What are the 7 Stages of Game Development?

Are you curious about how games are made? This article describes the steps involved in creating a video game, focusing on the "pipeline," a phrase used in the industry to describe the process of starting from scratch.

The Seven Stages of Game Development Are the Following:

Rough drafting

The very first step of creating a game is rough drafting, which means coming up with an idea and drawing a storyboard of how the game will flow. Creating this storyboard is the game designer's job, and they need to think about all the gameplay mechanics, rules, resources, etc. The storyline also needs to be fleshed out at this point as well as any dialogue or cutscenes that might be in there too.

After all, these things have been considered and any necessary research completed, designers then present their ideas to their team where they receive feedback on what works and what doesn't work in their design.

Building the game

The second step of creating a game is building the game. For this, designers often work on the areas that aren't visible to the public in an attempt to make them look better, as well as create game mechanics that are thought out and ready to be debugged.

During this process, designers will also go through revisions on their work and might even prototype new ideas. After this step is completed, they will send their ideas over to the programmers who are then responsible for implementing it all by coding it into a functioning engine.

Testing

At this point in development, all those pesky bugs that got through testing during the previous steps can now be fixed by programmers and other developers who have been drafted to assist in debugging the final product. The testers are responsible for checking if the programming is done right, as well as playing through the game and testing it out to see if there are any bugs.

They have to do this by setting up and playing through the game with time limits or while they have certain restrictions in place.

Publish

At this stage, everything from step 3 has been fixed and will be ready for release. This includes the final bug fixes that were requested, as well as all of the programs which should run smoothly now. Once this stage is completed, the game can now be sent over to testing again to check their changes and make sure everything is working properly once more.

Gamestop

This is the final stage of development, where all the bugs that have been found and fixed during the testing process can be sent over to Gamestop for them to manually print off and then submit for final approval. 

Also Read: Skills and Responsibilities Required to Become a Game Designer

Release

Once the release date is set, the game is ready to be distributed to retail stores and other online distribution outlets as well. At this point, marketing and advertising should already have taken place with this being the first time the game has made it mainstream in the eyes of many people.

Anyone can now buy a copy of your game, play it once and enjoy it for free! If they like it, they will tell all their friends about how much they love your game and ask for a copy! Everyone will then rush out to get one before they are sold out. 

After Release

The game is finally released and is enjoyed by millions of people across the globe!! The game becomes a huge hit and makes crazy amounts of money! You become a mega-famous game designer! Everyone cherishes your work and talks about it for years to come. 

Is Game Development a Good Career Option?

Good career option? Undoubtedly, it is one of the best career options these days. The gaming industry is now considered one of the most sorted industries, without many complexities. As per FICCI reports of 2022 the gaming industry is growing at a CAGR of 20%. More people are getting attracted to this gaming industry. For those who want to get into the industry as skilled professionals for them, game development courses act as an aid. The gaming industry in India is escalating because of increasing interest by people to enjoy and learn about video games. India is also one of the largest gaming markets in the world. You will be overwhelmed to know the fact that the gaming industry is considered one of the most secure industries in India. The Indian gaming market is very wide and expanding day by day.