Dystopian Worlds

'Dystopian'

Relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.

Questionnaire and Focus Group.

Questionnaire:

Questionnaire Responses:

Focus Group:

Game Reviews

"Fallout 4"

"Detroit: Become Human"

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Release date: 10th November 2015

Platform: Playstation 4

Genre: First-Person shooter, Open World, Action Role-Playing Game, Non-Linear Gameplay.

Target Audience: Male Audience, 15-25 year olds who like action games.

Developer: Quantic Dream

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Release date: 25th May 2018

Platform: Playstation 4

Genre: Action-Adventure, Linear Story Game.

Target Audience: All genders, 15-25 year olds who enjoy narrative and story driven games.

Detroit: Become Human

After four years of development, Quantic Dream has managed to take the world by storm with their hit title, Detroit: Become Human. Released on the 25th May 2018, Detroit entered the gaming sphere to face major success, being praised by critics for amazing storytelling, and an important message.

From left to right: Kara, Markus, and Connor. These are the three playable characters of Detroit: Become Human.

Throughout the game, you play as three different androids: Kara, Connor and Markus. The first android you are met with is Connor: A brand new RK800 model of Detective android. His mission is simple- save the young girl who is being held hostage by an unstable android, who is threatening to commit suicide. This unstable android, known as a ‘Deviant’ in game, is the beginning of a larger problem within the universe of a 2038 Detroit, that being androids gaining a conscience and their own free will.

The game would not have the impact it has if it wasn’t for the performances of the actors and actresses in the Mocap suit. Bryan Dechart is delightful as Connor, his deadpan innocence and unknowing of the dark world around him a brilliant foil to his cynical police partner, Clancy Brown’s Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Jesse Williams is brilliant as Markus: his charisma and skill towards his craft making Markus’ parts of the story impactful when they need to be, and enjoyable to a T. Lastly, Valorie Curry makes Kara’s story that much more heart-breaking and heart-warming, and even makes the least interesting video game child, Alice, that bit more lovable.

Bryan Dechart - 'Connor'

Valorie Curry - 'Kara'

Jesse Williams - 'Markus'

Gameplay : 4/5 ✰

The game is a Linear story - the player progresses the game through a set of different chapters, which showcase the character's stories separately. This is the standard expectation, until the antepenultimate chapter, 'Crossroads'. Throughout the chapter, the player character changes depending on what is going on. This is an amazing play by the developers to help the player feel the tension that is being built at this point in the story, as you need to pay attention to keep up with the drama and action that is being thrown at you. Furthermore, this becomes a standard for the last 3 hours of the game. I definitely yerned for the changing perspectives : being a massive fan of Bryan Dechart's 'Connor', I wanted to keep up with what his character was doing the most, however it was a nice change of pace.

Gameplay is also rewarding for the player - exploring and testing different pathways rewards the player with points, which they can use to unlock different collectables. One of these was the model viewer, which allowed players to view the models with their different weather effects and idle animations. A video is linked below that shows this feature. Personally, I wold give the gameplay a 4 out of 5: in diferant perspectives the controls can be clunky, however the story is captivating and keeps the audience enthralled.

Audio: 4/5 ✰

Throughout the game, sound is used by the designers to create atmosphere and tension, and this can be shown in the chapter 'Last Chance, Connor.' This chapter is the start of the climax of the game - Deviant hunter Connor is trying to find the location of 'Jerrico', and doesn't have a lot of time before he is to be destroyed. It is tense, and this is reflected through the music used. At the start of the timed sequence, the music is quiet and unobtrusive, giving the mood of someone trying to focus. However, as the time ticks down this mood changes to one of desperation. Connor's Character is complex, and at this point of the story he is showing signs of deviancy, so he doesn't want to die. This is pulled off perfectly by the designers, and it helps the player feel the tension that the player character is feeling at the time.

Graphics: 5/5 ✰

Detroit:Become Human was exclusive for Ps4 when it released, and looking at the graphics it is a graphical showcase of what the PS4 can do well. Particle effects for different types of weather are showcased throughout the game: Set in November, the game shows characters in environments with rain and snow, which all look realistic and beautifully detailed. Even when playing the game, detail has been put into every asset, and this makes the game look believable as what the world could look like in the future.

[The images above belong to Pushsquare.com]

Fallout 4

After a seven year development time, Fallout 4 released to critical acclaim on November 1oth, 2015. This game differed to the rest of the fallout series: you were playing a character who had lived before the bombs had dropped on America in the series' 'Great War'- The fight between America and China for dwindling resources.With husband Nate or a wife Nora and son Shaun, players fled to a 'Vault Tec' branded vault to be cryogenically frozen, their spouse killed by an anonymous wastelander and their baby stolen. The player is finally ejected into post-apocalypse Boston Massachusetts, to then fight their way through what is left and find their son.

