The gaming industry continues to grow year after year and proves to be one of the most popular forms of entertainment out there. It’s never been easier to find games to play due to their accessibility on consoles, mobile devices, and PC.
Each platform has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but PC game development, in particular, is a worthy investment.
The Game Development Process
The PC game development process is much the same as development for other platforms, and it involves many different phases. At Starloop Studios, we carefully follow a structure to ensure that our best work is done at every stage.
Planning and pre-production are the earliest stages, and this is generally where decisions are made regarding the budget and target audience, in addition to prototyping game concepts.
Next is the production phase, where the vast majority of work on a game is completed. This is where game mechanics, audio, physics, VFX, and the bulk of the key characteristics of a game are implemented. Testing usually occurs concurrently with production so that QA teams can quash bugs as they emerge.
Pre-launch is a significant milestone in game development, where alpha and beta tests occur. Finally, we have the launch stage, where testing teams are solving as many bugs as possible before release day.
When a game has been completed and is ready for publishing, developers will continue to support a game post-launch. This usually means continuing work fixing bugs, adding quality of life improvements, and even completely new content.
PC Game Benefits for Gamers
PC game development has numerous benefits, some of which are particularly advantageous for the consumer.
Games on PC afford players a higher degree of control over their gaming experience. It’s commonplace for developers to include robust options that allow players to adjust just about every facet of the game. Visuals can be tweaked to accommodate lower-tier or best-in-class GPUs, and advanced options like ray-tracing or anti-aliasing can be toggled. PC games tend to have a greater degree of accessibility options as well. While PCs can be high maintenance and require component upgrades over, they offer players the most flexibility over other gaming platforms.
On another consumer-friendly note, PC games tend to be cheaper than their console counterparts. Digital shopfronts such as Steam and the Epic Games Store frequently have sales where gamers can find titles significantly reduced.
Console subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus certainly offer good value for players, but PC offers an unparalleled depth of choice. Even decades-old games can run on modern PC setups, whereas games on consoles generally don’t have the same level of multi-generational accessibility.
PC Game Development Benefits
Publishing games on consoles can be expensive. There is a cost involved when publishing on any platform, including PC, but consoles can prove to be more costly. There can be charges associated with publishing games on consoles, to begin with, and there can be additional costs to improve your game’s visibility on a console’s shopfront. While PC arguably has a more oversaturated market, it can be cost-efficient to release your game on PC.
With this in mind, if cost is a major factor in your game’s development, publishing it on PC might be the more attractive option. Combined with methods like Early Access, where your game can be released in a paid alpha state, the PC can potentially be the most cost-effective platform to release your game.
PC game development can have a lot more to consider compared to console game development or mobile. PCs, by nature, come in all different shapes and sizes, and developers need to account for this. Depending on the scope of a game, it will have different requirements for running it on low, medium, or high settings.
While these variables can pose a challenge, it also means that PC game development is less limited. Console generations have historically lasted between four and eight years before the next generation is ushered in with more up-to-date technology, whereas PCs are modular and can be upgraded when required.
Starloop Studios Can Bring Your Game to PC
If you’ve never dived into PC game development, it can be an extremely competitive industry. The platform has countless games over many different distribution services and shopfronts, with new games released daily.
Hiring an experienced outsourcing developer like Starloop Studios can be a big help to the process, whether that is for full-cycle development or lending a hand with co-development. What’s more, is that if you’re looking to bring your existing titles to PC we can help with that too with our game porting services.
Among our comprehensive list of services is console game development and mobile game development too, so regardless of the platform, Starloop Studios is a great choice to get your game off the ground. Our team has over twelve years of experience, and we would be more than happy to collaborate with you on developing your dream game!
Starloop Studios is proud to be part of the Magic Media group, an international group specialising in entertainment and gaming industry services. Our wide range of offerings includes VFX, blockchain gaming, game art services, and more. Reach out today to avail of our expertise and A-Z services for your projects.
