Evolution of developers: what games to expect in the future

In my previous article, I presented a general overview of the video game ecosystem. Now I would like to consider separately each category of games, describe their properties, the meaning of their innovations in functionality and features, and also talk about the best startups in each of the categories. In this article I will only talk about game developers. This category dominates the gaming industry. They account for almost 60% of the total funding for gaming ecosystems ($ 7.1 billion) and the number of startups created (447).

Game developers

Game developers include studios and publishers who create, purchase and distribute new games. This is one of the most unique categories in the entire startup ecosystem because of its ratio of success to failure. Of the more than 447 game developers I studied, about 23% left the market and about 10% closed.

Building a game with the right level of strategy, skills and style is real art, available only to the best developers. In this article, I will not touch the gameplay, but I want to emphasize the patterns that I noticed in the tools used to create game functions added to stimulate the enthusiasm and target audiences of game developers.

Major trends that most game developers follow
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• Mobile platform becomes the most important for the publication of games.
• Most game developers create free-to-play games.
• Monetization of each game is due to advertising or in-game purchases: skins, boosters or status goods.
• In addition, the standard approach was the creation of games simultaneously for all platforms (consoles, mobile, TVs and VR).
• Creating a competitive multi-user ecosystem or introducing prizes is a mandatory requirement to stimulate passion for the game.
• It seems that more and more developers are trying in every possible way to build communities around their games: chats, real-life events, leagues and much more.
• In order to attract viewers and players, all developers must find an approach to the influencers.
• Creating your own unique franchise (intellectual property) or using an existing franchise is the key to building a successful game.

Functions

How game developers are differentiated by the tools used to create games or platforms.

New platforms that use for gaming

Developers are finding new platforms for games. For them, it is an opportunity to capture a market in which there is no one else yet. Examples:

• Sound : Developers like Drivetime or Sensible Object allow users to play audio quiz games with Alexa or while driving.
• Smart watches : Everywear Games and Pocket Gems create games for smart watches Android and Apple.
• Chat applications : Knock Knock created games for Facebook messenger. Neptune worked with Kakao. Tencent's Mini Program has brought many WeChat games to appear. Mojiworks creates games for both Messenger and WeChat. It seems to be a great category for short casual gameplay, which local telecommunications companies or companies that provide CPaaS services should pay attention to.
• The Internet of Things : It seems that traditional board games or toys are increasingly merging with video games. Workinman Interactive creates interactive toys for brands such as Disney, Nickelodeon, Atari and Fisher-Price. Mighty Bear Games has created a pulse meter that controls the complexity of games. Sensible Object created a unique gaming device that combines Jenga and Pokemon.
• TV : Nazara has entered into a partnership agreement with Amazon to transfer localized Indian games to Fire TV. It seems that televisions are becoming an important platform for an increasing number of developers. Will this slow the growth of the console market?
• VR / AR : Niantic , Leaftail Labs , Snatch , Next Games , Placeholder and Shifu mainly use mobile phones for social, interactive and collaborative AR projects. VR is also the preferred platform for developers who want to expand the scope of their franchises. For example, Resolution Games transferred Angry Birds to VR. Other developers are taking steps forward to improve the gameplay in AR / VR. Subdream creates its own equipment that can be used in VR games. Meleap creates its own arena for AR-games.
• Theme Amusement Parks : Immersive Game Labs and Survios built an indoor video game park in which people can play their games. Theme parks with VR / AR have been in trend for a while, but now the economy of managing them is a bit unstable.

Why is it important?

New platforms allow different ways to reach new or already experienced gamers. If you become a pioneer in publishing games on such new platforms, this can determine the development of a new category of games. For example, Mech Mocha claims that 96% of mobile players have not played games on PC / consoles before. New platforms may also damage existing platforms. Tencent in its annual report mentioned that its revenues from games on PCs are falling and will gradually decline due to the transition of users to mobile gaming.

Developers create their own game engines.

For many developers, game development engines are becoming just as important as the game itself. It seems that this is a strategy for the growth of developers and the transition to the category of publishers.

