Game developer: How much does it cost to develop a game?

A game has become now a part of human life. Believe me, I am also a crazy game lover, and never a day end without games. However, games fan are all around the world. According to the report from Newzoo (a gaming market intelligence), nearly 30% of the world’s population now play games, and most of that growth coming from the mobile sector. Therefore, the game developer is very interested in developing a game.

According to the latest figures, the number of gamers worldwide has grown to over 2.2 billion and is expected to surpass 2.6 by the end of the decade. Therefore, it is a successful field for a game developer. But it is not too easy, there are many problems before developing a game app.

For instance, you have to choose the game size, graphics, quality, contents, etc. However the most important thing, you have to choose the best type of games which is running in trend or peoples are liking.

Before describing the development cost, I explain some types of games that help you in selecting the game which is in trend and high in demand. By the way, PC game and mobile game both are in trend but mobile game is more used as compared to the PC game. Therefore I describing here about the mobile game.

Types of Games

There are many types of games, some of them are described here:

Online Games

Code of war, Modern strike, PUBG, Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, etc.

Offline Games

Blazing Sniper, Gun war, Offline bubbles, Ludo etc.

Arcade Games

Candy Crush Saga, Sonic Dash, PAC-MAN, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Super Mario, etc.

Action Games

PUBG MOBILE, Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Clash of Clans,
Clash Royale, Fruit Ninja®, Angry Birds, etc.

Racing Games

Bike Race, Hill Climb Racing, CSR Racing, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Need for Speed No Limits, Traffic Racer, etc.

Adventure Games

Marvel Contest of Champions, Plants vs. Zombies™ 2, Criminal Case, Rise Up, Plants vs. Zombies™ 2, etc.

Card Games

Callbreak Multiplayer, Solitaire, 29 Card Game, Hazari, Teen Patti, etc.

Educational Games

Brain Exercise Games – IQ test, Math games, Learn English Vocabulary & Sayings- Sayings Master, KBC Quiz, etc.

Sports Games

FIFA Soccer, Golf Clash, Baseball Boy, Real Basketball, Action Bowling Classic, etc.

Boys Games

Heroic Robot, Power Spheres by BoBoiBoy, Where’s My Water?, Super Heroes, etc.

Kids Games

Dino Puzzle, Animal maze, Zanimashki, Toddler Kids Puzzles PUZZINGO, Fruits and Vegetables for Kids, etc.

Girls Games

Cute Girl Birthday Celebration Party, Cooking in the Kitchen, Indian Wedding Girls Games, Cute Girl Makeup Salon Game, Doll House Decoration Girls Games, etc.

Best Android Games 2018

Upcoming Games For Android

Above name of game help you to choose an appropriate game that popular in people, for current and future planning. Now I am going to explain the main part of this article.

Game: Cost calculation to develop

Develop: Factor affecting

Choice of Mobile OS:

The choice of operating system directly affects your overall development expenses. For instance, payment integration and administration systems in Apple devices are 10-20% more expensive than that for Android devices. However, on the other hand, Android development cost little more increase if you want your game to be compatible with older versions.

When you opt for a hybrid model then you would probably face cost disadvantages from both the platforms. But still, it is benefits to go with the hybrid model because the increase in costs also brings in a wide market share and a possible scope of revenue.

Pre-development Expenses:

However, the main deciding factor of your success or failure with the game is having a rough idea of the game or a well-documented plan. The crucial steps in game development are strategy your game’s story, level, characters, etc.

If you think this is an internal process and won’t involve any expenses then you are wrong. You might need to select experienced game designers and strategists to guide the entire development initiative. The pre-development costs can be divided into two parts:

Game Design

This is the planning stage where the levels, gameplay, target users, game environment etc. are decided. It will get really complicated to control and coordinate mobile game development without a planned game designed.

Plot and Characters

The main basis of engagement of a game is their story. It will be very difficult to engage the players until the end of the game without a plot and character. Character design deciding upon the personality, dialect, and tone of different game characters and their behavior with the user.

Experienced game planners can charge for a project anywhere between $30 to $80 per hour. However, it is advisable to hire in-house or near-shore developers for the planning stage because this involves a lot of communication between the ideators and professional strategists. It is better to outsource the project for the game development and the technical part if you are offered lower estimates or better quality.

Complexities involved in Development:

After planning your idea the next stage involves the development of your mobile game. This is the most cost-intensive step and the most important one. If I go into the technicalities of development then this article will become so long.

Therefore to avoid that I will only give you estimates for diverse types of games so that you have a rough idea about the cost involved in giving shape to your idea. Mobile games classified based on complexities can be classified as follows:

Mini Games – $3K to $20K

Like Ping-Pong or Pac-Man clone, simple mini-game can cost somewhere around the lower end of this range. It might easily cost more than $10K if you want to build from scratch. If you have great hopes from your game then you should keep a budget of at least $10K. It is very difficult for a mobile game to be successful if built under too many limitations.

Simple 2D Casual Games – $20K to $60K

Most small budget games include under this category. This is a reasonable amount of money for creating a decent game that you can easily monetize. In this range of game are decent and offer great opportunities for driving engagement and revenues. Some of the modern mobile games like Stack, Hop and Red Ball are included in this stage.

Mid-level Mobile Games – $60K to $120K

Mid-level budget is sufficient, to empower some of the most well-known independent games. These mobile game have depth in their content, like levels, characters, story, and impactful visuals. This depth offers scope for replayability that attracts to a wider audience and holds players for a long duration. Angry Birds and Cut the Rope are those game which is included in this category.

High-level Mobile Games – $120K to $250K

These games are usually financed by VCs and are developed by experienced video game developer. However, developing high-level games includes huge development costs. It has a high-risk and high-reward market. These games include a great level of details and are well designed. Developing games of high-level include intensive work on planning and designing. It takes time somewhere between 1 to 2 years or even more.

AAA Games:

Some years ago there was a time when AAA games used to be a tag for high-end PC and console games. But now, because of improvements in mobile technologies, it is now possible to create games of this standard on mobile as well. PokemonGO, Infinity Blade 3 are some of the popular AAA games. Many console AAA game like NFS, FIFA etc. are moving to mobile and each of these will include in this category. In this level of games require tight maintenance thus it is suitable to have an in-house team if you are planning to hit this big.

Post-development expenses:

Developing a game is only one side of the story. Testing and user acquisition are also important cost-effective elements. Here is explained how each of them influences the cost to develop a mobile game.

Marketing:

It is very challenging to make your game viral. You will need to invest a lot in advertisements to acquire and retain users. You can also invest in social media engagement marketing to create buzz and brand name.

Testing:

Anybody unlikes to play a slow and buggy game. The main reason is that the tolerance level for bugs is too low. One more thing- you don’t get any point here to take a risk of negative user experience. Hence, testing becomes crucial for which you have to decide a budget as well.

Conclusion:

You can only calculate the approximate cost, the exact cost calculation to develop a game is not possible because there are many factors that influence the development cost. For instance, Game sizes, design, complexity, graphics etc. After all that you have to spend on the advertisement for your game to succeed. However, the approximate cost to the game development is described above.