Vault 111, the vault which saves the player from the apocalypse outside.

Screenshot from early game, where the player is faced with a band of raiders to kill.

Gameplay : 4.5/5 ✰

After tackling the intro of the game, which can be quite boring and uninteresting to play through, the game opens up considerably. There are many paths a player can take - ignoring what the game tells you and exploring, following the story and meeting Preston Garvey and the minutemen, or even base building. The game is always giving the play extra side content, which can range from going to a location and killing enemies to being interviewed for a newspaper article to be written about you. While the last one doesn't seem that interesting, the game is bursting at the seams with replayability and fun, and there is always more to play.

Furthermore, the cornucopia of companion characters, who all have their own interesting backstories, allegiances to ingame factions, and opinions, make the game feel more alive than ever. Different builds of character fit different companions, and it helps a player to shape their own storytelling to choose a companion to accompany them throughout their travels in the wasteland.

Audio: 4/5 ✰

Throughout Fallout 4, audio is used in many ways to build tension, as well as show places that are safe for the player compared to places that are dangerous. This distinction is shown through the game's ambience: in places that are filled with enemies the ambience track is suspenseful, and builds tension until the enemies appear. This can be shown in the interior of “The Super Duper Mart”, where the enemy type of ghouls are infesting the inside of a ruined supermarket. When the player enters the space, suspenseful music plays, showing that is unsafe, especially since this location is in one of the first big towns that the player is likely to come across in their travels. These kinds of audio cues are used successfully throughout the game to inform the player about different things, and as a player I found that these cues were extremely helpful.

As well as this, the lack of sound while exploring the wasteland is extremely effective at immersing the player in the game world: A world that has been ravaged by nuclear fallout, thus destroying most living things. I found this use of quiet by the sound designers to help make the player feel alone in the world extremely effective.

Graphics: 3/5 ✰

Graphics can be mediocre at best in fallout 4: Graphical glitches were apparent on launch, with 'Nora' even appearing with darker skin. Even seven years after launch, Fallout 4 still has graphical problems, which can detract from gameplay. Glitching textures, lighting issues and general issues make the game look low quality, and give many characters a more 'plastic' looking texture.

Whilst graphics don't detract from my enjoyment of a game, many have had to put Fallout 4 down due to graphical issues. This is a massive shame in my opinion - the gameplay makes up for many of the issues fallout has, however many people will not agree with me. This is why I have given the graphics of Fallout 4 a 3, as they are serviceable but they could be much better.

Comparison

Detroit: Become Human Scored:

Fallout 4 Scored:

Gameplay : 4/5 ✰

Audio: 4/5 ✰

Graphics: 5/5 ✰

Gameplay : 4.5/5 ✰

Audio: 4/5 ✰

Graphics: 3/5 ✰

Both games are of a comparable quality when talking about their gameplay and graphics, but overall Detroit:Become Human's graphics are much superior to that of Fallout 4's.

Fallout 4 was the first to release of the two games, launching on 10th November 2015. Whilst the game has plenty of playable content, through the main story and multiple side quests and missions, the game's graphics can sometimes be disappointing. This is due to multiple graphics problems which have still not been fixed, even 7 years after release. On launch in 2018, Detroit: Become Human was a graphical showcase for the PS4, everything from the texture of the characters skin to weather effects wowing players from day one. Detroit: Become Human's main draw is the linear story, that immerses a player into the world of Detroit. This is different to Fallout 4, where there is a plethora of extra content to complete on top of the main story. These different kinds of gameplay attract different players: Detroit caters to an audience which enjoys more story based gameplay, where choices make a massive impact on the ending of the story. This is different to Fallout, where people play it due to the lore, as well as the amount of content on offer.

Audio is of equal quality between the games, and is used successfully to guide the player as well as enhance gameplay.

Deconstructions

Detroit: Become Human

Fallout 4

Purpose:

Detroit: Become Human has an intended audience of mature people, as many of the themes showcased throughout the game are of an adult nature ( Expletives, gore, a strip club scene, firearms.) With these things in mind the game has a massive impact - messages of combating racism within society make the player thoughtful of our own world, and the plights many groups of people go through to gain their rights in society. In the UK, D:BH has a pegi rating of 18, which i think is accurate to the content included within the game. I played the game myself when I was under 18, and whilst it was a thought provoking experience I would not be giving the game to a child under 13.

