This guide gives you some insight into how to start developing your game with Magic Media. Game development can be a long and arduous process. With Magic Media, our goal and proven solutions help cut down on the time and stress of video game development. As an industry leading A-Z service provider in gaming, entertainment, and tech, we always deliver a game development process that is smooth, efficient, and communicative throughout.

For any prospective or considering clients, what does the game development process entail? What should you know or have prepared for our team before developing your game? What can you do to get a step ahead of your competitors? We have the answers in this brief client introduction article!

The Basics of Developing Your Game

The first thing to understand is the length of time required for video game development. Typically, developing your game will take between 12 to 24 months. It can be shorter or longer and we aim for shorter for many of our clients. Video game development is a complicated business. It’s a veritable who’s who of tech and artistic talent. It has often been compared to assembling The Avengers! You need the best and brightest developers, coders, programmers, artists, animators, producers, and more. All coming together to deliver a staggering result of gaming magic. 

Developing your game follows a six-step process (seven if you include the ongoing QA and testing!).

Pitches and Conceptualization: Where we collaborate with your estimated budget and expectations on what the game will be and who it is designed for.

Pre-Production: Where we define the production workflow, align on deliveries, estimate timelines, and begin creating detailed documentation and prototypes.

Production: The lion’s share of the game development pipeline. Assets are designed and developed, programming and gameplay mechanics are iterated and implemented. This is where it begins to look like a proper game.

Testing & QA: Like we said, this step isn’t actually a stage of development, it’s a constant throughout. Testing gameplay, mechanics, and quality assurance checks are an ongoing process from day one. Thoroughly tested games are good games.

Post-production: Where final polish occurs. Little is added here as we enter a period of refinement and upscaling to ensure the best playable state. This is usually where a game is declared “gold” and ready for release.

Launch: Congratulations! Your game has released on its selected platforms. This is a time for celebration and for watching the responses of your game. And in the event of a F2P game, this stage is usually a soft-launch where the game is released with little or no announcement to test your game’s performance and scalability.

Post-launch: Once the game is launched, it’s time to address any player feedback and improve on content present. An engaged community and a heard community is a happy one which will lead to a lively and positive gaming experience. This is also where you begin working on any downloadable or additional content considered during production.

What can you do in preparation?

If you’re interested in developing your game with our team, there are a few key details that we need. These are integral in helping our team flesh out the pitch stage and deliver an accurate estimation. The sooner we have this information, the quicker we can get to work on your project:

1. Your budget limitations and timeline limitations
2. Any preferred tools and game engine for development
3. What platforms do you want to release on
4. Any existing documentation, demos, or references
5. What type of game do you want to create? (Genre, size, scale, art style)
6. Single player or Multiplayer?

Letting us know what inspired you will help tremendously. As many references and points of contact you’ve loved in gaming will mean our team can narrow down what you want and get to work. Once we have the scope and concept, we can deliver a proper estimate to you for consideration. With experience working on projects such, Switchback VR, Blankos Block Party and Overkill VR amongst many others, at Magic Media, we’ll do exactly the work your project needs to excel in its field.

Some of this might be foreign to you but you don’t have to panic. Our team will be on hand to answer any questions you might have and guide you to the path that suits you best. If our team can fulfil your needs, we guarantee only excellence in service. From full-cycle game development and co-development, to VFX, game art, video production, and more, we offer a one-stop studio of services for your needs. Get in touch today and let’s create magic.