How to get into the games industry and implement your project? Of course, with the help of your team or an outsourcing studio. But good game development agencies can’t be had just for the asking. Finding a worthy partner takes a lot of work and scrutiny of each candidate’s track record. But even if the choice itself does not really scare you, have you thought about what will happen next? How to organize the work? How to control processes? It is important to know the answers to all questions in advance.
Let’s take a closer look at the procedure for hiring an outsourcing studio and the nuances of organizing cooperation with it.
Major Models of Collaboration
Creating a video game is a very multifaceted and multi-level creative process, the exact cost of which is almost impossible to calculate. Such products are always being finalized, supplemented and modified in the course of work, which affects the cost.
There are three main models by which hired companies operate:
- Fixed price and time.
- Fixed materials.
- Agile.
We will describe each of these models and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.
Fixed Price and Time
As the name implies, this model implies two constants: budget and deadline. This is specified in the contract and cannot be changed. The contractor has no right to ask for an extension or more money for the project.
For you, as a customer, such a model seems to be ideal. However, if you think about it, not everything is so rosy. If the calculation was not entirely correct, then you may get a result that is not at all of the quality you expected. The contractor will be in a hurry, and if there is an opportunity to use an advanced technique, the team will not do it, because an increase in the budget is not implied.
The model can be made a little more flexible by providing some additional budget for contingencies and guaranteeing regular feedback. The most common option is two-week milestones, at the end of which the parties contact and discuss the completed work. As a client, you are responsible for timely response to materials submitted for your consideration and possible clarifications and edits. Performers do not start further work without your approval of the previous stage.
Fixed Materials
In this case, materials are work done. That is, you make payment upon completion of the work. Your partner creates a list of specific tasks, each of which is evaluated separately and can be modified and supplemented at any time. The company should also estimate the time to complete the task. This is necessary in order to form an idea of the cost of work.
When the task is completed, you evaluate the result and either accept the work or send it off for revision. If you accept it, then you make the payment ex post. With this model of cooperation, a lot of frequent communication with the performer is required.
Agile
This model can be called a modification of the previous one. It is the most popular and continues to gain momentum in the IT field. Its main advantage is flexibility. As the project progresses, you can change the composition of the team, modify and supplement the game at different iterations. You decide the budget and the timing of the work by yourself. Usually, they are not fixed, since the work on this model is always dynamic and it is difficult to predict anything.
The hired team works on an hourly basis, saving you the extra expense. A common caveat is that it is a little more difficult to manage the work process precisely due to the specified flexibility. With no time or budget, a team can drag out a project and inflate the budget. This must be closely monitored with the help of qualified project managers. They are sure to be present in every worthy concept art agency.
So now you have an idea of the models of cooperation with video game development companies. You always choose the one that suits the size of the project and budget. We recommend that you check out Kevuru Games at https://kevurugames.com/3d-animation. This team is very flexible in terms of cooperation and is always ready to meet the client’s needs if you have any special wishes. They do their job well and have abundant resources to carry out even the most complex projects on a tight schedule. At the same time, the quality is always at the highest level.