Language:

Characters initially speak english, although this can be changed to many different languages in the settings, including Spanish, Arabic and Japanese. Within the game the android characters speak very politely, with no expletives and a formal flair. This contrasts the humans around them, who usually speak in a harsh tone, which sometimes includes expletives. However, a 'Deviant' android is almost like a human, some using expletives. This change in language is shown if the player chooses to let Connor deviate, Where he will swear, before running to help his people from the oncoming SWAT attack on Jericho. This language is appropriate for the audience, most of which will speak in this way in their everyday life. Environment storytelling is a massive part of Detroit: in many sequences the player is tasked with using the environment to solve a puzzle, which helps them to understand the world. For example, when Marcus first makes it to the deviant sanctuary 'Jericho', there are large empty Cyberlife crates, which used to be filled with parts to fix androids. These being empty show that many androids have deviated and needed help, and seeing this box helps to progress Markus' story.

Methods of Communication:

Within the game, colour theory is important in letting the player know the status of an android. This is shown by an android's LED- A small circular ring in their right temple, which changes colour depending on their status: blue being stable, red being in distress. This is symbolic throughout the rest of the game, the red LED being a symbol of deviancy amongst androids. This is further inforced by the fact that when one of the characters deviates, a red wall appears in their vision, that they need to break down. The metaphor of the wall breaking symbolises that a devient android cannot go back on their choice to become a deviant, stressing the importance of making important choices.

Use of Semiotics

Furthermore, throughout the game the symbol of a glowing triangle helps players to realise who is an android and who isn't- on every android uniform is a blue glowing triangle situated the left side, as well as a blue armband on their right arm. These visual ques help the player to separate humans from androids, which is also a genius message into equality. When an android isn't wearing this uniform, and removes their LED (Shown in game through both Kara and Markus) they look like any other human being. This shows how similar the androids really are to the humans, and helps the player to understand the message of equality for all that is woven all throughout the story and visual elements.

Purpose:

Fallout 4, with its use of weapons, expletives, mass death and monsters, has an intended mature audience, as many of these things would be scary and/or not appropriate for children. This is shown through the games PEGI rating in the UK, which is 18. I believe this rating is justified - I myself have been frightened by ghouls chasing me in many of the dungeons, or Mirelurks sneaking up on me on the beach, so for a younger child these scary monsters just aren't appropriate.

I believe the game has an impact on audiences, and this is through the messages of hope in a bleak world. In the past few years of Coronavirus, many people may have related to this, as many felt hopeless and alone - just like the sole survivor does when they resurface from vault 111.

Language:

As seen on https://help.bethesda.net/#en/answer/31175 , Fallout 4 supports a plethora of different voiced languages as well as subtitles in different regions. Within the game, people in the wasteland speak with an informal tone, the need for formality burned away with the nuclear apocalypse. They also speak using expletives, which is one of the reasons why the game is rated 18+. However, the 'Mr Handy' robots still keep a formal, polite tone, almost like a remnant of life before the game's 'great war'. The foil of how the robots speak compared to the humans of the wasteland helps to solidify the feeling of the player character being out of place - they are a person out of time, the robots representing the past and the humans representing the present. Environmental storytelling is used lots throughout the game, as many of the different interiors and dungeons all have secrets and stories to tell about the people who used to occupy the spaces. Notes, corpses, and items help the player to learn about what happened in these places before they get there, and these secrets make the game even more captivating to play.

Methods of Communication:

In fallout 4, each different faction the player can side with has its own colour, and these colours can help the player to know where they are safe to go, and where it isn't. For example, the faction of 'The Minutemen', a group of waste landers who want to make the commonwealth a safe place, have the colour of blue assigned to them. This colour could be interpreted as a calm colour, like a clear sky. This contrasts with the evil faction in the game, 'The Institute'. Their flag has two colours - the main being white, with small red accents. This could almost symbolise how the Institute pride themselves on being pristine, unlike the surface wastelanders, however they are also vicious, and kidnap innocent people for their own purposes.

Use of Semiotics

Symbols are also used to show places that are safe, and places that are dangerous. In universe they are used by the faction of 'The Railroad', who work to free innocent synths who have been kidnapped or who are being abused by The Institute. These signs can show many things, such as where there is danger, where to go, an ally settlement, and even where railroad safehouses can be found. These symbols can also be used by the player, do either get loot, collectables or even a place to save if the player is playing the survival difficulty.

Case studies

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is an action roleplaying game, taking place in Night City - a separate city state located on the borders between north and south California. The game takes place in 2077, where major gangs and corporations run the city, and violence is prevalent.

Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is an action role-playing game, taking place in boston, Massachusetts - also known as 'The Commonwealth' in game. The game starts in the year 2077, before transitioning to 2277 after the introduction. The world is broken down, civilisation getting by in different settlements, all while mutated monsters attack and kill innocent people.

Differance between Countries and Time.

Both Cyberpunk and fallout are set (however fleetingly in Fallout 4) in the year 2077, and their different ideas of how this year would look are extremely interesting. While Fallout goes for a landscape with lush greenery and pops of retro futurism for inspiration, Cyberpunk goes for a full on futuristic city. In the nicer areas neon and chrome are abundant, while in the poorer areas there are shanty towns and poorly built structures. This contrast in both the game's setting is extremely interesting, as even though they are both set in the same year the look and feel is completely different. As a player this is why I enjoy the games, as they both have a different aesthetic to each other which I enjoy immensely.

Furthermore, both games are also set in the United States of America, Fallout 4 on the east coast and Cyberpunk 2077 set on the west coast. This is shown through the vegetation shown in the games, with Cyberpunk having fan palms in their 'Pacifica' district, while Fallout has the more sturdy oak tree, which can deal with the colder weather Boston would face compared to California. This is also shown by the aesthetics within both cities, with Night City drawing inspiration from cities like LA and Las Vegas to, in my opinion, make a place that is flashy and bright, a place where it seems anything is possible. However According to Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original Cyberpunk tabletop RPG, ' Night City is located in Morro Bay and Baywood-Los Osos, geographically speaking. In the Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020 games, the city design of Night City closely resembles the street grid of downtown San Francisco.'

This contrasts with what little the player sees of Boston before the war - it seems to be quite an old fashioned city, with dated looking apartment blocks mixed in with skyscrapers, that have a massive 'Retro futurism' feel. This mix of old and new makes the city seem homely, which severely contrasts the Boston the player experiences - raider gangs, super mutants and more have taken up residence, which makes it one of the most dangerous places in the game.

Inspiration Cities:

Cyberpunk 2077:

The cities in order: San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas. These are all bustling cities which are full of life. The neon of Las Vegas looks extremely similar to the neon aspects of night city.

Fallout 4:

Boston, Massechusets. Looking at the buildings in the city center (Especially 'The Old State House' shown above, which is present in the game), they are a mix of old fashioned and modern which must have inspired Bethesda to go the same route with their recreation.

Fallout 4 was the first to release of the two games in 2015, whist Cyberpunk 2077 was finally released in 2020 after a long list of delays. Playing Fallout 4 today, the player can see the dated graphics, as they look almost like plastic compared to Cyberpunk's sharp, realistic and RTX fueled own.

For example, when looking at the shadows between games, Fallout's can look simple, almost pixelated at points, whilst Cyberpunk's (With RTX on) Can look almost straight out of real life, which makes the game a lot more immersive. With RTX off, these shadows still look better than Fallout's: Even with less detail and processing power Cyberpunk is able to create realistic shadows without crashing a PC.

Professional Contexts- Workplaces, Organisations Careers and Education.

In Fallout 4, there are many prevalent companies that are shown to the player through gameplay. Mass fusion, RobCo Industries (who make the 'Mr Handy' robots seen throughout the games), Nuka Cola and even Vault-Tec. Through gameplay these companies are shown to be toxic places to work, with bad business practices: Lying to consumers is shown to be a major problem, especially in the case of Vault-Tec - They lied about their protective bunkers (also known as vaults), and instead of being solely used to keep US citizens safe they were used to run large scale tests, which were often dangerous and abused trust. The same goes for many of the companies, and through gameplay the player is able to uncover many of the shady schemes these companies where using to ensure that they got as many sales as possible. The same goes for the companies in Cyberpunk 2077 - Japanese owned security and arms manufacturer 'Arasaka' and American owned arms dealer 'Militech' have supplied weapons, vehicles and men to fight against each other on many occasions during the lore of the cyberpunk universe, fuelling multiple wars and depleting natural resources. These companies, especially Arasaka, run Night City in cyberpunk, pulling the strings of the city council so they can get away with different crimes. This could be a play on the company towns and cities that are commonly used by large corporations in todays society- Amazon, Microsoft and many others have taken root in cities and towns, employing people and developing the landscape. Even in the North East we have one of these places, Sunderland, which is home to the UK's biggest automotive manufacturing plant for Nissan. With this in mind, these links to our own world help the games to feel realistic, as well as helping the player feel like what is happening in the game could actually happen in real life.

