobile operating system; the cost of the technologies used in the development of the game; the size of the game development team and their remuneration; the cost of outsourcing processes if required; and the timeframe of each stage of game development. You also have to decide whether you are building the game for Android or iOS or making it multi-platform, as the cost of hiring android app developers VS iOS app developers will be different. Any game that runs over the estimated timeline is bound to cost more. Hence, deadlines are very important during the production of a gaming app.
5. Select a Mobile Game Development Platform – There are approximately 7.1 billion mobile users today. 72% of mobile gamers today are Android users. Choosing a mobile platform for your game is an important decision when it comes to monetizing and marketing it. Depending on your budget, you can either choose a single launch platform or do the wise thing and launch your game on both Android and iOS and develop the game for multi-platform purposes.
6. Select a Mobile Game Engine – The back-end of your mobile game is the backbone of the game. Backend technology should be chosen carefully, keeping in mind the benefits it can bring to the features of your game. There are various platforms that developers can choose from that have their own strengths, such as Unity 3D, which is chosen for the high-quality 3D graphics it can produce, or Corona SDK for its simple language, or even BuildBox for its drag-and-drop features that are very convenient. Similarly, there is a wide selection of backend languages that programmers can choose from, such as Python, C++, Java, Lua, etc.
7. Create a Game Design Document – The game design document (GDD) is the guiding star of the gaming app development project that shows everyone the big picture. It is a live document that contains all the elements and details of the app development process. It can be edited as per feedback and works as a draft for the entire production process. Eg: Let’s assume we want to create a game about shooting birds. The GDD will contain all the information about not only the different types of birds or weapons but also their shooting power, range, weight, flora, day or night version, etc.
8. Design The Game Structure – The infrastructure of a game acts as an attractive point for players. The texture of the background, the color palette, the graphics, and the animation used for the characters and environment are all major points of attraction for the players of the game to explore the features of your game. In this step, you can decide whether your game will be 2D, 3D, or contain VR features. Overall, this step is about refining the visuals of your game so that it is alluring to the audience. This step requires the joint effort of a lot of members of the game development team like creative artists, game designers, coders, animators, etc.
Testing
This stage of gaming app development is extremely important. You need to be perfectly satisfied with your creation before you are ready to launch it to a global audience. The QA team should test all the features, levels, and mechanics of the game thoroughly. The processes to be followed in this stage of gaming app development are:
9. Develop A Playable Prototype—This prototype is a wireframe of your game. It shows the outline of the game and all its main features. Game development is a costly process; hence, before producing a full-fledged game, a prototype is created for testing as a visual guide of the game. The prototype may not be able to incorporate all the small features of the game, but it is essential to figure out the bugs and errors in the production to rectify them.
(Source: Game in prototype stage, Previewlabs)
10. Create Your Mobile Game – Once you have fixed the errors in the prototype, modified the features, and received the approval of the other teams in the app development process, you can proceed to design and develop the actual game finally. In this phase, you must be mindful of even the smallest details of the game. All the big and small, differentiating features, tools, and functions must be added to complete the gaming app. Your experience and creativity will be unleashed to the full extent in this stage of game development to create an exceptional gaming experience for your audience.
11. Mobile Gaming App Testing – Before you launch your game, you need to test it for any remaining bugs or errors. The game might go on to become a legacy of your company; hence, it has to be the best version of itself before it reaches the audience, so this step is mandatory before it is launched. There are different milestones of testing throughout the game development process. They are as follows:
- Prototype- As mentioned earlier, it is the first sample of game design acting as a visual guide for the game.
- First Playable- This is focused on the gameplay and assets that are not up to the mark are to be later replaced with better quality and more art is added.
- Vertical Slice- This sample is fully playable and can be pitched to investors or stakeholders for funding the game.
- Pre-Alpha- A majority of game features get added in this stage. Some content may also be changed or eliminated depending on the flow of the gameplay.
- Alpha- At this stage, the game has all the features, and all the game controls should be working properly. This is the sample given to the QA testers to test for any bugs, errors, loading speed issues, etc, that are then rectified as per feedback.
- Beta- At this stage, the game has all fully functioning features, and the developers are more focused on optimizing the game than adding or deleting anything.
- Gold Master- The game is ready to be released to the public and sent to the studios for release or launch.
Launch
The launch is the most anticipated and arguably the most stressful stage of the gaming app development process. The game is ready to be released to the public, and the game development team is ready to see the fruits of their tireless work and brainstorming for months or years on end.
12. Choosing A Monetization Strategy – The main reason for gaming companies across the world to develop games is to earn income and profit. There are five ways in which you can monetize your gaming app and earn money for your hard work and creative efforts:
Advertisements- You can have contracts for digital advertisements in your gaming app and earn a good amount of money from the fees and commissions. To avoid disrupting and possibly annoying your players due to advertisements in the middle of the game, you can attach rewards to them, such as extra life.
- In-App Purchases- In-app purchases are the most common method of earning by selling different features of the game, like character avatars, weapons, extra life, etc.
- Paid Gaming Apps- By making your gaming app a paid one, you can ensure income as players will have to pay to buy your game. However, this type of monetization often reduces the chance of your app gaining mass attention since the majority of games online or on mobile are free.
- Premium Version- You can choose to launch a free version of your gaming app and charge for the upgrade if the user wishes to advance to levels that are not in the free version.
- Real Money Games- You can make gaming apps for real money games where players use their own real money to play. However, this form of gaming app may be seen as online gambling and may not be legal in a lot of countries depending on legalities.
13. Launch The Gaming App- Since you have met all the criteria and developed a monetization strategy, you are now ready to launch your game to the public. You can sign contracts with different gaming platforms to launch your app on their stores and let the public enjoy the creation of your hard-work and efforts.
Post-Production
After the successful launch of your gaming app, it may feel like the end, but it is not. You cannot fall under the pretense of success and stability and go easy on the support and maintenance of your gaming app, or your success will wash away as quickly as it peaked. The final step of the gaming app development process is support and maintenance.
14. Support And Maintenance – In the months following the launch of your app, it is imminent that you will receive reports of bugs and errors from your players. As a developer, it is your responsibility to address those reports and ensure they are rectified, or you will be in danger of losing your audience and your brand reputation.
Conclusion
Creating and developing a perfect gaming app is not just about rigidly following the steps of game development. It is also about putting together a team of talented game app developers, coders, creative artists, game designers, etc., who work in symbiosis to bring to life the vision of the game. If you have an idea but lack the appropriate resources, you can always hire the best game development companies in your area to work along with you on your game development journey. You must remember that games are selling more than content; they're also selling positive emotions.
