All games that are produced and made today are done so in a different way to one another, some companies use certain techniques whereas other companies use different ones to promote and make their game.
The “Tent Pole” model
The business model is called the ‘Tent Pole’ model which is similar to the business model that a lot of Hollywood studios will use. The basic concept is that the publisher releases a game that is accompanied with a lot of marketing and investment. Then the money that is made from this game supports the development of other potentially more creative games called a ‘riskier’. For example, being the Grand Theft Auto series, this brings in a lot of money for the company, Rockstar. This money allows them to invest in some smaller hits such as Canis Canem and LA Noire and Agent. Another example of the ‘Tent Pole’ business model would be EA’s annual updates of FIFA which they rely on to create money for the further research and development of other games. In 2008 EA spent $372 million on research and development, the reason being is down to the PS3 and Xbox 360. It can cost a game maker up to $100 million to make a game on this platform.
The Hollywood Model
The Hollywood model is the idea to contract out parts of the games design to other companies in order to lower the cost of development. Instead of the development team being formed of around 50+, developer can have a team of 10-20 specialist external teams who will do a section of work each which can then later be pieced together. It may see gaming companies work with many other production areas such as stunt teams, photography directors and even scriptwriters to create and sell is similar to how a Hollywood film would be made.
However, the Tent Pole business model has its problems, these problems come with the company as they are depending on that one game being a hit and bring in the money needed, and sometimes even big games don’t return the money. An example is Spore, sold 1 million copies in its first 17 days, but the development costs were so big that EA only expect to make their money back with 5 years of updates and sequels.
Independent Game Development
The next games development is called the independent game development, creating a game is costly and until recently this has been the case. Usually it required a developer to a have a publishing contract in order to pay for the development and the license fee required to develop for a particular console. However, now there is a growing Indie Game market thanks to open source software, such as Apples App Store and Xbox Live’s Marketplace small teams and even individuals are able to create games, and get them distributed to
make money. Aside from the basic developmental costs of a game and console, developers are required to pay fees to license the Software Development Kits that are required from the console manufacturer. Manufacturers often enforce a strict approval process and take a percentage of the game's net profit in addition to yearly developer fees.
IOS SDK Kit
The iPhone SDK is a software development kit that’s developed by Apple, its targeted at third party developers to develop applications for iPhones OS, it was released in February 2008. The SDK itself is a free download, but in order to release the software, you must enrol in the iPhone Developer Program, a step requiring payment and Apple's approval. As of January 2010, the cost of enrolment in the iPhone Developer Program was $99 per year however this cost varies from country to country. Developers who publish their applications on the App Store will receive 70% of sales revenue, and will not have to pay any distribution costs for the application. An example of iPhone games development would be Doodle Jump, it was released April 2009, and has had nearly 4 million downloads.
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