The document discusses the process of developing a video game from concept to market, outlining the key stages including concept, prototype, development, tuning and debugging, release, and post-launch support. It provides questions to consider and pitfalls to avoid at each stage, emphasizing the importance of gameplay testing, documentation, and ongoing community management.

1. From concept to market
The long and winding road for the production of a video game
What questions should you ask yourself?
Which key decisions will you have to take?
What are the pitfalls to avoid?
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com

2. How do we use our time in a development?
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com

3. Assets development and
code
Concept and design
Tuning, debuging and
polishing
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
How do we use our time?

4. Assets development and
code
Concept and design
Tuning, debuging and
polishing
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
How do we use our time?

5. Assets development and
code
Concept and design
Tuning, debuging and
polishing
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
How do we use our time?

6. What makes a game development different
from other media …
… is the importance that must be given to the gameplay, the debuging
and the tuning …
… issues that can only addressed toward the end of a development.
Making the right decisions at the begining of a development is a key
success factors.
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com

7. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage

8. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The concept stage
Key questions to ask oneself:
 What is my audience and what will it enjoy?
 What is my core gameplay? What will make it appealing?
 Do I want to offer a one-player or a multiplayer game?
 For which platform(s) do I want to develop for?
Mobile (iOS, Android, Windows)
PC/Mac (stand-alone, game portals, Facebook)
Game consoles (home, handheld)
Tomorrow: Smart TV, internet providers?

9. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The concept stage
Key questions to ask oneself:
 What is my audience and what will it enjoy?
 What is my core gameplay? What will make it appealing?
 Do I want to offer a one-player or a multiplayer game?
 For which platform(s) do I want to develop for?
 What is my business model?
Premium
Premium with additional content
Freemium
Paymium
Advertising, sponsorship
Subscription
Limited access
Episodic content

10. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The concept stage
Key questions to ask oneself:
 What is my audience and what will it enjoy?
 What is my core gameplay? What will make it appealing?
 Do I want to offer a one-player or a multiplayer game?
 For which platform(s) do I want to develop for?
 What is my business model?
 Do I need a partner?
Game publisher
Sponsor
Self-publishing

11. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The concept stage
The pitfalls:
 To do a game for oneself
 To build a game concept with no REAL gameplay
 To lack focus
 To underestimate the importance of the business model and the
platform choices.

12. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The concept stage
The output of the concept stage:
 A clearly defined audience
 A USP (unique selling point)
 A core gameplay concept
 The platform(s)
 The business model
Options:
 Art concept
 A story pitch (if the game is story-driven).

13. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage
Prototype
stage

14. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The prototype stage
Its purpose:
 To test the value of the core gameplay
Is it fun?
Are variations of the core gameplay interesting?
Is it compatible with the target platform(s)?

15. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The prototype stage
Its purpose:
 To test the value of the gameplay
 To validate the technical choices
Do we have the right game engine?
Do we witness a quality loss when assets are integrated in the
game engine?

16. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The prototype stage
Its purpose:
 To test the value of the gameplay
 To validate the technical choices
 To test and set up the production pipeline
How complex is it to deliver assets at the right format?
Do we need specific developments?

17. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The prototype stage
Its purpose:
 To test the value of the gameplay
 To validate the technical choices
 To test the production pipeline
 To write the game design document (GDD).

18. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The prototype stage
The pitfalls:
 Not to test the gameplay
 Not to write a GDD.

19. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage
Prototype
stage
Development
stage

20. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The development stage
Its purpose:
 To code all the game features
 To develop, to integrate game assets and to build the game
Two methods:
Waterfall method
Agile method

21. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The development stage
Its purpose:
 To code all the game features
 To develop, integrate game assets and to build the game
 To start the public relationship work (PR).

22. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The development stage
The pitfalls:
 Underestimating the time it takes to develop the game as planned
 The “feature creep” syndrom
 Changing the technology
 Not giving enough importance to level design
 The lead designer refuses changes to “his” concept
 The project leadership becomes overbearing
 The discovery that the project needs a business model.

23. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage
Prototype
stage
Development
stage
Tuning &
debugging
stages

24. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The tuning and debugging stage
The purpose:
 To correct bugs
 To tune the game’s difficulty, to improve the player’s experience
PR steps up.

25. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The tuning and debugging stage
The pitfalls:
 The absence of playtest
 The lead designer refuses changes to “his” concept
 The lack of dedicated testers to identify bugs
 The lack of time to do time-consuming debugging.

26. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage
Prototype
stage
Development
stage
Release
stage
Tuning &
debuging
stages

27. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The release stage
Full launch versus soft launch:
Full launch: The application is released on all market will all the
marketing the publisher can muster.
Soft launch: The application is released on a few selected markets with
little or no PR in order to test it and improve it before going for a full
launch.

28. The various stages in the development process
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Concept
stage
Prototype
stage
Development
stage
Release
stage
Post-launch
Tuning & stage
debuging
stages

29. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The post-launch stage
Purpose:
 To adapt and improve the game
 To build a strong relationship with the community of players

30. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
The post-launch stage
Pitfalls:
 The absence of means to “monitor” the game
 The absence of real community management
 The change of business model after the game release
 The lack of resource to continue the development of the game.

31. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Conclusion – Key learnings
 Build your game around a gameplay, not its story or theme
 Be focused
 Never underestimate the time it will take to develop and tune the
game
 Be humble
 Invest in a strong project management.
Follow me on Twitter: PASCAL_LUBAN

32. ________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com
Pascal Luban
Game designer & creative director, freelance
19+ years of experience in game and level design
Main clients: Activision, Ubisoft, SCEE, DICE

33. Follow me on Twitter: PASCAL_LUBAN
Looking for game design tutorials?
www.tutorialsgalmedesign.com
________________________
Pascal Luban
Game design consulting & services
www.gamedesignstudio.com