Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
3. Project tracking doc. This is usually a Gantt chart generated by the producer
using project management software. Each department head supplies a list of
tasks, along with the people assigned to them and how long they think the
tasks will take. With this information, the producer can see if the project is
on schedule, what the critical path to completion is, which resources are
overloaded, etc.
4. Budget. This is a spreadsheet of all the costs associated with the project.
Line items will include the following.
5. Internal personnel costs (salaries of people applied to the project)
a. Hardware costs
b. Software licenses
c. External contractor fees
d. Engine royalties
e. IP acquisition costs (license fee)
f. Marketing & PR costs
g. An overhead multiplier that applies fixed costs (building rent, utilities,
travel, personnel benefits, etc.) to the project
h. Profit-and-Loss (P&L) statement. This is another spreadsheet that the
publisher uses to estimate the profitability of each project. The projected
lifecycle sales estimates from the sales team are compared to the costs
from the preceding budget to determine if the game will make enough
money to justify the investment.
6. Development schedule. This table breaks out the stages of development,
with significant events along the way:
Event
Date
Concept phase
00/00/00 - 00/00/00
Start preproduction
00/00/00
Start development
00/00/00
Milestone #1
00/00/00
Milestone #2
00/00/00
… (Additional milestones)…
00/00/00
Alpha
00/00/00
Beta
00/00/00
Localization deliverable #1
00/00/00
Pre-submission (console only)
00/00/00
First submission (console only)
00/00/00
Second submission (console only)
00/00/00
Code freeze
00/00/00
Release to manufacture (RTM)
00/00/00
Shelf date
00/00/00
