Did you know that the total revenue from the gaming industry is expected to cross the $200 billion mark by the end of this year? It has come a long way from the days of Space Invaders and Asteroids and the first gaming consoles of the 1990s.
A significant chunk of that revenue—slightly over half, in fact—is taken up by mobile gaming. This is in line with the rapid shift in the way that we interact with the Internet—most people in 2024 access the Internet through their mobile devices.
This is true of every gaming sector, from the latest FPS mobile game to online casino gaming. The growth of mobile casino gaming has been particularly dramatic and, in the space of a few years, game developers in this sector have had to adjust to the mobile trend. In the longest-established and best-regulated casino markets, such as in Europe, mobile casino gaming is considered standard—as a quick glance at the best EU casino operators on Casinotopsonline will confirm.
Given the figures mentioned above, it is not surprising that many entrepreneurs and small businesses are focusing their efforts on gaming and, in particular, on mobile gaming. So, if you know a thing or two about gaming and have a great idea for a game, where do you start?
Table of Contents
Stage 1: Pre-production
All great gaming apps and platforms begin as ideas, but they don’t start to take shape until the pre-production phase. This is where you, as an entrepreneur, have to get creative and take the widest possible overview of your project. Often, this involves asking some basic questions about the game’s subject and themes, its target audience, and its biggest market competitors.
The initial stages of pre-production will be focused on developing the concept and diving deeper into the themes and ideas to find the essence of the game—its story. This is what will drive the initial interest of gamers. At this point, you can start to think about what genre the game belongs in, and issues such as character, viewpoint, game settings, and features. This is also a good point to think about which mobile platform you will be launching the game on—Android, iOS, or both.
With these basics addressed, you can make a tentative assessment of the development costs involved and then turn your attention to practical game production issues, including choice of game engine, programming language, animation style, graphics, color palette, and so on. All of these choices should be fed into the overall Design Plan, which is a living document that everyone involved in the project can view and add to throughout the project. With the Design Plan up and running, it’s time to let your game development team do their thing!
Stage 2: Testing
Stage two will end with a game ready to launch, but there’s a lot of work to be done before you get there. First, your team has to produce a prototype, which is a very basic version that doesn’t include all the features you hope to see in the final game.
The next step is for your team to work on producing a finished version of the game, and this is where maximum attention to detail will pay dividends. No matter how much care your team takes, however, it is likely that there will be plenty of bugs to be dealt with, and this is where the testing really hits top gear. The game will go through several steps, including all, or at least some, of these
- Vertical Slice—a fully playable version that can be used to promote the game to investors
- Pre-Alpha—the point at which most game features are added
- Alpha—here, the game is given to QA testers to identify bugs and issues
- Beta—this point is more focused on fine-tuning and refinements
- Gold Master—the game is finally ready for launch
Stage 3: Launch
This is an exciting stage in the development of your game, and the point that you have been aiming for over many months or even years. Yet, there is still a long way to go.
Before you can launch your game, however, there are some important decisions to be made, not the least of which is the choice of monetization strategy. Mobile gamers are used to being able to play games for free or for a small initial fee. So, how will your game make money? There are several models you can choose from, all of which have their pros and cons.
Advertisements—this form of monetization enables you to gather plenty of fees from digital advertisers, but too many ads will be seen as a negative by players.
In-App Monetization—selling upgrades, skins, and other game features is another option, but this can fall foul of regulations in some jurisdictions as, if not handled correctly, it can be seen as gambling.
Paid Games—making a game paid for from the start will ensure that every player who downloads it will be paying for it, but this can be unpopular with mobile gamers.
Premium Option—many game developers opt for a compromise of offering a free version but providing a premium paid version with all the features included.
At this point, the game is ready to be launched. The final step before launch is to finalize contracts with the gaming platforms of your choice and set a date for the launch.
Stage 4: Post-production
This is the stage at which it is easy to slip up, and failure at this stage can produce significant reputational damage. It is inevitable that there will be issues and bugs arising post-launch, and it is vital to have processes in place to address concerns raised by players and fix problems quickly. This will ensure that all your hard work is not undone by poor after-launch attention.
Conclusion
As we can see, the process of bringing a great mobile game into the world is a long and difficult one, and there is fierce competition. Yet for those entrepreneurs and businesses who get it right, the rewards can be substantial and satisfying, which is why so many give it a shot every year.
