The Game of Making Games: Walking in the Shoes of Development Giants

Most gamers have, at one time or another, thought that they knew better than the developers of the games they both love to play and the games they love to hate. “There’s no end game!” “It’s being delayed again?” “This game sucks!” “They’re charging for more DLC?” These are all complaints commonly found on game forums, accompanied by accusations of laziness, incompetence and avarice when a game’s development or release takes an unfavorable turn.

But in all honesty, how many gamers truly know what goes on behind the scenes of game development? How many have put in years of their blood and sweat into a project just to it panned by critics and fail miserably in sales? And how many could really do better when saddled with the pressure to succeed whilst dodging the hurdles that budget and time constraints throw at them?

At the “Game of Making Games” panel which took place this Friday, August 3rd at QuakeCon 2012, the audience of gamers was given insight into precisely these matters by some of the most respected names in game development. Featured panelists were game director and executive producer Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fall Out 3), President and CEO Ted Price of Insomniac Games, (Ratchet and Clank and Resistance), CEO and creative director Raphael Colantonio of Arkane Studios (Dark Messiah, Dishonored), and creative director Jens Matthies of MachineGames (The Darkness, The Chronicles of Riddick as member of Starbreeze Studios). The one hour long session was moderated by G4TV’s Blair Herter.