Overcoming Development Challenges: How Outsourcing Game Development Solves Complex Problems

At one point, Activision emerged as one of the most renowned outsourcing game studios, alongside Konami and Nintendo, driving advancements in the gaming industry. In the 20th century, this studio demonstrated that tailored game development processes could yield a finished product more swiftly than the multi-million dollar budgets of larger companies.

Drawing on our experience at Devoted Studios, we've facilitated over 50 projects, expediting and cost-effectively bringing their games to fruition. How did we achieve this? The answers lie below in the forthcoming article. So, fasten your seatbelts as we embark on a journey deep into the rabbit hole of industry secrets.

7 Operational Advantages of Outsourcing Game Development

Numerous advantages of full-cycle Outsourcing Game Development can be found online, but you need a comprehensive understanding. We are here to explore benefits that can seamlessly integrate into your best practices. Hence, we present seven advantages to fortify your standing in the GameDev niche.

1. Top Talents at Hand

Game development is a daily collaboration among developers, designers, game and audio artists, QA engineers, and other professionals. Assembling all these specialists and establishing an efficient in-house workflow can be challenging, diverting attention and resources from core functions. Outsourcing specific tasks or functions allows you, as a customer, to concentrate on your strengths and primary areas of specialization. Simultaneously, you can rest assured that experienced professionals are dedicated to working on your game.

If you possess only the idea and a limited team of specialists, Game Outsource Studio will provide you with the missing staff. Additionally, such studios have already established customized development processes. It not only stands as your primary advantage but is also a key factor propelling the growth of Outsourcing Game Development.

This advantage operates in various capacities. For instance, you can focus on your primary tasks, while at Devoted Studio, we exclusively delegate a specific process or a portion thereof. A recent example involves our assistance porting Five Nights at Freddy's to the Nintendo Switch. Undoubtedly, customers could locate and integrate the necessary specialists into their team but instead opted for outsourcing.

Consequently, they received the finalized product on schedule and remained entirely satisfied. Without a doubt, the same result can be obtained if you build a top team from scratch. But it will take more time, effort and funds.

To gauge our capabilities, a visit to ArtStation is all you need. You can acquaint yourself with our work on creating game assets, characters, and other crucial elements.

2. Harnessing Cutting-Edge Technologies for Game Development

What game engine will be utilized for development? Which programming language is best suited for your game creation? Additionally, when it comes to testers, are you leaning towards manual or automated testing? These are unavoidable questions, as you aim to create a superior and modern project for future players while fostering positive feedback from the community. To achieve this, it's not just about knowing where to find the best specialists; you must also assemble a team of professionals well-versed in the latest technology.

While Unity or Unreal Engine may seem like ideal choices for your upcoming game, practicality may suggest otherwise. We will substantiate this point. Take, for instance, The Game Maker's Toolkit research on the popularity of game engines. To produce this seemingly straightforward infographic, analysts delved into the analysis of almost 7,000 games created during the Game Jam hackathon.

Here's another infographic that shows the change in Game Engines' popularity since 2010.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the most popular game engines, it is recommended to visit that website. This way, you can delve into details about game engines and explore popular games that have been created.

When seeking answers to these questions, consider reaching out to Devoted Studios. Outsourcing tasks to external artists bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas. Our Studios' teams engage daily with customers, actively participating in creating and supporting projects. It provides the necessary experience and knowledge and keeps us current with new technologies. We consistently explore different approaches and challenges, bringing unique elements to game development projects. Leveraging these fresh perspectives, our work fosters creativity, enhances gameplay mechanics, and advances the player experience with new and exciting game mechanics.

3. Lowering Game Creation Costs

Game development and financial considerations are inherently intertwined. To materialize the initial concept of a game, assembling a team, streamlining processes, and providing specialists with the necessary resources are essential steps. Achieving this requires a properly defined and allocated budget.

However, forming an in-house team for every aspect of game development can impose a significant financial burden. One can verify this by simply examining the salaries of a development team. Additionally, other financial commitments include:

• Renting an office or even establishing multiple offices to accommodate employees, not to mention utility payments.
• Full staffing will be necessary beyond technical specialists, office managers, accountants, cleaners, and a marketing department.
• You are purchasing access to platforms and services for employees.

Understanding and managing these financial aspects is crucial for a successful game development venture.

An alternative approach exists—Game Development Outsourcing —a solution that eliminates recruitment costs, employee benefits, and other associated expenses. By entrusting routine or time-consuming tasks to third-party studios, especially in areas lacking expertise, you can optimize your resources and achieve high-quality results within budget constraints.

