Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 31(5):925-950, DOI: 10.007/s11390-016-1673-z, Springer, September 2016. Critical success factors to improve the game development process from a developer’s perspective Saiqa Aleem 1, Luiz Fernando Capretz 1, and Faheem Ahmed2 1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 2 Department of Computing Science, Thompson River University, Kamloops, BC, Canada. E-mail: {saleem4, lcapretz}@uwo.ca, [email protected] Abstract The growth of the software game development industry is enormous and is gaining importance day by day. This growth imposes severe pressure and a number of issues and challenges on the game de- velopment community. Game development is a complex process, and one important game development choice is to consider the developer perspective to produce good-quality software games by improving the game development process. The objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of the devel- oper’s dimension as a factor in software game success. It focusses mainly on an empirical investigation of the effect of key developer factors on the software game development process and eventually on the qual- ity of the resulting game. A quantitative survey was developed and conducted to identify key developer factors for an enhanced game development process. For this study, the developed survey was used to test the research model and hypotheses. The results provide evidence that game development organizations must deal with multiple key factors to remain competitive and to handle high pressure in the software game industry. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate empirically the influence of key de- veloper factors on the game development process. Keywords Developer’s perspective, Software games, Empirical investigation, Good-quality games, Game development process, Game developer’s factors. 1. Introduction to mature over time [1]. The game development process has also had an impact on the industry, The first software game was created half a century ago. In the world of software gaming, which now counts on special methodologies and many things have changed during this time period. mature processes for its development, ultimately Now the software game industry has reached the leading to an enhanced game development pro- point that it rivals other well-established industries cess. Game developers try to produce games that are different from any other game in the market. such as music and cinema. As a result, the soft- ware gaming business has grown enormously, has This difference can be achieved through by intro- made billions of dollars in profit, and has started ducing new perspectives, new gameplays, new Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 31(5):925-950, DOI: 10.007/s11390-016-1673-z, Springer, September 2016. genre combinations, enhanced graphics, or new product. Fundamentally, game development is a characters. Therefore, almost all games must be form of software development process with sever- novel, and their success depends on their overall al additional requirements such as creative design, quality [2]. Only good-quality games are able to artistic aspects, and visual presentation [4], [5]. In retain their players, and this has become an im- this context, game development organizations can portant factor for any software game to succeed apply the same software engineering principles to commercially. In other words, if a game is not of improve their development processes. However, good quality, players can easily switch to another many studies have discussed the challenges of ap- game. Hence, it has become mandatory for the plying software engineering principles to the game software game industry to try to morph and adapt development process [5]. to the preferences and demand of its players. Kultima [6] highlighted these challenges One of the main concerns in game develop- from the game design perspective. Blow [4] dis- ment process is that developers need to follow best cussed their implications from the perspective of practices and procedures from software engineer- technical frameworks and development tech- ing discipline to develop good quality games. The niques. Blow [4] and McGill [7] discussed issues game development process involves four main even for the required technical skills for game de- phases: concept, pre-production, production, and velopment. Software game development also re- post-production [3]. It consists of various activities quires a range of skills that include design, project such as synopsis, background research, script writ- management, development, and asset creation. It ing, visualization and concept art, level and inter- also involves team members from heterogeneous action design, animation, programming, media disciplines, e.g., game designers, artists, pro- editing, integration, testing, and publishing. Soft- grammers, and software developers. Knowledge of ware games are also characterized based on the best practices for game development is very im- category into which they fall, which is called the portant and has become crucial to sustain the genre of the game. Genres include action, shoot- growth of the software game industry. Finally, this ers, fighting, racing, adventure, sports, role play- knowledge will help game developers make cor- ing, strategy, simulations, puzzles, dance, music, rect game development decisions at the right time. and others. Each genre has its own requirements An investigation of key success factors from a de- which must be taken into consideration during the veloper’s perspective will contribute to the under- pre-production phase. For this reason, software standing of current development process implica- game development is considered as a complex tions and will help developers improve the game process that involves multidisciplinary collabora- development process. tive team efforts and processes (including sound, Exploring diverse developers’ preferences for gameplay, art, artificial intelligence, control sys- software game development will provide a signifi- tems and human factors) to develop a creative - 2 - Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 31(5):925-950, DOI: 10.007/s11390-016-1673-z, Springer, September 2016. cant benefit to improve the development process Issues of game production, development, and test- by generating valuable insights. No research has ing reflect only the general state of the art in soft- been done to date on including developer-centred factors in the software game development process. ware engineering. Pressman [12] stated that a This study will help identify key factors empirical- game is a kind of software which entertains its us- ly from the developer’s perspective, an effort that ers, but game development faces many challenges will ultimately help improve the software game and issues if only a traditional software develop- development process to produce good-quality ment process is followed [5],[13]. software games. To identify key factors, a quanti- tative survey was conducted, and the results are Many researchers have discussed game de- reported here. The survey was used to test the re- velopment challenges. Pertillo et al. [13] surveyed search model and several hypotheses. Finally, the the problems faced by game development organi- results show that consideration of key factors from a developer’s perspective helps identify important zations. The overall game development process game development choices and their implications combines both an engineering process and the cre- for the current process. ation of artistic assets. Ramadan and Widyani [14] 1.1 Research Background compared various game development strategies The software game domain covers a great va- from a management perspective, and some re- riety of player modes and genres [8], [9], [10]. The searchers [15], [16], [17] have proposed frame- complexity of digital games has posed many chal- works for game development. To effectively man- lenges and issues in software development be- age and improve the game development, key de- cause it involves diverse activities in creative arts veloper’s factors are required. Tschang [18] and disciplines (storyboarding, design, refinement of Petrillo et al. [13] highlighted the issues in the animations, artificial intelligence, video produc- game development process and its differences tion, scenarios, sound effects, marketing, and fi- from traditional software development practices. nally sales) besides technological and functional In traditional software engineering, the devel- requirements [11]. This inherent diversity leads to opment phase usually involves activities like ap- a greatly fragmented domain from the perspectives plication design and implementation, and the pro- of both underlying theory and design methodolo- duction phase is when the software actually runs gy. The software game literature published in re- and is ready for use. However, in the game devel- cent years has focussed mainly on technical issues. opment, the production phase includes the devel- Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 31(5):925-950, DOI: 10.007/s11390-016-1673-z, Springer, September 2016. opment process, which is the pre-production phase software process models used for game develop- of the software engineering process, and the pro- ment. They concluded that agile and hybrid ap- duction phase of software engineering is actually proaches are used by most organizations for game the post-production phase