Video Game Industry

Organisations

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Organise the following companies…

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

A.Or ‘the audience’ - anyone that buys, plays, downloads games.

B.These are companies that are responsible for the marketing and distribution of the game.

C.Games are created by development studios comprised of software engineers, artists and programmers who write the code, create the structure and animate the game making them playable for gamers. It’s these developers that are perceived as the ‘talent’ in the industry.

D.These companies work with retailers (shops, online) to make product available for the consumers to purchase. In the games industry the Publisher usually handles the distribution.

E.The companies that make the machines games are played on, e.g. games consoles, that games are played on –specifically Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and, now that mobile phone based platforms are emerging, companies such as Nokia.

Developers Publishers

Distributor

Consumer

Hardware Manufacturers

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Developers Games are created by development studios comprised of software engineers, artists and programmers who write the code, create the structure and animate the game making them playable for gamers. It’s these developers that are perceived as the ‘talent’ in the industry.

Publishers These are companies that are responsible for the marketing and distribution of the game.

Hardware Manufacturers The companies that make the machines games are played on, e.g. games consoles, that games are played on –specifically Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and, now that mobile phone based platforms are emerging, companies such as Nokia.

Distributor A distributor works with retailers (shops, online) to make product available for the consumers to purchase. In the games industry the Publisher usually handles the distribution.

Consumer Or ‘the audience’ - anyone that buys, plays, downloads games.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Developers

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Publishers

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Hardware Manufacturers

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Company StructuresVert

ical In

tegra

tion

Horizontal Integration

Where a parent company owns several companies at different stages of the game industry.

Where a parent company owns multiple companies at the same stage of the game

industry.

Conglomerates…

Console Manufactur

er

Games Publisher

Games Developer

Games Developer

Games Developer

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Bethesda Softworks is a publisher

Games developers

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Developer, distributor and publisherDeveloper and publisher

Developer, distributor and publisher

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Console/Computer Manufacturer

Developer and Publisher

17 game development studios

Second/Third Party

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Parent Subsidiary

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Swallowtail Games are the creators behind Tick Tock Toys.The company was founded by Sophia George, a graduate in Games Art and Design from the Norwich University of the Arts.

They are an excellent example of the opposite end of the conglomerates that dominate the industry. These independent startups are becoming more and

more frequent.

Whilst these companies do not have the resources or revenue of the larger

conglomerates, they still manage to produce innovative and entertaining games.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Rockstar Games is a games developer and publisher, whose main offices are in New York City. However, they have multiple studios around the world, each responsible for developing different games on varying platforms.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Case Study

Frontier was founded in 1994 by David Braben and is one of the UK’s longest running game developers. It is a good example of a medium size development company in the UK. It employs 230 staff and is lead by their CEO David Braben. He is supported by a board of two non-executive directors and three officers.

The company has its main headquarters in Cambridge, UK, but also a development studio in Halifax, Canada. Their work is spread between these two locations.

Frontier works with a number of external publishers to deliver their games to market, but have also recently been self-publishing titles on digital distribution channels on the major gaming platforms, allowing them greater access to the games market.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Frontier also develop their own technology, specifically COBRA. These cutting edge techniques and tools help develop innovative, multi-platform gameplay. Their engine allows for their games to be developed on PC but be accessible on PS3, XBox 360, iOS and Nintendo WiiU. This vastly improves their ability to quality assure and then publish games.

Frontier produce a variety of games for a multitude of platforms, from the award winning platformer ‘Lostwinds’ (iPad, iPod, iPhone), to the simulator ‘Zoo

Tycoon’, a leading title on Xbox and the hotly anticipated multi-player space

simulator ‘Elite: Dangerous’ (PC), which recently won the Best of E3 award.

To date they have developed nearly 20 titles across all platforms.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Frontier are currently developing their external relationships, especially with Microsoft, where they are developing in-house titles for the Xbox, including

exclusive releases of Zoo Tycoon for Xbox One.

They have also worked in conjunction with Disney to develop ‘Disneyland Adventures’ for use with Kinect. This is just one of the titles that can be used with Kinect, showing how Frontier are developing a specialty for motion sensor based

gaming aimed at families and young children.

To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

Research three companies to illustrate the different types of companies you can get in the games industry. You must include details of the following…

• The structure of the company• The number of people they employ• How much revenue they earn• Where this revenue comes from• Locations they have offices in• Subsidiaries they own• What types of game they produce

Your Task…To understand the different organisational structures in the games industry.

What platforms do UK studios work on?