Building a video game is a long, drawn-out process, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Most people believe that game development is a straightforward process with no complications. They fail to realize that a lot of planning goes into it, and a stepwise procedure needs to be followed to be successful. While we, at Gamecloud Technologies, completely understand this and stress equally on each of the steps. In this blog, we’ll share the six essential steps you need to follow to build a successful video game.
⦁ Discovery of the right market, players and game type
Before doing anything, you must figure out who’ll be your players and potentially spend money on it. Games need to generate revenue one way or the other, and for revenue, you need volume. Figuring out your target market is critical if you want to earn money from the game somehow. The majority of the games are targeted towards people of ages 15 to 30, who have time to play it and friends with whom they can share it. Whatever you end up choosing, make sure it has a sizeable number of potential players.
⦁ Concept design based on Player’s emotions
After figuring out the target market, you need to design a game that will trigger them emotionally. Most of the games in the market are designed in such a way. The plot, the graphics, and the gameplay are put together to entice emotions like thrill, fear, or happiness. Modern games are quite a bit like movies, and the cutscenes testify to this fact. The objective is to create a virtual world for the gamer, where he feels he holds a significant amount of power where strong emotions drive his actions.
⦁ Engine & Iterations
This is one of the hardest steps in the process, and it will surely test your patience. Building a successful game cannot be done overnight; it requires a lot of effort over a long time. The point is not to create the game in the least amount of time or on the first try. Instead, it would be best if you focused on getting it right, no matter how much time it takes. That is why building a base engine is critical for the game’s success. You can create an engine specific to the game type and then perform several iterations for various subcategories.
⦁ Creating buzz and a fanbase
Creating buzz and awareness about your game at the right time can be the make or break factor for its success. Most successful games begin advertising at least one year before the official release, and maybe even earlier in some cases. The motive is to intrigue your potential audience and make them eager to play the game. Many developers make the mistake of not advertising early enough or release their games on very short notice.
⦁ Marketing and PR
Most successful games will spend thousands or even millions on marketing and PR activities. However, if you’re not a big shot studio with that kind of budget, you might struggle to do this. After all, you spent all your budget to design a great game. Fortunately, you don’t need money to promote your game. Instead of typical advertising, you can reach out to gaming blogs, streamers, media houses, and cross-promotion platforms to do it for you. If they like your game, they’ll promote it for free or in exchange for a cross-promotion.
⦁ Final testing and prepare for the launch
Testing for success is the most crucial step if you want your game to reach millions. Many developers did all the previous steps right but didn’t focus on testing. As a result, when their games got famous, it crashed and that crashed was witnessed by millions. Bugs and glitches are negative marketing that can drive players away from your game. So adequate testing to ensure high video game quality should be your priority. Lucky for you, we at Gamecloud Technologies specialize in testing after having tested more than 1000 games across multiple platforms.
Conclusion
As we mentioned before, video game development is not a cakewalk. We at Gamecloud Technologies understand this better than most. Each of the above steps is vital if you’re serious about your game. You don’t need a lot of money for your game’s success; all you need to do is stick to these steps and be smart.