Gender/ Culture Differences

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is banned in The middle east (excluding Israel) and Censored in Japan due to the use of dismemberment and nudity. Many of the risque adverts have been edited to have a static effect.

Nudity is prevalent in the game, from advertisements to an entire red light district with hookers and strip clubs. The developers at CD Projekt Red have expressed that they used nudity to make the game more realistic, and said in an interview with Polygon "Nudity is important for us because of one reason, This is cyberpunk, so people augment their body. So the body is no longer sacrum [sacred]; it’s profanum [profane]. Because people modify everything, they are losing their connection to the body, to the meat. And that’s why we need to use the nudity in many situations." . There is a setting to turn it off, silencing many of the issues reviewers and parents have had over the need for nudity.

Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is banned in the middle east, but surprisingly isn't banned in China even though in the lore of the game the USA nuked China. Lots of anti-chinese propaganda can be seen in game as well as this.

Gender and nudity is not used at any point during fallout 4, and the closest the player can get to nude is taking their clothes off to reveal underwear. With the aesthetics of the game in mind, especially the retro futurism influences used, nudity would not have worked very well in the game, and would not fit in. Many of the ideals shown in the game are similar to those in the 50's, with the female player character (also known as 'Nora' if the player chose to be male) being a housewife, giving up her law career to look after their young son. With this in mind, many people praise the female character if they play with her, as she is shown through her dialouge to be a strong, independent and driven woman - a good role model, if the player decides to play that way.

Discography:

Space4Games.com. (2020). Cyberpunk 2077 Timeline. [Online]. Space4games.com. Last Updated: November 27th 2020. Available at: https://space4games.com/en/games-en/cyberpunk-2077-timeline/ [Accessed 3 November 2022].

Charlie Hall. (2018). Cyberpunk 2077 will include full nudity for a very important reason. [Online]. Polygon.com. Last Updated: June 22nd, 2018. Available at: https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/15/17468232/cyberpunk-2077-nudity-transhumanism [Accessed 12 November 2022].

Summary

Throughout this assignment, primary, secondary and contextual research has been key to finding out different ideas for my dystopian themed game. These methods of research are important, as they have helped me to find out effective elements of dystopian games, as well as what people think about this kind of media. Throughout the assignment, I have created a questionnaire, preformed and taken part in a focus group, written 2 video game reviews, completed two game deconstructions, and finally two case studies.

When looking at my focus group, which was contextual research, it was extremely interesting to see what everyone thought of dystopian games. As it is one of my favourite genres of video games, I found it interesting to listen to the point of view of someone who didn't enjoy the media, or hadn't played anything that could be classed as dystopian. Through this research I found that most of the people at my focus group had played/watched something that could be classed as dystopian, many of them favouring dystopian worlds that were based after an apocalypse, or in overgrown places, like Fallout or The Last of Us. This contradicted with my own enjoyment of dystopian worlds set in more sci-fi scenarios, in large cities with lots of neon and machinery. This research contrasted with my game reviews, where I looked at two games and ranked them based on their Gameplay, Audio and Graphics. This research could have been biased- I enjoy both Fallout 4 and Detroit: Become Human, so I may find the games more enjoyable then others. However, I tried to be as fair as possible, both games ending up to be ranked equally in many things. Completing these different types of research has helped me to realise that doing different types of research has helped me to find different elements that I could use in my own game.

A dystopian world that I find extremely interesting is 2013 indie title 'Papers, Please', released by Lucas Pope. The game tells the story of a border control inspector, starting his job after being pulled from a 'Labour Lottery' in the fictional European country of Arstotzka. The game has a pixel artstyle, and the main aim of the game is to check peoples passports, and make sure that you do not let anyone into the country that shouldn't be let in. The rules change almost daily, and the player is penalised if they do anything wrong. Another element of the game is your family, who you have to feed and keep warm with the limited money you earn, which makes the player make tough decisions which can lead to the family members getting sick, and even dying. As the days go on, and more rules are added, the UI can get extremely full of different papers and other elements, and when the player has limited time left it helps to make the game feel more chaotic. Another Dystopian game, which is quite different to Papers Please is Watch_Dogs Legion, released in 2020 by AAA developer Ubisoft Toronto. The game, set in near future London, follows the story of Hacker Syndicate DedDec, as they attempt to clear their name after being framed for terrorist bombings whist also freeing the citizens of the city from Albion, an oppressive private military which turned the city into a surveillance state after the bombings. In the game, the player is able to play as anyone they can find on the street, from an old grannie to a tech genius, and whilst the game is open world, the story missions are used to carry on the story. A similarity between the games is the use of an oppressed state, controlled by the government with very restrictive rules. Whilst in Watch_Dogs you are meant to break these rules, in Papers, Please you are not, else you will not be able to look after your family. Both games are effective at portraying a dystopian world, while they both also do a fantastic job at making their games different and interesting for the player.

