While waiting for an anticipated new game to come out, many would be frustrated, but many would ask themselves: how long does game development take? As with many other things that are more technological in nature, it’s not a set-and-done thing.
It depends on the complexity of the project and the amount of resources available. It’s usually the case that people think good games take longer to finish. But most of the time, that’s not very straightforward like that.
Some of the most critically acclaimed games of all time had very short development times (think of New Vegas). While others went into development hell for many, many years and were not that good (think of Duke Nukem Forever). Some kinds of games take forever to make, for seemingly no reason, while others are pumped out of the app store almost monthly. Want to know how long it takes to make a game? Stick around and let’s find out.
How long does game development process take? Big titles, big time
Let’s start talking about the big games, with big budgets, the AAA games that we are all familiar with. Those can cost hundreds of millions to develop, and they can take a lot of resources and manpower to finish. Think of the latest major releases, like Cyberpunk 2077: how far back can you remember first hearing about it? Well, for Cyberpunk it goes as far as 2014! That’s 8 years of development in a single game.
It’s fair to point out that the more recent trend of gigantic open worlds had an effect on how long a game takes to develop. But for games in the AAA category, it’s a good assumption to say that they take something between 3 to 5 years to develop. This can be a lot more if the gameplay or assets need to be done from scratch, or if the assets are already there from the previous year (like they do with Call of Duty).
Tiny screen, no time: How long does it take to make a mobile game?
As for mobile games, the timeframe for development can be a lot shorter. That’s just the nature of such games: they tend to be a lot simpler, with less fancy graphics, and severely reduced gameplay functions. That means months, and not years, of development. That is also the case when publishers need the mobile games out as fast as possible, in order to enjoy the best profit results.
Being so simple, mobile games usually take a couple of months to develop, and they tend to value some addictive gameplay scheme over actual graphics, storytelling, or any conventional game designs that AAA games are known for.
What about indie game development time?
Indie titles are the most difficult to figure out how long it would take to complete. It’s very unpredictable since every Indie game has its own unique development history. Some indie games are developed as a part-time job kind of project, while others were developed by a single person.
Such is the case of Stardew Valley, which took some 4 years to develop. Usually, however, Indie titles also take longer to develop than mobile titles. If you are working with limited staff and a limited budget, it can take a long time to do it.
Wich Factors Have More Influence In Game Development Time?
The time taken to create a game is affected by a variety of factors. The most important factor is the size and experience of the development team. A larger and more experienced team can complete tasks quickly and efficiently, while a smaller and less experienced team will take longer to complete tasks.
The development process also affects the time to make a video game, as some processes are more efficient than others in completing tasks. Game testing is another factor that affects the game development time, as it requires an intensive amount of testing to ensure that the game runs properly on different platforms.
Finally, art has a large influence on the time taken to develop a game as it takes a great deal of work to create high-quality assets for a game. All these factors contribute to the overall timeline of game development and need to be taken into account when planning out the project timeline.
When Games Get Delayed?
Delays in game production can be incredibly disappointing. When a game is delayed, the promise of a new experience or the continuation of an epic story is pushed back further and further. This can be for a variety of reasons, from needing more time to polish the game before release to hardware issues that need to be addressed.
Whatever the cause may be, delays in game production are an unfortunate reality developers and publishers must face when creating games. Although it is upsetting for gamers waiting for their favorite titles to come out, sometimes delays are necessary in order to ensure the highest quality experience possible.
Get your game as fast as possible with a team of professionals
How long a game takes to develop is a rather weird question to answer. If we are talking about mainstream gaming development, such as for AAA games and mobile games, the more funding you have the faster the game is going to come out. For the most part. Let’s not forget that the longest development cycle ever in a game is also the one with the largest funding in all of history, and the game is not out yet. We just never know.
One thing we do know, however, is that a game will take a lot less time to develop if made by an experienced team of professionals. If you’re looking to get your game out as fast as it can realistic be possible, contact us today for a quote.