• From game engines to edition : engines like Epic Games' Unreal Engine or Niantic 's Real World Platform are examples of how developers create successful games and share their platform with other developers. Developers like The Ready Games publish games created on their development platform; Another major advantage is that users do not need to know the code to develop games. Workinman Interactive creates hardware simulations of the Internet of things.
• Internal game engine : developers such as Super Evil Megacorp and Mojiworks have created their own game engines to develop their mobile and chat games without intending to sell licenses to them. It seems that this way gives studios more control over the performance of games and the speed of their development. Dapper Labs took a slightly different approach: it allows developers to use their code to create games within the company's gaming ecosystem. Her goal is to create new mini-games based on the Dapper Labs brand. FRVR's technology stack helps it download quality games to almost any mobile phone in less than a second.
• Game tools : in addition, many developers also sell licenses for the tools they use to improve the performance, scale of distribution, or the excitement of their own games. Teatime Games offers the implementation of games and video chat. Reload Games offers in-game music studio services and tools to speed up game downloads. Midas Touch creates software for 2D animations.

Why is it important?

The future of gaming infrastructure and tools is likely to depend on video game developers. For the future development of games it is important how quickly and cheaply a developer can create a new game. This is an important milestone in the development of developers by large publishers.

Number of games created

It seems that a small group of studios and publishers are aggressively setting goals in the production and acquisition of new games. Perhaps the reason for this is that they are looking for suitable franchises that can provide studios with a big return. Some publishers, such as Games2win, stimulate zero dependence on a particular game. Hypixel , Mighty Bear and Flowplay try to create a variety of mini-games within one successful existing game. MZ Studios has set itself the goal of releasing a new game every 6 months. The Ready Games aims to release the game every 48 hours. Examples of the approximate number of games from developers or publishers:

• Flowplay - more than 200
• Pogo - more than 176
• NoodleCake Studios - more than 140
• Playstudios - more than 100
• Team17 - more than 100
• TabTale - more than 100
• Gamee - more than 75
• Zgames - more than 40
• Hypixel - more than 22
• FRVR - more than 26

Why is it important?

Creating quality games is fast and difficult. Phoenix Labs reports that to create its cooperative game about hunting free-to-play for a PC, more than 200 people are needed. With the correct implementation of the game can bring hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars a day. Developers and publishers are constantly in search of a new big hit. Game engines are evolving, creating games is becoming easier, so we should be waiting for the flood of more and more content.

Redemption Games reports: “The business of mobile gaming has become one of the most competitive areas in the world. There are already hundreds of thousands of games in the app stores, and to get to the top requires a unique combination of skills and effort, from game design, marketing and support services. There are no silver bullets and no way to cut the way. ”

Studio collaboration

Game development is an art, and artists are constantly collaborating. There is a development team working together to gain experience, exchange franchises and help with regional distribution. Obviously, many work with publishers to help with production and distribution. Other developers, such as Hutch , prefer to publish on their own. However, the merging of media, content and gaming franchises constantly generates exciting new gameplay. Examples of cooperation:

• Halfbrick Studios is working with Mech Mocha to localize and re-release their games in India.
• Workinman collaborates with Addicting Games to create a tense combat game that reflects the spirit of the Man at Arms series.
• Digit Game Studio has joined forces with Scopely to create a Star Trek Fleet Command game based on the Hollywood franchise.

Features

Merging media, brands, famous people with games

Many developers for the constant attraction of attention create games based on existing popular brands. Others try to create games based on movie content or TV shows in order to further develop their own game franchises. Some developers create rich media content in their games to improve gameplay. Here are some examples of media merging:

• Famous personalities in games : almost all famous media personalities from TV shows, films, or the actors themselves have been or will be used in games. Examples of this are the Niantic using Harry Potter; Jam City , using Family Guy and Marvel; Second Dinner , also using Marvel; Scopely using the Walking Dead and Wheel of Fortune; nWay with Power Rangers; MZ Games with Final Fantasy; Moonfrog Labs , using the highest-grossing Indian films and most popular actors; Funtactix creates games based on blockbuster movies. Neptune has a partnership with the Kakao messaging platform and uses its characters to create games. HQ Trivia takes a different approach - she invites celebrities like Duane Johnson, Robert de Niro, Gordon Ramsay, Neil Patrick Harris and Alicia Silverstone to participate in their games. A truly unique example of creating games based on popular media is Hypixel . This company began by creating their own funny videos on Youtube. The Youtube channel attracted enough attention that helped the company create its own Minecraft mini-games based on its videos.
• From games to media : for the further development of gaming franchises, developers create media based on their games. They can be simple, for example Kixeye creates videos and blogs about how to play her games. Or they may go as far as Niantic , creating a TV show based on their game Ingress. Youxigu was involved in financing the production of two movies and action films. Moshi Monster produces books, magazines, toys, collectible cards, music albums, a film, and even dog mats.
• From brands to games : developers also come together to create games with famous brands. For example, Playstudios has entered into a Vegas casino affiliate agreement to provide rewards. The Ready Games collaborates with the most popular brands. Animoca Brands created games for Mattel. 704Games has created six games dedicated to NASCAR.
• From games to games : developers often modify existing popular board / arcade games. Mech Mocha has created a video game about a board game popular in India called Ludo. Subdream made a VR game based on the Galaga arcade game popular in the 1980s. Jackpocket allows you to play state lotteries on your phone. Scopely created games based on Yahtzee. SuperSolid creates projects based on Sims. This list can be continued.

