Whether you’re creating a game that will run inside of a browser window, a game app or a game that people will play using a disk, you’re going to need to assemble a team to build a good final product. And like all IT projects, you have the choice to rely on in-house talent, outsource nearly all of it or use a mix of employees and contractors. Let’s learn why game art outsourcing is a smart choice for businesses.
What Is Game Art?
Game art is an under appreciated aspect of the game. Game art is a subset of game development. It includes the background the characters walk through. It includes the appearance of the characters, whether they’re 2D or 3D. In the latter case, a texture artist applies “skins” or textures applied to the 3D models of the characters.
Game art can include special effects like the explosion when a bomb goes off or the physics engine engaged when there is a swirling cloud when someone in the game uses a portal spell.
What Is Game Art Outsourcing?
Video game development can be kept in house, or you can outsource any aspect of the game. The development of game mechanics tends to be kept in house as does the creation of story lines. That’s necessary to prevent the storyline for leaking or users learning about cheat codes too soon. However, game developers often outsource things like voice-overs, soundtracks, sound effects and the creation of game art.
Game art outsourcing is when the video game developers hire someone to create terrain images and sprites in 2D games. When you have a 3D game, you might hire a texture artist to create the skins for 3D model meshes. It also includes the creation of game menus, though a programmer on the team may design the menus and the logic that drives them. Game art design outsourcing could mean hiring someone to improve the light dynamics in the game or build the landscapes in the game.
Why Should You Outsource Your Game Art?
Game art outsourcing has a number of benefits. Let your programmers focus on fixing bugs found in game play during testing while someone else finishes the environment of the game. Or you could hire an expert in creating certain special effects.
This improves the quality of the visual effects, and it is more efficient than hoping your best developers can learn how to use a certain software package. Have a lighting artist improve the overall look and feel of the game, while your team focuses on finishing the game on schedule.
The end result of game art outsourcing tends to be faster delivery of the final product at a lower cost while improving the quality of work.
Outsourcing game art could add a new member to the team for the duration of the project. For example, animators and technical artists should be working together to ensure that the character moves in a realistic manner no matter how the player makes them move. A side benefit of outsourcing game art creation is that you can hire a talented artist for just the time frame you need them instead of keeping the on the payroll.
Featured image by CrimsonBrainstorm from Pixabay.