What Are The Main Stages Of Game Development?

The gaming sector has been growing rapidly with increasing popularity and interest. The community of gamers across the globe has been multifold for the last few years. Many e-commerce and other businesses are taking advantage of gamification features to attract customers. So, with increased popularity, many game development companies in India are regularly developing new games. There are various stages of development through which game developers ensure an exciting and quality user experience. 

To develop games, the users pass through 7 stages of development such as follows: 

Planning

Planning is the first stage of development, where you outline the layout of your game. At this stage, you will understand and curate the basic foundation of the idea. So, first of all, companies find a vision of a game around which all other elements will be designed. You must have answers to some crucial questions, such as: 

• What is the genre of the game for users? 
• Is it a 2D or 3D game for users? 
• What type of art style or design will you incorporate? 
• Does it have a hero and villain? If yes, who will be a hero, and who will be a villain? 
• What type of game mechanics will you use? 
• What kind of game engine will you use? 

All these fundamentals should be cleared to avoid problems at a later stage. Plan a concept of a game that you want to create for the target audience. There might be added requirements that you need to handle in planning, such as: 

• Cost of the game 
• Estimated timeframe for development and launch of the game. 
• Hiring team, including various departments. 
• Technology requirements. 

Pre-Production

At this stage, game development will enter into its outline phase. Developers and designers will create storyboards, prototypes, layouts, how the game will look like, etc. There are different requirements that students must know to build their game at the pre-production level. These requirements include:

• Writers: Who will create the storyline and script of the game, character development, and other writing requirements? 
• Artist: The designers will create art styles, color palettes, and designs. Artists will be responsible for developing designs and characters into life. 
• Developers: Who will create models and objects and focus on front-end and back-end software.
• Engineers: Who will handle the mechanical factors of the game to increase the performance level for user experience.
• Project leads will give you ideas on how to handle projects. 

All these responsibilities together will outline the pre-production requirements of game development. These pre-production game requirements will ensure the development team does not face issues during production and have a direction to follow during the final result. 

Production

This stage out of 7 stages of game development is the longest in the process as actual production takes place here. All the professionals work in collaboration to develop various courses. At this stage, each department, including writing, designing, development, performance, etc., is critical. This stage is essential for designing and developing various aspects of a product to come together to form a game that users will take advantage of. Moreover, this stage is a pivotal point where significant development will take place, so it’s vital to ensure everything is tackled carefully. 

Testing

At this stage of production, the game developed at the production stage will be tested on various parameters. This stage is another crucial production element where critical elements of the game are tested to pinpoint any issues. Developers and testers will identify any bugs or issues that customers might be facing. The testing team will test the game on various aspects, such as: 

• Solid game environment 
• Rendering issue 
• Game performance
• Softlocks 
• Any scripting or acting errors in the game. 
• Any design error in-game 
• Development error
• Alignment of game elements.
• Ensuring all features of the game are working well. 
• Ensuring the characters of the game are standing out. 

The team will run the game and observe every element for a few days, and they can also ask for feedback. There are various sections of game development that developers must check if the game is ready for use. The developers will identify problems and return them to the production stage for amendments. 

Pre-Launch

This stage is vital for the marketing department. Your marketing game should kick in at this stage to provide information and promote your game among the target audience. The marketing department will identify the target audience and gamers. So, they will plan various marketing campaigns, promotional events, informative events, collaborations, and more. They will execute the marketing strategies to ensure your game reaches your target audience. Many brands collaborate with various celebrities in order to connect with their target audience. The marketing department can use a glimpse of the game to attract more audience and create hype. 

Launch

At this stage, you are ready to reach an audience, and your game is finally ready to reach the gaming community. At this point, you have the final opportunity to improve your game and give the final touches. Your designers, development team, and engineers have the opportunity to improvise the final game that will reach users. Moreover, just before the final launch, you can check the game mechanically to identify bugs. Remove any minor bugs you notice quickly. After you are sure your game is ready to take center stage, you can roll it out for users. There are different marketing sections that gaming companies have to cover, such as: 

• The launch date is well-promoted among the gaming community.
• Creating interest and hype with characters through marketing channels.
• Using all marketing channels like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to reach out to the audience. 
• Giving final checks on the game simultaneously while marketing takes place
• The marketing department must identify the right audience for the game. 

Post-Production

After your game is launched, keep a keen look at users to understand their feedback, how they are adopting the game, what problems they are facing, and more. Here are a few things you need to focus on in the production stage: 

• Bugs: There are chances of bugs after users start operating games. When you have excess traffic on the app, the game might face some bugs. So, the developers team will identify and rectify this as soon as possible for users to experience smooth gameplay. 
• Free updates: Your team will have to regularly provide free updates or features to attract users. 
• Paid updates: These are significant features and updates you can offer in the game for users to amplify their experience. 
• Performance: Ensure your game continues to provide better performance for users on any compatible device. If they are facing problems, you have to rectify them as soon as possible. 

Conclusion

Many game development studios in India are producing new games regularly. These games pass through 7 stages of development to reach the gaming community and users. Gaming development stages are essential to ensure every element of the game is designed with detailed research and thought processes. The stages mentioned above of development are 7 main stages; these stages have further classification depending on the type of game. Anyone planning to develop or interested in creating a game must understand these stages of development.