Why is it important?

Creating a successful gaming franchise is very difficult. But it is even harder to constantly maintain the life of a previously successful brand. Any popular content will be inevitably quickly absorbed by developers. Those who built a successful gaming franchise create media on its basis for retaining players. I believe that in the future we will see an ever closer merger of media and games, especially in view of simplifying their creation and distribution.

Game ownership

It seems that among developers there is a growing trend of giving players power over the game. The sale of in-game items has long become the standard for monetization in most free-to-play games. However, now developers are opening their games, allowing players to create, sell and change items, cards and more. Examples of such a trend:

• Dapper Labs has opened its code to allow developers to create games based on game franchises.
• Epic Games and Funcom distribute mods so that players can create their own worlds inside popular games.
• The next game, Mythical Games, will depend heavily on user-generated content; Players and fluens will be able to share their digital resources.
• Klang Games allows players to create and manage many characters. Characters continue to function, even when the player leaves the game.
• Pocket Gems allows users to create their own storyline in the game to share it with other players.
• IMVU has created its own fashion blog for player-created in-game styles. Their avatars can be recognized by top models and displayed on the game banner.

Why is it important?

Digital resources are becoming extremely valuable for retaining players, but at the same time they are new ways to monetize. The future of games will allow players to create their own games, profiles, skins, storylines and more. The future of game development will probably be up to the players.

Events, tournaments and competitions

Another growing trend among developers and publishers is to increase the involvement of the competition in the game. This can be implemented inside the game or in real life. Such events help developers manage engagement and new monetization strategies. Here are some examples:

• Niantic holds events and local meetings for its AR players. Some such meetings are a fundamental part of the gameplay. In addition, the company holds contests for developers.
• Tencent's annual report says that it can increase user engagement through eSports events and live broadcasts.
• Nazara Technologies has received many years of licensing rights to organize and conduct ESL competitions in India.
• Funplus and Millennial Esports organize eSports events and leagues. Millennial Esports even has its own gaming arena in Las Vegas.
• Games like The Ready Games and HQ Trivia hold in-game competitions with prizes daily.

Why is it important?

Cybersport is a very fast growing movement. The development of cooperative and competitive games becomes imperative. Participation in the eSports industry is mandatory for developers.


Social side

Social components are added to all kinds of games. It can be anything: chat, live broadcasts or VR worlds. Adding interactive social components is gradually becoming inevitable for developers. Examples:

• Mech Mocha focuses on creating social components in its games. Their DAU (Daily Active Users), on average, is spent in an in-game voice chat for 25 minutes.
• Teatime Games provides the ability to broadcast video in their racing games with one-on-one battles.
• Funplus mobile application allows users to stream the passage of the game and communicate with the audience.
• Flowplay has created a virtual world that allows players to chat and play games together.

Why is it important?

Social interactions increase player engagement. For future games, it should be a requirement.

Examples of using

In this section, we will look at the types of target audiences that game developers are focused on and describe how their companies evolve.

Demographic targeting

It is worth mentioning a small group of game developers targeting certain demographic groups. Here are examples of common demographic targeting:

• Geographical : Mech Mocha believes that there is a lack of games for individual regions. The company focuses on capturing audiences in small areas of India. Games2Win also claims to focus on creating localized content.
• Gender : Singularity 6 hopes that the main part of the audience of her future game will be women. Nix Hydra is focused on creating women-oriented games. Gram Games created a movement called Project 22%, serving a female audience.
• Competitive : Gamelynx creates team competitive games for mobile devices, making e-sports more accessible and global.
• Professional : Level Ex creates video games for doctors that convey the complexity of medical practice. Radd3's virtual reality training system helps American football players to morally prepare for future games thanks to their visualization. In addition, it allows players to train without the risk of injury.

Why is it important?

Service to a narrow target audience allows developers to open new directions for growth. For example, Nazara Technologies reports: "With a market of 500 million players, India has the potential to create its own League Of Legends."

