11 Reasons You Should Outsource Mobile Game Development
The smartphone revolution set off a Game Development surge, which forced the demand for tablets, faster network speeds, and more powerful mobile devices. With recent statistics showing the increased industry profits on gaming outstrips, it’s no wonder everyone wants in on it.
The problem is, with such high expectations, creating even just one app well is expensive. Consider your current resources. Do you have the skill-sets or enough personnel? Do they have the correct experience? A well-equipped game studio? If not, how much will it cost to employ, train, and resource those missing areas? How about marketing, further developments, and customer service to cope with the surge of a successful title launch? This is where Game Development Outsourcing shines.
Things to consider when choosing your game development outsourcing partner:
1. Cost-Effective – A game outsourcing company that tackles mobile game development offers affordable project packages with detailed quote breakdowns. Discussions with your chosen provider can delve into mapping out the development timeline and complete the project while keeping within your agreed budget, and the final product is top-caliber. You also have a lower risk of incurring large overhead expenses, hassle-free scalable game studio teams, experience, and aftermarket services such as marketing, customer service, and moderation.
The location of the development team factors into the budget, especially when you consider average annual costs. A study by Boston College in the US, “Software Outsourcing in Vietnam,” cited the balance of a high-quality pool of game developers in a highly cost-effective location. As far back as 2010, The Gartner report highlighted Vietnam as one of the leading contenders. Forbes named Vietnam as the new alternative to China amidst concerns “Due to the increasing costs of labor in China.” Vietnam is #3 in global offshoring hotspot and #1 in competitive cost (Tower Watson, Services Offshoring Ranking 2013) and in 2014 Gartner elevated Vietnam to a tier 1 Location for outsourcing.
2. Team Organization – Outsourcing game development companies who specialize in mobile game development will engage projects with a dedicated team of talent and a project manager overseeing the effort. Many insiders underline the value of reliable, organized legal documentation to chronicle the team's work on the project, notably the signing of non-disclosure agreements and the design papers. A unique workflow management tool will also govern the activity and tick off the milestones as they are achieved.
At times, though, you could be handling core aspects of the game in-house but can wish to outsource sections of the project to a select team, subject to the same secrecy provisions. The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Weber, for example, noted Square Enix's hiring of around 70 contractor firms to work on developing the blockbuster RPG Final Fantasy XV.
3. Cross Platforming – Global uptake and increased profits are always evident on title available across a range of platforms. When it comes to mobile game development, it’s about creating devices that run on either Android or iOS. Web-based systems are also viable platforms for gamers looking to enjoy the comfort of a desktop or laptop PC. Your developer must have the flexibility to craft the game that is adaptable to these platforms and function the same, even if it’s only a future consideration. A game that runs and responds well on a Galaxy Tab S3 should be just as remarkable on an iPad Pro. This takes experienced pre-planning and is costly to retrofit later without prior considerations.
4. Expertise – Cross platforming, multiple devices ready, genre mechanics, and many other factors, require various programming codes they require warrant hiring a development team deeply educated in those languages. Our programming expertise will include C++, C#/.NET game development, Java, and both Android and iOS, among many others. In parallel, the graphic designers attached to the project will help you create a stylish game design and UI-friendly interfaces to help players better immerse into the game experience.
Another benefit of partnering with our experienced team, because of the benefit of working with other projects we are able to pick up solutions through experience and will be able to offer you the best solution to your development problems.
5. Fast Communications – Your preferred outsourcing game development team will have a senior representative talking to you on secure channels. This is to ensure one person will inform the entire team your needs for the project and the urgency in completing them per your schedule. It is also the opportunity to see the builds of the game as more parts of it are programmed.
6. Quality Control – Every mobile game out there has had a few glitches at some point. A dedicated game development outsourcing company can take the finished product through several layers of quality control and troubleshooting to iron out all the glitches before it is ever released. These may include gameplay balance issues and network connections, especially on online multiplayer.
7. Bugs and Security – No game creator wants to see their work at the mercy of cheats and hackers or flawed due to bugs. A good outsourced game development company has a dedicated, skilled in-house quality assurance lab fully fitted with all the latest devices. If you have plans for paid downloadable content in the future, work closely with your game developers on protecting the payment channels and customer databases from cybercrime activities at all levels. This is especially true for prebuilt in-app purchases such as game credits or purchasable items.
8. Detailed Marketing – Your game may be ground-breaking regarding gameplay, mechanics, player interaction, or story, but will be inert when there’s not much interest generated about it before, during, and after launch. A preferred outsourcing game company will take care of your game’s marketing strategy if you desire it. Our marketing department will have knowledge of the industry, development experience, and contacts vital to a game's success. The work includes analyzing the market demographics, drafting the press releases, negotiating rates with multiple advertising aggregators, and time released promotion over gaming channels and social media. High user reviews, particularly those with fair and constructive criticisms, will be vital to generating more awareness of the game, adjustments needed, and localization support.
9. Continued Service – A successful launch is only half the work. You can retain your development team to aid you in further tweaks to the game, such as patches or full-fledged expansions. A maintenance team will take care of your servers and act on any technical issues as needed. As discussed, extra services such as Social listening, Moderation, and Marketing, are all part of a profitable game.
10. Resources and Equipment – A good outsourcing game development companies are fully equipped with the latest game development tools. With a fully functioning game studio equipment that range from game testing, game design and other mobile game development tools will well benefit the game development process. Updated equipment plus having highly skilled of game developers will create better quality products.
11. Time-Efficiency – Time is a critical aspect in the development process. If you are new to this industry or not properly equipped with the right skill set and equipment, allotting time to search for the right people, equipment, and the process of training your in-house team is not only time consuming but budget consuming as well. Opting for an outsourced team will cut off the wasted time and hassle and go straight to the point. Your partner outsourced company will provide you with a ready and reliable team to be able to start your project.
Final Say
Both outsourcers and mobile game developers should adapt to the change of demands in the industry of mobile game development. Choosing outsourcing game development companies has proven its efficiency and beneficial aspects in mobile game development not only because of their complete resources in their game studios. But of course, we have also discussed the general benefits of outsourcing your mobile game and the one that will benefit your company and your game as well.
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