Video game developer

A Video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A
developer may specialize in a certain video game system, such as the Sony
PlayStation, or may develop for a variety of systems including PCs. Some
also specialize in certain types of games, such as RPGs or FPSs. Some focus
on converting games from one system to another. Some focus on translating
games from one language to another, especially from Japanese to English.

Alongside the three key consumer markets in Asia, the United States and
Europe are thousands of games developers. From the long established likes of
Nintendo and Bullfrog are many newer startups and break-aways such as
Lionhead.

Types of Developers

Video game developers fall into one of three categories: third-party
developers, in-house developers, and independents.

Third-party developers are usually called upon by a video game publisher to
develop a title for one or more systems. Both the publisher and the
developer have a great deal of say as to the design and content of the game.
In general, though, the publisher's wishes trump the developer's. It is not
uncommon for a developer to have several teams working on different titles
for different publishers. In general, however, third-party developers tend
to be smaller and comprised of a single, closely-knit team. Third-party game
development is a volatile business as small developers may be entirely
dependent on money from one publisher. Hence, one cancelled game can be
lethal to a small developer. Because of this, many of the smaller
development companies last only a few years or sometimes only a few months.

Many video game publishers also have large in-house development teams, or
in-house developers. The size of the teams vary depending on the games, but
they can number from a few to the dozens. In the case of MMOG's, they can
number in the hundreds. In-house development teams tend to have greater
freedom as to design and content of a game than do third-party developers.
Also publishers tend to more forgiving of their own development teams going
over budget and missing deadlines than of third-party developers.

Independents are typically small software developers that self-publish their
games, often relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity.
Without the huge marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products
never get as much recognition or popular acclaim as those of larger
publishers. However, they are free to explore experimental themes and styles
of gameplay that mainstream publishers would not risk their money on.

List of Developers

Some of the more notable game development companies:

A

Acclaim
Accolade
Activision
AdventureSoft

B

BioWare
Blizzard Entertainment
Bethesda Softworks
Bullfrog
Bungie Studios

C

Capcom
Cinemaware

D

DMA Design

E

Eidos Interactive
Electronic Arts

F

Firaxis Games

H

Hasbro Interactive
Hudson
Human

I

id Software
Infogrames
Intelligent Systems

K

Konami

L

Llamasoft (Jeff Minter)
Lionhead
LucasArts
Luxoflux

M

Microsoft

N

Namco
Neuron Entertainment
Nintendo

O

Origin

P

Psygnosis

R

Rareware
Revolution Software
Ritual Entertainment

S

SCEA
SCEE
SEGA
Silicon Knights
Sierra Entertainment
SNK
Sony Computer Entertainment
Squaresoft

T

Taito
Tecmo
Timegate Studios
Treyarch

U

Ubisoft

V

Valve Software
Vision Park

W

Westwood Studios
Wangame Studios

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