Image Credit: Nvidia Omniverse

A sound development strategy is one of the better ways an indie creator can help shape their vision, garner interest from social media, and retain an engaged player base. It lets you discover user behaviours, project market fit, and build trust between you and who you’re trying to reach.

As you can assume, it’s well worth understanding. But that’s easier said than done. Game development isn’t static. The landscape of the practice is constantly changing. It doesn’t look the same now as it did ten years ago, and in ten years it won’t look the same as it does now.

It’s a difficult topic to pin down — one with a fascinating past and an exciting future. Out of both genuine interest and forward-thinking practicality, it’s important to understand both where it’s been and where it’s going.

Here, I will try to give some perspective on both. We’re going to take a look at how game dev has evolved in the past decade, and how it’s going to evolve in the next one according to market trends.

How Game Dev Evolved in the Past Decade

Unreal changed the game.

In 2014, Tim Sweeney and Epic sought to bring the world their next version of their game engine by driving the message “If you love something, set it free.” To say this was a monumental leap in game development would be an understatement. And it did indeed set us all free.

But Unreal’s engine revolution wasn’t exclusively linked to monetary freedom. Epic’s meteoric rise to prominence — one of the most disruptive releases in development history — also had a profound impact on the gap between designer and programmer silos that existed for decades.

It was tacit evidence that developer horror stories were being told online — well beyond the control of industry studios — and it was in their best interest to unify those workflows to free both designers and programmers alike.

The change represented what is still a continuous effort by Epic to provide users with visual, no-code development experiences. And it did just that. The shift that set the stage for businesses to focus on producing more high-quality, engaging projects.

Games as a service takes over.

It was not until this influx of free no-code tools that an influx of titles hit the market resulting in Games as a service’s (GaaS). One of the biggest shifts in launching a project to the public — also had a profound impact on the practice. As this strategy developed into mainstays of release planning, this presented new challenges for developers and scheduling of content to appease their audience.

As GaaS evolved, it popularised a different kind of content consumption that evolves with not only the purchasing habits of the audience but also unique ideas on how to evolve the game from players themselves. The difference boiled down to a matter of “active versus passive engagement.”

Consumers now latch onto titles and stay engaged much longer than the traditional product life cycle. Generally speaking, when you enter a game service you know the product will continue to evolve with you, you’re looking for a product that will entertain and define your presence online. GaaS allowed users to consume content drops more continuously on their preferred platforms. The content you see after a year on a title is constantly being updated and released — not strictly on launch.

Source: G.P. Bullhound

That trend incentivized the creation of more shareable, attention-grabbing content that could easily be spread across social media channels. And sure did it work. Driving the profits of GaaS juggernauts like PUBG and Fortnite to swell into the billions each year.

Roblox made a push.

Roblox also emerged as one of the prevailing user-generated communities as the decade progressed, particularly among younger players.

As of 2021, roughly 200 MAU existed within the Roblox platform. Their stats overall speak to the shift in not only UGC but also the strength of having the collaborative community alongside it.

Here are several figures to note about usage statistics within the platform:

• Roblox has 43.2 million daily active users. That’s up from 14 million daily active users in 2016.
• There are 9.5 million developers on the Roblox platform.
• Community developers made over $328 million on Roblox.
• Roblox has over 40 million games.
• 67% of Roblox users are under 16.

Looking at Roblox user growth since 2016 we can see the explosive growth within the platform:

Source: Backlinko

The GaaS model is inherently engaging. Generally speaking, it’s easier to retain players, email upsell content, and extend the profitability of the production. Gradually, players took to it more and more as the decade progressed. By the end of the 2010s, titles that had launchers and content drops were central to the landscape of game development.

Obviously, game development underwent several shifts in the 2010’s, but as I said at the beginning of this article, the practice isn’t — and will never be — static. There are still plenty of changes to come.

How Game Dev Will Evolve in the Next Decade

Mobile content will continue to rule

As shown in the previous infographic, mobile creation is emerging as one of the most — if not themost — important mediums for game development in the beginning part of this decade. There’s no indication that that trend is stopping anytime soon.

And, as Epic’s Founder Tim Sweeney touts, “I believe that augmented reality will be the biggest technological revolution that happens in our lifetimes.”

All told, it looks like the exploration and expansion of mobile interactive experiences as the preeminent medium for mass-adoption is going to continue. The priority for developers is going to be a matter of working with brands and challenges within social platforms.

That could mean emphasizing the quality of the content produced — ensuring it’s enriching, well-crafted, and relevant to users. Within this sector we must give a nod to the largest of the emerging interactive platforms, TikTok.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn