Scrum in video games development – Literature review

The video game industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. In consequence, projects of video game development get progressively bigger and more complex. Scrum is the most commonly used methodology in software development; therefore it is often used in video games development as games are essentially combination of software, art and sometimes science. The aim of this re-view is to provide overlook on Scrum as a methodology used in Software devel-opment, describe in short what characteristics the video games development has and how well Scrum fits into the current state of video games development. It also presents advantages and disadvantages noticed by previous researchers with using Scrum inside and outside of video games industry. The information contained in this article may be useful for people that already work with Scrum outside of video games industry, as well as people working in video games industry not working with Scrum. Both groups may get familiarized with challenges and benefits of using Scrum in context of video games industry and with review of articles based on real life examples contents of this article contains tips valuable to people struggling with Scrum implementation in their video games development projects and how to enhance this meth-odology with other methodologies to achieve most beneficial outcome

Reigniting the flame: Sustaining Usage Through Intermittent Releases of In-game Content

Downloadable contents (DLCs) are additional in-game contents that developers release periodically to sustain the interest of users. In this paper, we study the effect of these DLC releases on the usage of a game by analysing actual usage data from 241 DLCs released over a period of 12 years. We use a quasi-experimental analysis to determine the effect on usage, and also investigate the effect of different DLCs categories on usage. We also study the effect of the different categories of game developers, indie and AAA, on the relationship between DLC release and usage. Results indicate that different categories of DLCs have distinct effects on usage. We also find that the release of DLCs of indie games have a greater impact on usage as compared to AAA games. We compare and contrast our results with the extant literature and provide insightful guidelines to game developers on managing DLC releases

The Impact of Community Involvement on Game Life-Cycle: Evidence based on Gaming Platform Steam

Later stages of the product life-cycle are characterized by diminishing sales and declining prices. Especially firms with substantial product development costs, as is the case in the video game industry, are dependent on long product life-cycles to amortize initial costs. This confronts firms with the fundamental challenge of maintaining the value of their product from the consumer’s perspective and thus delaying the natural price decline. We investigate whether product features that facilitate community involvement and interaction are an effective means to keep the product stimulating and relevant in the long run. Using extensive data from the PC video game market, we show that the inclusion of interactive, community-engaging features allows firms to both charge higher prices and delay the natural price decline of their product. However, for one of the investigated features we find the opposite effect, which we explain by subsequent analysis. Thereby, we gain valuable insights into the importance of robustly designed incentive systems in community-focused features. Our findings could help firms in their efforts to design attractive and economically viable products with prolonged life-cycles. Keywords: Product life-cycle; digital goods pricing; user communities; co-creation; digital gaming platforms.Later stages of the product life-cycle are characterized by diminishing sales and declining prices. Especially firms with substantial product development costs, as is the case in the video game industry, are dependent on long product life-cycles to amortize initial costs. This confronts firms with the fundamental challenge of maintaining the value of their product from the consumer’s perspective and thus delaying the natural price decline. We investigate whether product features that facilitate community involvement and interaction are an effective means to keep the product stimulating and relevant in the long run. Using extensive data from the PC video game market, we show that the inclusion of interactive, community-engaging features allows firms to both charge higher prices and delay the natural price decline of their product. However, for one of the investigated features we find the opposite effect, which we explain by subsequent analysis. Thereby, we gain valuable insights into the importance of robustly designed incentive systems in community-focused features. Our findings could help firms in their efforts to design attractive and economically viable products with prolonged life-cycles. Keywords: Product life-cycle; digital goods pricing; user communities; co-creation; digital gaming platforms

Produção 3d de assets para o jogo eletrônico Dota 2

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Animação.Este estudo tem como objetivo apresentar o processo de produção 3D de assets (itens) para jogos eletrônicos, focando no desenvolvimento de um conjunto de itens para envio ao Dota 2 Workshop, pertencente à Steam da empresa Valve Corporation. Serão analisadas cada etapa da produção, considerando as diretrizes dadas pela empresa para a produção de assets e os reflexos destas no desenvolvimento da modelagem poligonal, skinning e produção de mapa UV; assim como serão observadas as especificidades relacionadas à realização dessas etapas no programa Autodesk 3DS Max e na ferramenta Dota 2 Workshop Tools, utilizados no desenvolvimento deste trabalho.This study aims to present the 3D production of assets (items) for electronic games, focusing on the development of a set of items to be sent to the Dota 2 Workshop on Steam, Valve Corporation's platform. Each stage of production will be analyzed, considering the guidelines provided by the company to the production of assets, and the effects of these guidelines on the development process of the polygonal modeling, skinning, and UV map production. Finally, the specifics existing in the development of these steps in the Autodesk 3DS Max program and in the Dota 2 Workshop Tools, used for the development of this work, will also be observed

Player participation in video game development

The trend of involving players in early game development has increased considerably during recent years. As an alternative for the traditional game creation methods, in player participation, players get to play the game and influence its development direction before the game is finished and published. Similar development methods have been employed already for long in the information systems development context, but in the early game development context, the participation of players is still a relatively unexplored area. This research attempts to fill that gap and provide a more comprehensive understanding of player participation as well as investigate its usefulness in game development. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study. Four Finnish game studios were invited for semi-structured interviews to share their knowledge of involving players in their projects, and 21 players responded to a questionnaire about their experiences with game development projects. Interviews were transcribed and coded along with players’ responses. Player participation is best described as a collaborative game development method characterised by voluntariness, and emphasizing communication and interaction between the player community and the game studio for creating a gameplay experience according to the emerging discourse between game studio’s development vision and players’ desires. In it, a game studio and its player community engage in various community management, communication and testing activities to create a mutually satisfying product. The participation process itself is characterised by voluntariness of participation as well as varying degrees of participation thresholds and levels of commitment towards the project among players. The benefits of player participation are found in the availability of additional resources and more cost-efficient development, validating game design choices with and targeting the gameplay experience for the player community, and developing technically a more robust game as well as the potential for better reception when the game is finished. However, the game studio has to face the challenges in managing the increased workload, potential changes in various work practices, and creating and maintaining the player community, which consists of diverse individuals with each of their varying interests and desires towards the game development project.Pelaajien osallistaminen aikaisessa pelinkehityksessä on lisääntynyt viime vuosina huomattavasti. Vaihtoehtona perinteisille pelinkehitysmenetelmille pelaajien osallistamisessa pelaajat pääsevät pelaamaan ja vaikuttamaan pelin kehityssuuntaan ennen pelin valmistumista ja julkaisua. Vastaavan kaltaisia kehitysmenetelmiä on jo pitkään käytetty tietojärjestelmien kehityksessä, mutta aikaisessa pelinkehityskontekstissa tämä on vielä varsin tutkimatonta aluetta. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii täyttämään tuota tyhjyyttä kirjallisuudessa ja tarjoamaan kokonaisvaltaisempaa ymmärrystä pelaajien osallistamisesta sekä tutkimaan sen hyödyllisyyttä pelinkehityskontekstissa. Tämä tutkimus suoritettiin laadullisena tapaustutkimuksena. Neljä suomalaista pelistudiota kutsuttiin puolistrukturoituihin haastatteluihin jakamaan heidän tietämyksensä pelaajien osallistamisesta heidän projekteissaan, ja 21 pelaajaa vastasi kyselyyn omista kokemuksistaan pelinkehitysprojekteissa. Haastattelut litteroitiin ja koodattiin pelaajien vastausten ohella. Pelaajien osallistamista voi parhaiten kuvata yhteistyökeskeisenä pelienkehitysmetodina, jossa painottuvat vapaaehtoisuus sekä kommunikointi ja vuorovaikutus pelaajayhteisön ja pelistudion välillä, ja jossa pelielämys rakentuu pelistudion vision ja pelaajayhteisön toiveiden välisen vuoropuhelun mukaisesti. Siinä pelistudio ja pelaajayhteisö osallistuvat erilaisiin yhteisönhallinta-, kommunikointi- ja testausaktiviteetteihin luodakseen molempia osapuolia tyydyttävän tuotteen. Osallistumisprosessia luonnehtivat vapaaehtoisuus, sekä pelaajien vaihtelevat osallistumiskynnyksen ja sitoutumisen tasot peliprojektia kohtaan. Pelaajien osallistamisen hyödyt tulevat lisääntyneiden resurssien saatavuudesta ja kustannustehokkaammasta kehityksestä, pelisuunnitteluun liittyvien päätösten hyväksyttämisestä pelaajien kanssa sekä pelikokemuksen kohdentamisesta pelaajille, ja teknisesti toimivamman pelin kehittämisestä sekä mahdollisuudesta parempaan vastaanottoon pelin valmistuttua. Kuitenkin pelistudion täytyy myös kohdata pelaajien osallistamisesta juontavat haasteet, kuten lisääntyneen työmäärän hallitseminen, mahdolliset muutokset eri työkäytännöissä, ja pelaajayhteisön, joka koostuu erilaisista yksilöistä, joista jokaisella on omat eriävät intressit ja toiveet peliprojektia kohtaan, rakentaminen sekä ylläpito

A chance for the community to affect game development: Incorporating player feedback to game development during Early Access

