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Outsourcing is Not a Dirty Word
Tom’s Sperry is CEO of Vyk Games. You can find out more at www.vykgames.com.
As industry analysts predict the worldwide videogame market will grow to over $63.2 billion in total sales by 2013, more and more companies are specializing to play certain roles within a development project to help bring great games to the market.
Expanding budgets, simultaneous platform launches, global MMOs, bonded financing, casual games, bigger teams, venture capital, movie deals, tighter deadlines; these are commonplace phrases in the games industry. Yet the goal of publishers and developers is still the same – put out great games that meet consumer demand – from simple casual games played on mobile platforms, to deeper, higher-fidelity games played on today’s increasingly better-performing hardware platforms.
The industry reality is that publishers and developers must lower costs to increase profit-margins without compromising the quality of the game and the end user experience. The financial insecurity in the global capital markets highlights this point.
Video game design and production “outsourcing” is a common term used when allocating work to third-party party companies, most notably to those located in lower-cost countries. There isn’t a single videogame developer that has not taken a look at hiring a third party to help produce large-scale game projects. Yet the topic continues to be at the center of heated debates as arguments surface for and against outsourcing. In a world of multi-million dollar projects that match – and sometimes even exceed – the scale of Hollywood blockbusters, it is unavoidable that the industry will increasingly rely on hiring trusted partners to handle specific components of the development cycle, especially as professional vendors surface to fulfill these needs worldwide.
Let’s be clear - there are many companies worldwide that can be labeled as an “outsourcing” company within the video game industry. Many have made a bad name for themselves with false promises. The reality is that the fault frequently belongs to the outsourcing company and the developer/publisher, a fact that has hurt the entire videogame industry, not just the outsourcers or the companies that hire them.
Working in a small country, it's not even about cutting costs, but rather getting the talent we need and just cannot find locally. Of course it's a nice bonus if it comes in cheaper than with permanently employed internal staff, but I can also see benefits in having the bulk of the art asset production done by a company which specializes in it, whether we have the manpower or not.
I would assume that an experienced outsourcing studio's processes are already geared towards delivering highly uniform work at a steady pace, compared to an internal staff which is often more interested in solving problems, doing fun projects and being creative in other ways than "straight" asset creation.
The communication can be a problem, though. It can even be difficult to find people who are fluent enough in English to feel reliable to work with and also comfortable with letting us communicate with their staff. I really wouldn't want to be forced to always go through a producer, especially with matters of art, although as a former advertising agency producer, I can fully appreciate the need for a go-between between the client and the artists.