A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game system, such as the Sony PlayStation 3, the Microsoft Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers. Software redirects here. ... Software developer may refer to: A software company or other organisation that develops software. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ... Game console redirects here. ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ... The PlayStation 3 , trademarked PLAYSTATION®3,[3] commonly abbreviated PS3) is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment; successor to the PlayStation 2. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... It has been suggested that Xbox 360 Elite be merged into this article or section. ... For the video game system, see Nintendo Entertainment System. ... The Wii (pronounced as the pronoun we, IPA: ) is the fifth home video game console released by Nintendo. ... Game console redirects here. ...

Some developers also specialize in certain types of games, such as RPGs or FPSs, an example of which would be Square-Enix who are mainly associated with the RPG genre. Some focus on porting games from one system to another. Some focus on translating games from one language to another, especially from Japanese to English. An unusual few do other kinds of software development work in addition to games. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about video games. ... Square Enix Company, Limited ) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series (known as Dragon Warrior in North America from 1989 until 2005), and the Kingdom Hearts series. ... RPG is an abbreviation with several different meanings: RPG programming language, is a native programming language for IBMs iSeries servers RPG Life Sciences, is an Indian Pharmaceutical Company Role-playing game, in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives Tabletop role-playing game, also called... In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Most video game publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Activision, and Sony, also maintain development studios. However, since publishing is still their primary activity, they are generally described as "publishers", rather than "developers". This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Electronic Arts (EA) (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. ... Activision, Inc. ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ...

Outside of publishers, there are well over 1,000 video game development companies today.^{[citation needed]} Many are tiny 1- or 2-person operations creating Flash games for the web, or games for cell phones. Others are large companies with studios in multiple locations, with hundreds of employees. As a rule, developers are privately held companies; only a very few non-publishing developers have ever been publicly traded companies.^{[citation needed]} // == Macromedia Flash == ==]] Using Macromedia Flash 8 (bundled in Studio 8) in Windows XP. Maintainer: Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia) Latest release: 8 / September 30th, 2005 OS: Windows (no native Windows XP Professional x64 Edition support), Mac OS X, Linux (i386 only, via wine [1]) Use: Multimedia Content Creator License: Proprietary Website... Motorola T2288 mobile phone A mobile phone is a portable electronic device which behaves as a normal telephone whilst being able to move over a wide area (compare cordless phone which acts as a telephone only within a limited range). ...

Types of developers

Video game developers fall into one of three main categories: third-party developers, in-house developers, and the smaller independents. Developers usually employ a staff of programmers, game designers, artists, sound engineers, producers and game testers, though some of these roles may be outsourced. Confusingly, an individual person in any one of these roles may be referred to as a "video game developer". A game programmer is a software engineer who primarily develops computer or video games or related software (such as game development tools). ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... A game artist is responsible for all of the aspects of game development that calls for visual art. ... A game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game. ... Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company. ...

Historically, the preferred development method has shifted several times. The original arcade and console games of the 1970s and early 1980s were developed in-house by manufacturers such as Atari and Williams, with each game using a single programmer. Meanwhile, the home computer market attracted hobbyist programmers who lacked the resources to publish their own games, which led to the first developer-publisher relationships. Although the earliest of these developers were effectively independents, selling directly to computer stores, industry trends towards larger, more expensive games and larger publishing contracts for national and global retail encouraged the development of a strong third-party^{[citation needed]}. By the 1990s, independent development had almost disappeared from the industry consciousness, with a rare exception in id Software. In the mid-2000s, however, independents have seen a renewal of industry attention, primarily due to concerns over the overwhelming scope and cost of the games that major retail publishers now demand. Some developers are responding to these pressures either by leaving the retail publishing market entirely, or by streamlining their process with a new emphasis on outsourcing the bulk of their work, much as movie studios do^{[citation needed]}. This article is about the corporate game company. ... id Software (IPA: officially, though originally ) is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. ...