The goal of this thesis is to research how Early Access affects game development, and how player feedback affects the development and design of the games in question. In this thesis I will explain why Early Access is used (or why it might not be the right development choice), how developers handle transparency during it, which methods are used in communicating with the audiences and what types of feedback is implemented in the development and design of the game. I will explain how the players could affect the game design in the case of my research participants, and how Early Access affected the development process of those participants. Background research was done in an exploratory way, using both academic and non-academic sources, such as game developer interviews available online. After forming a base where I cover Early Access in general, and where I explain it as a part of a game development process, I conducted my own research using a survey and interviews. I then analyzed the data with a thematic analysis. Combining the survey answers and the interviews, a total of eight participants took part in this research. All of them are game developers, who have worked with an Early Access title. Thematic analysis was then used to raise themes from the data, and five themes were selected. These themes cover the reasons to use Early Access, strategies to give out information and gather information from the players, and incorporating gathered feedback to the development and design of the game. Early Access was felt to be a good development choice when the developers were uncertain about some aspects of their game, or if they wanted to get feedback from the players to make the game better suited for players. Other reasons for using Early Access were mainly funding and marketing. All of the participants agreed that feedback was one of the main reasons to use Early Access, and thus they all had systems to communicate with their players. Different tools for transparency and informing players are listed in this thesis, as well as the ways the participants gathered feedback. Lastly, I discuss what type of feedback was incorporated to the game designs of the participants’ games, and what limitations the developers had (i.e., what feedback was not taken into consideration). According to this research, Early Access is a viable solution for some game developers and for certain types of games, but it requires a lot of work and transparency. With Early Access the game in development might be better suited for the players after the release, and some participants said that Early Access is the ‘right way’ to develop games. However, that requires commitment to communicate with the players. The developers need to adjust to the open development practices and set clear limits and restrictions for preventing things like tiredness, burnout, or work and personal life mixing. If executed correctly and managing the communications with the players in an orderly manner, Early Access is a suitable solution in creating games with the players, and the players have a chance to affect the game in a direction they would want it to go

Shallow Representations, Profound Discoveries : A methodological study of game culture in social media

This thesis explores the potential of representation learning techniques in game studies, highlighting their effectiveness and addressing challenges in data analysis. The primary focus of this thesis is shallow representation learning, which utilizes simpler model architectures but is able to yield effective modeling results. This thesis investigates the following research objectives: disentangling the dependencies of data, modeling temporal dynamics, learning multiple representations, and learning from heterogeneous data. The contributions of this thesis are made from two perspectives: empirical analysis and methodology development, to address these objectives. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a thorough introduction, motivation, and necessary background information for the thesis, framing the research and setting the stage for subsequent publications. Chapters 3 to 5 summarize the contribution of the 6 publications, each of which contributes to demonstrating the effectiveness of representation learning techniques in addressing various analytical challenges. In Chapter 1 and 2, the research objects and questions are also motivated and described. In particular, Introduction to the primary application field game studies is provided and the connections of data analysis and game culture is highlighted. Basic notion of representation learning, and canonical techniques such as probabilistic principal component analysis, topic modeling, and embedding models are described. Analytical challenges and data types are also described to motivate the research of this thesis. Chapter 3 presents two empirical analyses conducted in Publication I and II that present empirical data analysis on player typologies and temporal dynamics of player perceptions. The first empirical analysis takes the advantage of a factor model to offer a flexible player typology analysis. Results and analytical framework are particularly useful for personalized gamification. The Second empirical analysis uses topic modeling to analyze the temporal dynamic of player perceptions of the game No Man’s Sky in relation to game changes. The results reflect a variety of player perceptions including general gaming activities, game mechanic. Moreover, a set of underlying topics that are directly related to game updates and changes are extracted and the temporal dynamics of them have reflected that players responds differently to different updates and changes. Chapter 4 presents two method developments that are related to factor models. The first method, DNBGFA, developed in Publication III, is a matrix factorization model for modeling the temporal dynamics of non-negative matrices from multiple sources. The second mothod, CFTM, developed in Publication IV introduces a factor model to a topic model to handle sophisticated document-level covariates. The develeopd methods in Chapter 4 are also demonstrated for analyzing text data. Chapter 5 summarizes Publication V and Publication VI that develop embedding models. Publication V introduces Bayesian non-parametric to a graph embedding model to learn multiple representations for nodes. Publication VI utilizes a Gaussian copula model to deal with heterogeneous data in representation learning. The develeopd methods in Chapter 5 are also demonstrated for data analysis tasks in the context of online communities. Lastly, Chapter 6 renders discussions and conclusions. Contributions of this thesis are highlighted, limitations, ongoing challenges, and potential future research directions are discussed