As an illustrative example, our team collaborated with WildWorks to create Animal Jam. We focused on producing vibrant and colorful animations, addressing the company's need for assistance crafting unique concepts and designs. Witnessing Animal Jam on Steam and receiving positive reviews from 2,500 players on the platform are testaments to the success of this outsourcing strategy.

Drawing from Devoted Studios' experience, outsourcing entails the comprehensive collaboration of two or more companies:

• The development company can save up to six months and reduce costs by as much as $10,000 through the simultaneous efforts of the involved parties.
• The third-party studio achieves specific results by leveraging an already established and streamlined workflow.

4. Efficiently Crafting Top-tier Games in a Time-Efficient Manner

This benefit is a direct extension of the previous advantages, and we will substantiate them with insights from our experience:

• Game development outsourcing can save weeks to months of effort on a single project by preventing the need to assemble a design team, conduct testing, or even start development from scratch. As a customer, you define tasks requiring assistance, and we deliver the results.
• Upon assigning tasks to Devoted Studios, our team promptly initiates work and provides comprehensive reports, ensuring a thorough review within specified deadlines. You don't have to wait for results to be relayed to other specialists; instead, you seamlessly integrate the outcomes into your workflow while we continue handling the assigned tasks.

Outsourcing proves to be a pragmatic choice for small and medium-sized businesses. Even if your company has the budget to expand its staff, delegating tasks allows you to achieve your goals more efficiently.

Visit Devoted Studios Case Studies to explore our latest projects. Take a closer look at the character details and game scores for SpellCraft, a project developed in parallel with the main game. Thanks to our contributions, the One More Game team saved up to 3 months in development time.

5. Risk Reduction

If you need more experience in game development, outsourcing is strongly recommended. Game development inherently carries risks, such as delays, technical issues, or unforeseen challenges. Even if you have an unlimited budget and are willing to hire the best developers but are still determining where to begin, contacting a third-party studio is a prudent choice.

Our team brings valuable experience and best practices to the development process, mitigating risks and ensuring smooth project implementation. When you engage with Devoted Studios, you are protected by our team's terms and warranties. We don't just talk about outcomes; we are committed to delivering tasks with 100% dedication.

For instance, glimpse our work on Sandbox, where we focused on specific graphic elements and contributed to creating a game featuring Gordon Ramsay, a renowned chef, blogger, and presenter.

If a company with a monthly audience of 1.6 million users (according to Similarweb data) trusts us, we can assist you.

6. Expert Support Throughout Every Stage of Development

The game development journey doesn't conclude with the game's release; continuous support and service are paramount to ensuring a positive player experience and addressing any arising issues. Furthermore, players crave high-quality content and swift bug fixes, necessitating ongoing support and the implementation of new features post-launch.

Opting for outsourcing in game development empowers the customer to scale up or down the team size based on the project's requirements at this stage. For instance, if you, as a customer, have previously engaged a third-party studio to develop specific game elements, delegating ongoing support and feature implementation can save time and budget. Three compelling reasons support this approach:

• You avoid the need to communicate primary work conditions to new teams.
• Hiring new specialists is unnecessary.
• A portion of the budget is earmarked for organizing individual requirements and ensuring the team's functionality is saved.

Therefore, consider not hastily moving on from your game immediately after its release. Sometimes, it is more beneficial to continue and update the game with the assistance of Devoted Studios.

7. Optimal Collaboration for Outstanding Results

Game development through outsourcing enables developers to establish enduring partnerships with external teams, providing ongoing support and service. It's not uncommon for developers to be planning the development of additional games, and in such cases, the assistance of Devoted Studios or similarly reliable third-party studios becomes crucial.

For those actively seeking a trustworthy collaboration to initiate game development, our team is ready to bring to life the advantages outlined above. Devoted Studios serves as:

Conclusion

If you've ever wondered, 'How can I create a game without a team?' and struggled to find an answer, this article aims to provide a definitive solution. Devoted Studios is here to guide you toward achieving 100% of your desired results and surpassing expectations.

The Devoted Studios team:

• It is recognized as a GameDev professional, contributing to creating over 50 projects, some of which have already garnered a fanbase on platforms like Steam and others.
• Our clients have been able to save a hundred of thousands of dollars and years of development time thanks to our services.
• Be able to take responsibility for supporting your project.
• Aim to be your reliable partner for the long term.

If you need it, don't hesitate to contact us, and we'll assist you in bringing your project to life at any stage.