Games Development: How Will You Feed the Next Generation of Hardware?
Thursday, 1:45 - 3:30 pm
Petree Hall C

Every time a new high-end platform is released, development techniques become more complex. In the early 1980s, a videogame was a six-to-nine-month job for a single person. A typical team size these days is 25-30, and it's not uncommon to see games taking two or three years (or more) to complete. We see an increase in complexity with every new high-end platform, both in terms of development techniques and quantity of art assets. On average, each new console is 10 times more powerful than its predecessor and tends to require double the team size to produce games for the new environment. As development teams once again see new hardware fast approaching on the horizon, the question arises: How we will manage the increase in content creation?

Companies will not be able to expand their teams into the hundreds, take three years to put out a title, and then pray that it sells enough to support all those people and salaries. Simply bloating the old production model will not work. It's time for new solutions. With that in mind, the main thrust of this panel discussion is to explore how we can approach the challenge of making the games that the next generation of hardware will demand. The possible solutions are many, but are there any that will really allow teams to output both quantity and quality while still maintaining financial viability and manageable staff numbers?

Moderator
Christian Lavoie
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Panelists
Emilie Saulnier
Vicarious Visions

James Spoto
Frank Vitz
Electronic Arts