Through the research I have preformed, I feel confident that I have ideas that I could use for my own dystopian game. by doing the questionnaire and focus group, I have found out effective elements of dystopian games, and also elements that are not effective. As well as this, through completing the video game reviews, deconstructions and case studies, I have taken the time to explore different games and their uses of different elements, helping me to decide what I will include, and what I don't enjoy when it comes to dystopian media.

In conclusion, I feel that the research I have completed has been effective at helping me to generate ideas for my own dystopian themed game. It has helped me to see what elements people like about dystopian media and what elements people don't enjoy, so that I can make informed decisions about my own game. Furthermore, It has helped me to form an opinion about dystopian games, and made me realise that I personally really enjoy this genre, and would like to make a game that includes all of my favourite things that make a game dystopian.

Discography:

Lucas Pope. (2013). Papers, Please. [Online]. Papersplea.se. Available at: https://papersplea.se/ [Accessed 12 November 2022].

Wikipedia. (2022). Watch_Dogs Legion. [Online]. Wikipedia.org. Last Updated: 9th November 2022. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Dogs:_Legion [Accessed 12 November 2022].

Industry Roles and Companies

Junior Programmer

Average Job Pay: £26,827 per year.

Job location: Studios in Leamington Spa, Bangalore and Beijing, or on a remote basis from Turkey, Brazil, the Philippines.

Job Requirements:

Experience with Unity.
Some experience as game programmer
Excellent communication skills.
Ability to derive tasks from a design document.
Attention to detail.
Self motivated.
Ability to work individually and as part of a team.
Experience with source control such as SVN, Git or Perforce
Android / iOS or UI experience.
Interest in design and how marketing works in games - ideal.
An avid interest in either console or mobile games, preferably both

Day to Day:

Using C# and Unity to turn game designs and prototypes into playable ads for the company's games. A junior programmer needs to be able to solve challenges which will appear in their day to day worklife.

Work Produced:

Bibliography:

Kwalee. (2022). Junior Game Programmer - Playables. [Online]. jobs.gameindustry.biz. Available at: https://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/job/junior-game-programmer-playables-14409 [Accessed 3 November 2022].
Glassdoor.co.uk. (2022). Junior Programmer Salary. [Online]. Glassdoor.co.uk. Available at: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/junior-programmer-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm [Accessed 3 November 2022].

Lead Designer

Average Job Pay: £51,346 per year.

Job location: UK Remote

Job Requirements:

• A broad knowledge of all aspects of game design with a deep understand of several areas of specialisation, such as game mechanics, level design, combat, balancing, progression, usability, social mechanics, games as a service, etc.

• Extensive experience of games development, and as a Lead shipped at least 2 action or action/adventure current gen console or PC titles.

• Leadership experience, including the running of a multi-person design team; people-management, mentoring, line-management.

Day to Day:

Responsible for several aspects of the game, leading a team of designers to deliver the aspects to a high quality, on time and in line with the creative vision of the game.

Produce and maintain documentation including the GDD and wiki pages, though communication will mostly be verbal. Lead designers need to devote time to each team member to ensure they understand the vision and design that is necessary to make sure they can do their job.

Lead designers also need to take an active role in project planning, reviewing meetings and ensuring that their team are prepared so meetings can run efficiently. Meetings will be held regularly with direct reports, liaising with them on career and professional development, and carrying out annual appraisals.

( All info gathered from https://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/job/lead-game-designer-uk-remote-aaa-pc-console-17361 except otherwise stated)

Work Produced:

Examples of work a game designer can produce are shown in the video below .

Riot Games - Game design

Bibliography:

Datascope Recruitment. (2022). Lead Game Designer - UK/Remote - AAA PC/Console. [Online]. Glassdoor.co.uk. Available at: https://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/job/lead-game-designer-uk-remote-aaa-pc-console-17361 [Accessed 3 November 2022].
Glassdoor.co.uk. (2022). Lead Game Designer Salary. [Online]. Glassdoor.co.uk. Available at: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/lead-game-designer-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm?clickSource=searchBtn [Accessed 3 November 2022].
So You Wanna Make Games?? | Episode 10: Game Design.. (2018). [Film]. Los Angeles: Riot Games.