Third-party developers

Third-party developers are usually called upon by a video game publisher to develop a title for one or more systems. Both the publisher and the developer have a great deal of say as to the design and content of the game. In general, though, the publisher's wishes trump the developer's, as the publisher is paying the developer to create the game. Game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a game. ...

The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones intended to be delivered, for example, every four to eight weeks. By receiving updated milestones, the publisher is able to verify that work is progressing quickly enough to meet the publisher's deadline, and to give direction to the developer if the game is turning out other than as expected in some way. When each milestone is completed and accepted, the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties. The developer uses this money to fund its payroll and otherwise fund its operations. A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ... Look up milestone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries, wages, bonuses, and deductions. ...

Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. In general, however, third-party developers tend to be small, and comprised of a single, closely-knit team.

Third-party game development is a volatile business, as small developers may be entirely dependent on money from one publisher. A single canceled game can be lethal to a small developer. Because of this, many of the smaller development companies last only a few years or sometimes only a few months. The continual struggle to get payment for milestones and to line up the next game contract is a persistent distraction to the management of every game developer.

A common and desirable "exit strategy" for an extremely successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, and thus become an in-house developer.

In-house development teams tend to have more freedom as to the design and content of a game, compared to the third-party developers teams. Part of the reason for this is that since the developers are employees of the publisher, their interests are as exactly aligned with those of the publisher as is possible. The publisher can therefore spend much less effort making sure that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the ultimate expense of the publisher.

In recent years the larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house" they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner, each with its own culture and work practices. For example: Activision acquired Raven (1997), Neversoft (1999), Z-Axis (2001), Treyarch (2001), Luxoflux (2002), Shaba (2002), Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2005). All these developers continue to operate much as they did before acquisition, with the primary differences being in exclusivity and the financial details. Raven Software is a computer game software developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. ... Neversoft or Neversoft Entertainment is a video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. ... Z-Axis Ltd. ... Treyarch Corporation is a video game developer that was founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü (né Don Likeness), and acquired by Activision in 2001. ... Luxoflux is an American video game developer. ... Shaba Games is a video game developer founded in September 1997, located in San Francisco, California, and acquired by Activision in 2002, where it continues to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary. ... Infinity Ward, located in Encino, California, is a computer game developer founded by the former developers of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. ... Vicarious Visions is a video game developer. ...

History has shown that publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget and missing deadlines than third-party developers.

An in-house development team that works for a console hardware manufacturer is also known as a first-party developer. A company that is closely tied to a console manufacturer (or occasionally a publisher) is known as a second-party developer. Rather confusingly the publishers themselves are sometimes referred to as third-party developers in the context of their relationships with the console manufacturers (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo). This particular distinction of first, second and third party developers does not generally apply to PC games development. In the video games industry, a first-party developer is a developer who is part of a company that actually manufactures a video game console. ... In the video game industry, a second-party developer is a developer who, while being a separate entity from any console manufacturer, is tied to a specific one usually through contract or partial ownership and makes games specifically for that console manufacturer. ... In the video game industry, a third-party developer is a developer that is not directly tied to the primary product the consumer is using. ...

Independent developers

Independents are small software developers that are not owned by or beholden to a single publisher.

Some of these developers self-publish their games, relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the huge marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products never get as much recognition or popular acclaim as those of larger publishers. However, they are free to explore experimental themes and styles of gameplay that mainstream publishers would not risk their money on.

With the advent of digital distribution of inexpensive games on current game consoles, it is now becoming possible for independent developers to make direct deals with console manufacturers to get wide distribution for their games, such as Everyday Shooter, a downloadable PS3 game entirely created by a single person. Everyday Shooter is available on Windows and downloadable game on the PlayStation Store. ...

Other independent developers create game software for a number of video game publishers on various gaming platforms. In recent years this model has been in decline, with the larger publishers such as Electronic Arts and Activision increasingly turning to internal studios, usually former independent developers that they have acquired for the majority of their development needs.

