Some Games Industry Facts

Console Game Controller

  • A typical computer game costs approximately £19.99-£49.99 to buy and anywhere from £300,000 to £5,000,000 to develop!
  • A game, depending on its size, scope, content and platform can take from 6 months to 3 years to create. Most games have a team size varying between 12 and 60 staff which will include programmers, artists, designers, scripters, audio engineers and producers. Games are also usually created as multi- platform, (for example PC, Xbox360 and Nintendo Wii).
  • There are approximately 200 hundred developers based in the UK with team sizes varying from 20 to 200 people. Across the world there are around 2000 developers some of which employ over 1000 staff!
  • The UK is recognised as having some of the best development studios in the world. UK game developers are also employed at studios across the world; as far afield as Australia, Canada, Japan and North America

Development Stages

To many the creation of a game may seem quite easy, but today’s games take a great deal of time and resource. Most game development is broken down into a series of milestones the key ones of which are as follows:

  • The concept – typically drawings, words, models, code and basic prototypes that describe the nature, objectives and features of the game..
  • Design document – a detailed plan of the game’s features and how it will play are generated from the concept and presented to potential publishers.
  • Technology demo – a prototype that demonstrates the game’s technology, illustrating the appearance and movement of the characters or objects on the screen. This is usually produced for review purposes, to decide if the concept is marketable.
  • Playable prototype or Vertical slice – normally a few levels of the game produced with as many of the game play features in and working. This allows reviewers to get a feel for the game, the level of complexity, the saleability of the title and technical risk involved in fully developing the game.
  • ALPHA/BETA – the next major milestones that represent near completed games. These are subject to extensive game-play, compatibility and bug testing by both the developer and the publisher.
  • MASTER – a completed game approved by the platform holder and available for manufacturing in readiness for sales on the high street.