Whilst Rockstar has its own ways
of creating games there are other ways to make them. One of the first types is
the business model which focuses on the expenses of game making today mainly
those compatible with PS3 and Xbox 360.
The business model the ‘Tent
Pole’ model is similar to the business model that a lot of Hollywood studios
will use. The idea is that the publisher releases a game that comes with a lot
of marketing and investment. The money that is made from the game could then be
used for them to create new games that are more creative.
However, there are problems with
this model, due to the company relying on this one game to provide money huge
problems will occur if the game isn’t a hit as they won’t get their money. An
example is Spore, sold 1 million copies in its first 17 days, but the
development costs were so big that EA only expect to make their money back with
5 years of updates and sequels.
The next model is the Hollywood
model, this is when one company contracts out parts of the games design to
other companies, this way they save money on development. This means rather
than having a permanent in-house development team of 50+, the developers can
have a much smaller team of 10-20 specialist external teams who will have a
section to work on each which is all put together later. This model also
includes the company working with scriptwriters, photography directors and
stunt teams, meaning games are being made just like a Hollywood film would be
made.
Independent game development is a
newer type of model. Game development has become a lot cheaper recently,
normally it would require a developer to a have a publishing contract in order
to pay for the development and the license fee required to develop for a
particular console. But now there is a growing market for Indie Game thanks to
open source software, like Apples App Store and Xbox Live’s Marketplace small
teams and even individuals are able to create games, and then use these places
to distribute their games and earn money. Other than basic developmental costs
of a game and console, developers are required to pay fees to license the Software
Development Kits that are required from the console manufacturer. Manufacturers
often enforce a strict approval process and take a percentage of the game's net
profit in addition to yearly developer fees.
The iPhone SDK is a software development kit
that’s developed by Apple, its targeted at third party developers to develop
applications for iPhones OS, it was released in February 2008. The SDK itself
is a free download, but in order to release the software, you must enrol in the
iPhone Developer Program, a step requiring payment and Apple's approval. As of
January 2010, the cost of enrolment in the iPhone Developer Program was $99 per
year however this cost varies from country to country. Developers who publish
their applications on the App Store will receive 70% of sales revenue, and will
not have to pay any distribution costs for the application. An example of
iPhone games development would be Doodle Jump, it was released April 2009, and
has had nearly 4 million downloads.
Xbox also released an SDK for Xbox one in March 2015 which
lets any developer build an app for the console. There had been a private SDK
ever since the consoles launch however it became public allowing any and all
developers to use the SDK which means they can make games For Xbox and will be
able to add Xbox live features. The software uses Windows 10 which spans across
PC, tablets and phones too.
PS4 also have their own SDK released which costs around
$2,500. The feature of self-publishing has been available on PlayStation for
over 5 years so unlike Xbox this isn’t a new feature for PlayStation. They took
the lead with the feature adapting to the new publishing rules so its
developers have a more creative freedom. They said they will be sticking with
the kit and won’t be changing as they want to allow developers to have their
chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment