A Co-Development Future: XDS 2018 Top Games Industry Insights
XDS 2018 ended up, which means we now have to share with our broad community some first-hand insights into changing trends that have recently occurred in external development and become an increasingly integral part of game development. To begin with, we would like to thank our partners from the External Development Summit 2018 organizing committee for the opportunity to sponsor the Collaboration Stage. It was a space for key games industry leaders such as Arun Honnegowda from Jagex, Alex Stein from Treyarch/Activision, Jeff MacPherson from Electronic Arts, Davina Mackey and Natalia Craddock from Sony Interactive Entertainment, William Larry Colvin from Riot Games, Dennis Cooper from Telltale Games, Ben Wibberley from DAQA and many others to share best practices on how to build relationships between publishers/developers and solution providers that work.
Overall, the event united the trendsetter and market-leader companies that have proven the ability to influence and shape the gaming landscape worldwide. We can’t wait to share the insights that looked the most vibrant for us. First, we observed that the external development market is moving from purely art-related to more engineering and co-development. According to the XDS 2018 Industry Insights Report, co-development projects saw a dramatic increase from 8% to 14% this year. Our own experience shows a pretty much similar picture.
The second trend is a significant shift from just art assets outsourcing to more integrated art co-development with full pipeline deliverability. It indicates that publishers/developers do justice to all the benefits and levels of quality that come with a competent organization of processes executed by external teams. Tools and practices for remote collaboration are also maturing. All in one, it cuts the overhead management and allows the building of mutually beneficial alliances destined for long-lasting success.
The XDS wrap party with awards ceremony is equally if not more important to mention! It was a lot of fun; we enjoyed some beverages and canapes and reminisced over the past three days full of business atmosphere at XDS 2018. This was the perfect opportunity to say farewell and go home with energy, driven to evolve new contacts and opportunities!
Have a project in mind? Contact our business development team today to see how we can leverage our experience to create the game of your dreams!