Empowering Infusers

Influensers are an essential component of the game developers marketing strategy. Phoenix Labs notes: “The reality is that the majority of players came to Dauntless because someone played it on Twitch or YouTube, or the vast majority of people come because their friends are playing and they want to play with them.” The way in which game developers communicate with the infusers is critical to directing traffic to their new projects. Examples of innovative methods that publishers use to meet the needs of the infensors:

• Funcom introduces exclusive individually created kits to influensers, allowing them to create high-quality content for viewers.
• Epic Games' Support-A-Creator software allows content creators to earn money on Fortnite and other games from the Epic games store.
• Seriously gained success by developing a series of campaigns with YouTube-based influenza initiatives based on charitable initiatives and organized them so that they coincided with the release of game updates.
• Proletariat creates full-scale streaming systems and tools that allow viewers to interact with their favorite streamers right inside the games.

Why is it important?

Influencers will be, if not yet, the most important source of information about the release of new games. In order to make the flueners happy, game developers must help them offer the best content to viewers. In the future, we will see broader cooperation and unique ways for developers to interact with the heatguns.

The evolution of gaming startups

Game developers are constantly looking for ways to expand their intellectual property. Many are moving from self-creating games for players to providing their platform and support for new game developers.

• Growth in acquired portfolios : many successful game developers are starting to acquire other studios or invest in them for development. In particular, Jam City , Scopely and Tencent are engaged in it.
• From developers to publishers : many developers use their own game engines or audience coverage to build their portfolio of published games. For example, Epic Games uses its game engine as a means of growth as a publisher. Paradox Interactive also creates a digital distribution platform. Rumble Games offers developers tools for publishing and working in its gaming service.
• From developers to service providers : Workinman Interactive creates design, IoT-toys, art, exhibitions and provides other services to brands seeking to develop games. ZGames offers services for the development of game design documents, art creation, prototyping and audience research for release in the application store, as well as post-release parameter settings based on analytics and server support. Virtuos also provides a wide range of gaming services and training for game artists.
• From developer to product : Mind Candy creates successful intellectual property that has grown into books, pet products, pet apps, feeding mats, collectible cards, magazines, toys, music albums and movies.

Why is it important?

Creating legendary games is an almost impossible task. Therefore, developers constantly need to look for new ways to evolve, grow and monetize, otherwise they will inevitably fail. Ideally, developers should continue to release new games, but always keep in plan B.

Top game developers to watch

Hypixel Studio , Immersive Games , Niantic , Jam City , Second Dinners Studios , Mech Mocha , Mythical Games , Everywear Games , BigBox VR , Embark Studios , Drivetime , Dapper Labs , Subdream Studio , Jackpocket , Epic Games , Phoenix Labs , Leaftail Labs , GAMEE , Singularity 6 , 1939 Games , 704Games , Neptune , Knock Knock , Scopely , Jumpship , FRVR , Klang Games , Mighty Bear Games , Mightier , Sensible Object , Redemption Games , Gamelynx , Teatime Games , KIXEYE , Digit Game Studio , Level Ex , Volley , HQTrivia , Trailmix , Caret Games , Manitcore Games , Mind Candy , Snatch , Mojiworks , 3rd Eye Studios , Supersolid , The Ready Games , PLAYSTUDIOS , Super Evil Mega Corp. , Portalarium , Pocket Gems , Seasun , Next Games , Armada Interactive , Hutch , PlaySimple Games , Bonfire Studios , Mino Games , Seriously , Ministry of the Games , Machine Zone , Supreme Games , Beyond Games , Moonfrog Labs , Telltale Games , Proletariat , Derby Games , Kingnet , Playdots , cloudcade , F laregames , Octro , Nix Hydra , Thatgamecompany , Funplus , Cocone , Tabtale , Chukong Technologies , Youxigu , Grand Cru , FlowPlay , Games2Win , Arkadium , Peak Games , Reloaded Games , MindSnacks , Red Robot Labs , Dang Le , SNSplus and some others.

Conclusion

Game development is an extremely complex industry. Create a popular game - only half the battle. Properly building your own intellectual property, creating a community and expanding your gaming platform will help developers survive longer. The future of game engines will be built by developers. The next best publisher will be the new successful game developer. It will be fascinating to watch how developers create exciting new games on a variety of platforms, how they integrate with the eSports industry, and how they merge with traditional media. In the next article I will analyze the rest of the video game industry.