The game industry is trying to rebuild after a three-year economic crisis. A major complication developers are facing—what’s the right size or structure for a studio? Large teams can make great games, but risk becoming disorganized or financially vulnerable if a game underperforms.
One piece of the puzzle? Co-development: the practice of recruiting external studios that specialize in key game development tasks both large and small. Though companies like Virtuos and Keywords dominate the space with offices all over the world, studios like Blackbird Interactive, Sweet Baby Inc, and Wolfjaw Studios show how smaller companies can play critical roles in making great games come to life.
Today we’re sitting down with the CEOs of those companies—Rory McGuire, Kim Belair, and Mitch Patterson—to discuss the realities of co-development, and why teams banding together may be key to preserving professional employment in game development.
Related:Leadership lessons from Mark Darrah’s days at BioWare – Game Developer Podcast Ep. 57
About the Game Developer Podcast
The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling the triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between of game development, sharing lessons and strategies fellow developers can use to hone their craft. The Game Developer Podcast is hosted by Bryant Francis, edited by Pierre Landriau, and features music by Mike Meehan.
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Game Developer and GDC Festival of Gaming are sibling organizations under Game Developer.