Quality of life

Video game development is usually performed in an extremely casual business environment. T-shirts and sandals are common work attire. Work hours are usually flexible; many developers start the work day at 10:00 AM, though employees usually work at least a full 40 hours a week. Employees are paid fairly well for what seems to outsiders to be light work. Many developers have some sort of profit-sharing plan to reward their employees.^[1] Profit sharing, when used as a special term, refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on companys profitability in addition to employees regular salary and bonuses. ...

Many find this type of environment to be rewarding and pleasant, both professionally and personally. However, the industry is also known to require generally high working hours of its employees, sometimes at a level seen as unsustainable and destructive. ^[2]

It should be noted that in addition to being within the software industry, game development is also within the entertainment industry, and most sectors of the entertainment industry (such as movies and television) are generally known to require long working hours and dedication from their employees. The creative rewards of entertainment industries in general attract more potential labor to the industry than some others, creating a competitive labor market within the industry and thus requiring a higher level of performance from those who wish to remain competitive as employees. However, even given this, many feel that current working conditions in the industry are causing significant deterioration of the quality of life of its employees, and within industry communities (such as the IGDA) there is an increasing amount of discussion about the problem. Factors such as 'crunch time', described below, tend to heighten the overload. A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning of the market for labour. ... The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a non-profit organization designed to promote, and strengthen the video game industry, and have computer games recognised as an art form. ...

Crunch time

Most video game developers are notorious for overworking their employees. "Crunch time" is the point at which it is not going to achieve everything needed in order to complete the milestone on time, meaning the publisher will not pay the developer until the milestone is indeed completed; and since most development companies are such small operations, this presents a real risk that the company won't be able to pay its employees on time. Worse threats occur when it becomes apparent that the team won't be able to ship the game, as a whole, on time.

An extremely common management response to this is to invoke "crunch time", dictating a 60- to 80-hour week with work over the weekends, in the hope that the team will be able to catch up. The complexity of the work flow in video game creation makes it very difficult to manage the team's schedules, meaning that it is an unusual project that does not surprise its managers with slippage at some point.

Controversially, employees in the United States are not paid overtime pay when crunching, as all developers maintain salaried employees. Salaried employees are classified as exempt, who are not paid by the hour, and are classified as "professionals". Therefore, most state laws on overtime pay do not apply. A notable exception is California where software developers are specifically protected by enforcing a minimum hourly wage (for every hour worked) to be considered exempt.^[3] As of 2006, this minimum salary works out to about USD$99K/yr, assuming a 40-hour week.^{[citation needed]} Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours; these may be determined in several ways, by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), by practices of a given trade or profession, by legislation, or by agreement between employers and workers or their representatives. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... USD redirects here. ...

Attention to crunching came to something of a head in 2004 when a blog entry titled "ea_spouse", a manifesto of sorts, was published. Railing against the cruelty of crunch time, it was posted by Erin Hoffman, the then-fiancee of Electronic Arts developer Leander Hasty (Hasty and Hoffman have since joined an independent development studio, 1st Playable Productions [1], and founded a website oriented towards the discussion of the game development environment industry wide, Gamewatch [2]). Hoffman said her life was being indirectly destroyed by the company's work policy. This led to a great deal of debate in the industry, but without any visible changes until March 2005, when Electronic Arts internally announced that it was planning to extend overtime pay to some of its employees not currently eligible. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... EA Spouse is the name commonly used to refer to a blog post originally made to Livejournal sharply critical of the labor practices of Electronic Arts. ... An engagement is an agreement by a couple to enter into marriage at some future time, usually accompanied by a formal or informal announcement to friends and family. ...

See also

• List of independent game developers
• Video game industry practices

Independent game developers PopCap Games Flying Lab Category: ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Computer and video game industry. ...

References

LiveJournal (often abbreviated LJ) is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. ...

External links

• Breaking into the game industry from the IGDA
• "I Have A Game Idea!" and Design Career Preparation from game industry veteran Tom Sloper