How games are made

How do I create my own game? How much can I earn from it? What kind of team is needed? What are the key stages of development and what does the team need to do at each stage? The answers to these questions can be found in this article.

First of all, there are 7 main points of game development:

1. Concept;
2. Prototyping;
3. Vertical Slice;
4. Content production;
5. Closed beta testing;
6. Open beta testing;
7. Release.

Concept

In the beginning, the team in its game art studio thinks about the idea of the future product and defines what it will be about. Also, the work starts with product documentation, where the game designer expresses his thoughts and ideas. With that, the performer can clearly see his tasks in implementing the product. It helps the producer to schedule and monitor the tasks. Product documentation helps the investor to understand what exactly he is earmarking funds for.

Prototyping

A key point in producing anything (not just games) is prototyping. What you think will be interesting won’t necessarily turn out great in reality. The prototype is needed to evaluate the basic gameplay, verify various hypotheses, test game mechanics, and check the key technical points.

Vertical Slice

The primary goal of the Vertical Slice is to obtain the most complete, yet minimalist version of the product, which includes the completely implemented core gameplay process. It is only necessary to achieve a high-quality workflow only for those game elements that significantly influence the perception of the product. At the same time, all the basic game features are present at least in draft quality. The set of content (one level or one location) is minimal but sufficient to embody the full gameplay process.

Content production

On this level, a significant amount of content is manufactured for the first launch on the general public. All the functions needed for closed beta testing are executed. This is the longest phase, which can take a year or more for large customer projects.

Friends & Family / Closed beta testing

At this point, the project is first out in the open and shown to the beta testers, who can live with the raw product and inevitable bugs. Here the most critical tasks are the search and correction of the bugs in a game design, fixing logic problems, and eliminating important mistakes. At this moment almost everything is complete, all the key features are ready, and there is enough content for a full-fledged product for a long time.

Soft Launch / Open beta testing

When the soft launch begins, checking the product continues, but for a wider audience. It is necessary to test if the game can receive large traffic. At this point, your brainchild starts to accept payments.

Release

In the end, the product operation should be fully adjusted, marketing and financial plans are going on schedule, and the channels to attract traffic are being actively tested.

***

You can now conduct a poll among your gamers to know what to change in the future.

So, this is pretty much all you need to know to make your own game.

Good luck!