Art Director

Average Job Pay: £62,332 per year.

Job location: Cainbridge, UK.

Job Requirements:

Expert knowledge of end to endgame development, from pitch andconcept to full production and live games
Capable of building studio level art strategies and plans.
Multiple projects shipped in a Director/Lead Art role
Experience building game teams & mentoring art leaders and managers
In depth knowledge of online games
Expert knowledge of game art production, theories, processes, timelines, tools, and methodologies
Familiar with Agile / Scrum development framework
Excellent communication skills, written and oral
Bonus: MMO Games Development Experience

Day to Day:

Art directors are responsible for looking after personnel, projects and the studio space. They should be able to challenge their staff, aspiring creativity while identifying and mentoring top talent within the studio. They should also be able to continuously review and improve processes, identifying areas of improvement and staying on current art trends. In regards to the studio, Art Directors' are accountable for keeping their personnel in tune with the game's artstyle, while also pushing the studio forward to improve.

Work Produced:

Ron Ashtianti talks about being an art director

Bibliography:

Glassdoor.co.uk. (2022). Senior Art Director Salary. [Online]. Glassdoor.co.uk. Available at: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/senior-art-director-salary-SRCH_KO0,19.htm [Accessed 3 November 2022].

Jagex Careers. (2022). Senior Director of Art. [Online]. jobs.gameindustry.biz. Available at: https://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/job/senior-director-art-17023 [Accessed 3 November 2022].

AAA

AAA companies are known for creating large scale games, developed by large studios. These companies have their own funding, and this means that when they make games, they do not need to use outside sources for money, unlike most Indie companies. Most AAA companies will be able to make their own concept art, programmes and game engines, however some may use Outsourcing companies to do some work so that their own workers can work on other things. AAA companies are normally well known, and strive to make high quality, genre defining titles with the best tech that the world has to offer.

Some well known AAA games and their studio's are:

GTA 5 - Rockstar Games
The Last Of Us - Naughty Dog
Just Cause 3 - Avalanche Studios Group
Cyberpunk 2077 - CD Projekt Red
Fallout 4 - Bethesda Game Studios

Pro's

Many AAA companies will give employees bonuses for working with them , such as a free gym membership, food, and healthcare (where applicable)
Due to penty of funding, if a worker makes a mistake it can be easily fixed..
Developers get to use the best technology to make the best possible game they can.

Cons

Work can be stressful, especially around the launch of a game.
Games can be scrapped really easily, meaning years of work can be discarded.
Work can be mentally challenging, and frustrating when something isn't working the way it should.
Creativity can sometimes be pushed away, in favor of doing something that they know consumers would approve of.

Discography

Karim Ahmad. (2021). AAA Games vs. Indie Games: What Are The Differences.. [Online]. Makeuseof.com. Last Updated: December 27th, 2021. Available at: https://www.makeuseof.com/aaa-games-vs-indie-games-differences/ [Accessed 7 November 2022].
Chris Nash. (2022). Can Indie Developers Compete with AAA Developers?. [Online]. Quora.com. Last Updated: January 15th 2022. Available at: https://qr.ae/pv3Wcc [Accessed 7 November 2022].
Corey Cole. (2022). What is the brutal truth about working in video game development or design?. [Online]. Quora.com. Last Updated: April 28th, 2022. Available at: https://qr.ae/pv3WDQ [Accessed 7 November 2022].

Indie

Indie companies are amaller studios, ran by one or a small team of developers, who are responsible for covering all areas of game development. These types of studio mostly turn to crowdfunding to help cover the costs of development, or will take out loans. This means that there can be budget constraints, making indie titles usually shorter then AAA titles. As a result of small budgets and low prices, Indie titles don't always look as graphically impressive as most AAA titles, however make up for that using gameplay.

Some well known Indie games and their studios are:

Stardew Valley - Concerned Ape (Eric Barone)
Cuphead - Studio MDHR
Hollow Night - Team Cherry
Undertale - Toby Fox
The Stanley Parable - Davey Wreden and William Pugh

Pro's

Being in charge of making your own game makes sure that you can do whatever you want, with no creative boundaries.
Because most development teams are only made up of a few people taking on multiple roles, it is a chance to expand your skill set.
There is no hard deadline for a game to be released by, so developers can take their time making sure the game is perfect.

Cons

Most indie titles have little to no development fund, meaning developers may only be able to work on the game part-time whilst they also work to pay for their own expenses.
Indie developers are less likely to be offered large jobs, like AAA studios.
Indie developers normally can't work on a game full time, meaning the development process is often long.

