Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
mers from Rockstar's technology team. But that team size would be considered
tame compared to more recent titles—2011's
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
had a
programming team with a headcount well over 75.
Buttoindependentdevelopers,digitaldistributionplatformshavebeenabigboon.
With storefronts such as XBLA, PSN, Steam, and the iOS App Store, it is pos-
sible to reach a wide audience of gamers without the backing of a traditional pub-
lisher. The scope of these independent titles is typically much smaller than AAA
ones, and in several ways their development is more similar to earlier eras. Many
indie games are made with teams of five or less. And some companies have one
individual who's responsible for all the programming, art, and design, essentially
completing the full circle back to the Atari era.
Anotherbigtrendingameprogramminghasbeentoward
middleware
,orlibraries
that implement solutions to common game programming problems. Some middle-
ware solutions are full game engines, such as Unreal and Unity. Other middleware
may only implement a specific subsystem, such as Havok Physics. The advantage
of middleware is that it can save time and money because not as many developers
need to be allocated to work on that particular system. However, that advantage
can become a disadvantage if a particular game design calls for something that is
not the core competency of that particular middleware.
The Future
Any discussion of the future would be incomplete without acknowledging mobile
and web-based platforms as increasingly important for games. Mobile device
hardware has improved at a rapid pace, and new tablets have performance charac-
teristics exceeding that of the Xbox 360 and PS3. The result of this is that more
and more 3D games (the primary focus of this topic) are being developed for mo-
bile platforms.
But traditional gaming consoles aren't going anywhere any time soon. At the time
of writing, Nintendo has already launched their new console (the Wii U), and by
the time you read this, both Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4 will
also have been released. AAA games for these platforms will undoubtedly have
increasinglylargerteams,andvideogameexpertisewillbecomeincreasinglyfrac-
tured as more and more game programmers are required to focus on specializa-
tions.However,because bothXboxOneandPS4willallowself-publishing, italso
means independent developers now have a full seat at the table. The future is both
exciting and bright for the games industry.
