Climbing Mountains What it takes to make AAA games

The Doughnut The Blizzard Mission Statement The hole is the core gamer market The doughnut is the broad gamer market All Blizzard games are aimed at both markets

Definition of the AAA game High production values Appeals to a wide audience Considered the top game in its genre Usually a commercial success

Pros and Cons Team is motivated Easier to recruit top talent Big potential rewards Fame and Glory Long development times Very draining Lots of arguing Crunch time

Profile of the AAA game developer Must love games –Only gamers will put in the extra effort at the finish line Team player –Huge egos equates to huge problems Willing to throw away work –Iteration is very important

Culture of Criticism Everyone should care about the quality of the game Criticism should be encouraged and expected Never directed at a person Strike teams Must remember the customer

Who is your customer?

Are they your customer?

Is it this guy? Thanks Penny Arcade

These are your customers BlizzCon 2005

Game Designers Why do you need them? –Games are too big What are they? –Implementer of ideas How to find them? –Hard to find since everyone can design a little bit (like writing) –Look for experience and referrals

Pick your Battles Nothing in game design is black and white. Every decision costs You need to understand your highest priorities Don’t take the obvious stuff for granted

Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master Make game for the core gamer first –Especially important for multiplayer games Then make game accessible for broad market Very difficult to take shallow concepts and add depth

Some Examples ChessPokerCivilization

Innovation is Overrated Who rewards innovation?

Top Selling PC games in the U.S. (October 2005) 1. Age of Empires III 2. The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack 3. Civilization IV 4. Black and White 2 5. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 6. World of Warcraft 7. Call of Duty 2 8. Quake 4 9. F.E.A.R. 10. Battlefield 2

Game Rankings.com Top rated games for 2004 PlatformTitleAvg Review PCHalf-Life 295.6% X-BoxHalo PS2GTA: San Andreas 94.7% GCMetroid Prime 292.1%

Innovation is Overrated Who rewards innovation? Execution is equally important Different is not better Disclaimer: Innovation IS important –Need features that identifies your game –Industry need innovation over time

Control is King If your basic controls are sloppy, then the rest of the game suffers Frame rate and control are linked Cannot spend enough time on this –Took months to refine mouse cursor on Warcraft III Games like Mario and God of War made their reputation on control

Pacing The common denominator among all addictive games Player must feel accomplishment at a fairly rapid rate –Varies somewhat by game Can only determine proper pacing through extensive play testing

Examples of pacing problems EverquestPsychonautsGod of War

Examples of great pacing CivilizationHalf-Life 2World of Warcraft

Polish or Perish Many games fail due to being bug ridden or difficult puzzles Polish does not just happen at the end of a project Don’t take the small decisions for granted

Don’t Get sucked into market timing Retrofit popular features from other games if they are not a fit for yours Believe your own hype

Happy Ending Make games you love –If you are not passionate about a genre, you cannot make a game within it Take the time to make it right –It is also in the publisher’s best interest Work hard – you only have games in your career to make