ECONOMISING THE PROCESS: VIDEO GAME DESIGN IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY EFFICIENT
When Tom Francis, the creator of Gunpoint, a stealth-based puzzle-platform video game, delivered his presentation to video game enthusiasts, practitioners and developers at the GDC in 2015, he spoke about the importance of efficiency when designing a video game. He equated it to delivering “player value” – the sense of fun, excitement and enrichment we get from playing – but without the huge financial costs associated with some of the world’s most notable video games.
Video game design has, understandably, adapted to the digital world’s abundance of choice. This has obviously been aided by technology – gaming doesn’t necessarily mean sitting in front of a screen with a controller in hand, it might mean simply taking your phone out of your pocket. The trend sees consumers inundated with media – be it TV and films through Netflix and Amazon Prime or video games through Addicting Games – meaning availability is instant, and choice is copious.
But not everyone has access to the $137m it took to make Grand Theft Auto V. So it comes down to offering value for the player. Just as the frequency of gratification is important, so is the video game’s ability to stand out from the crowd. An enriching video game affects players in a variety of ways, so its “value” can mean different things to different people. But there’s common ground to accomplishing player enjoyment – not least ensuring the game satisfies expectation while bringing something new to the table.
To accomplish this, efficiency in video game design is paramount. Importantly, it reduces not only costs for developers but time. It also means video game makers can move on to other projects more quickly. To accomplish this, there have to be considerations made towards what games can offer efficiency in development. Therefore, instead of considering what the next “great” video game might be, their makers have endeavoured to discover the most efficient route to market.
Spelunky, the hugely popular open source indie video game created by Daniel Yu has been the inspiration for many independent developers to create their own games. Indeed, Francis cites it as one of his inspirations. Spelunky also highlights that simple games with simplistic graphics outside the realm of more expensive-to-make attractions like photorealistic VR can be just as impactful and enjoyable for gamers.
It’s why the video game market is perhaps more dynamic than it has ever been before. This of course has positives and negatives. It means we get games like PUBG, an online multiplayer battle royale that’s increasing in popularity but has been criticised for flaws in gameplay and called the most broken game ever by Rolling Stone magazine. Or we can just go back to playing Spelunky.
Indeed, creating the next Call of Duty is out of reach for most developers, even seasoned ones. CoD: Modern Warfare 2 cost a whopping $285m to develop and market for instance. But Tom Francis is a great example of video game development economy. He made Gunpoint in his spare time for $30 using Game Maker 8. He recouped his costs within 64 seconds of offering pre-orders online. The success of the game, which IGN’s reviewer Marty Sliva said was “a refreshingly welcome addition to the burgeoning stealth genre” led to Francis going into the field full time, setting up his own development company.
For the player, video game efficiency has accomplished a couple of things. Firstly, it means there’s even more choice out there. Secondly, by virtue of choice, we’re more likely to find those video games that deliver the enrichment or “value” gamers are seeking. For developers, particularly those in the indie scene, efficiency democratises the market, making it more accessible, more imaginative, more vibrant.