Discography

Dustin Tyler. (2022). The Pros and Cons of Indie Game Dev.. [Online]. gamedesigning.org. Last Updated: November 1st 2022. Available at: https://www.gamedesigning.org/gaming/indie-game-development/#:~:text=While%20getting%20paid%20to%20w [Accessed 13 November 2022].
Karim Ahmad. (2021). AAA Games vs. Indie Games: What Are The Differences.. [Online]. Makeuseof.com. Last Updated: December 27th, 2021. Available at: https://www.makeuseof.com/aaa-games-vs-indie-games-differences/ [Accessed 13 November 2022].
Sponsored Post. (2020). The Pros and Cons of a Solo Indie Developer. [Online]. thexboxhub.com. Last Updated: June 18th 2020. Available at: https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-a-solo-indie-developer/ [Accessed 13 November 2022].

Outsourcing

An outsourcing company is a company which AAA studios will hire to create artwork, sound effects or other elements to include in a video game. They supply specialised expertise at a lower price, making development quicker for studios who are making a game. They are also useful when a team doesn't have enough people to finish a project within a specified timeframe, so they can add people to a team quickly and get a job. Outsourcing companies can also help studios to make new software, VR simulations and other elements.

Some video game outsourcing companies are:

Atomhawk Design
Starloop Studios
Room 8 Studio
Melior Games
Pringle Studios

Pros

Outsourcing to an company means that artwork can be completed quickly and to a high standard.
Outsourcing companies can be working on lots of projects at once, meaning work will never be boring.
Outsourcing means that a studio has access to a larger talent pool, compared to hiring new workers.

Cons

There becomes a lack of control when outsourcing, as the artists/workers are not under direct supervision of an art director.
There can be communication issues and misunderstandings between studios and outsourcing companies.
Employees in a studio may feel they are being replaced, or be confused as to why the studio needs to outsource.

Discography

Deep Patel. (2017). The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing. [Online]. Forbes.com. Last Updated: July 17th, 2017. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/07/17/the-pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing-and-the-effect-on [Accessed 13 November 2022].
Victoria Mozolevska. (2022). 10 Most Highly Trusted & Highly Professional Game Art Outsourcing Companies in 2022. [Online]. Kevurugames.com. Last Updated: 12th January 2022. Available at: https://kevurugames.com/blog/10-most-trusted-highly-professional-game-art-outsourcing-companies-in-2 [Accessed 13 November 2022].
Maria Tsarouva. (2022). An Overview of Game Development Outsourcing. [Online]. Itechart.com. Last Updated: 7th February 2022. Available at: https://www.itechart.com/blog/game-development-outsourcing/ [Accessed 13 November 2022].
Starloop Studios. (2022). The Benefits of Outsourcing Game Development. [Online]. starloopstudios.com. Available at: https://starloopstudios.com/the-benefits-of-outsourcing-game-development/#:~:text=Outsourcing%20vide [Accessed 13 November 2022]

Avalanche Studios Group

Avalanche Studios Group is a AAA game development studio and publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company was founded in March of 2003 by Linus Blomberg and Christofer Sundberg, who formed the company on the focus of developing open world projects using their in house engine, the 'Apex Engine' (formerly known as the 'Avalanche Engine'). The company's first title, Just Cause, was critically acclaimed on release in 2006, for it's breakthrough in the size and detail of an open world. They then started work on the games next entry, Just Cause 2, however the company ran into financial struggles due to the cancellations of two other projects. The Just Cause IP was also sold to Square Enix in 2009, who still publish the games to this day. Cause Despite this, Just Cause 2 released to critical and financial success, prompting the company to open a second studio in New York City. This studio was set to create the next game in the Just Cause Franchise, Just Cause 3, While the original studio worked on a Mad Max collaboration with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In 2017, avalanche announced two titles: Rage 2 with id Software, and self published title Generation 0. In 2018, the company was acquired by Nordisk Film, the same year their next Entry to the Just Cause Franchise released, and subsequently bombed due to a rushed development. Two more offices have opened in recent years, One in Malmö and one in Liverpool respectively.

Avalanche Studios Group are known for creating:

The Just Cause franchise (1, 2, 3 and 4),

The Hunter Series,

Mad Max,

Renegade Ops

Employee size

There are about 500+ employees as of records generated in 2021.

Location

Stockholm, New York, Malmö, Liverpool.

https://avalanchestudios.com/locations

Company Target Audience

Avalanche Studios Group aim for a target Audience of teenagers to Mature, with most titles having a PEGI rating of 18+.

Discography:

Wikipedia. (-). Avalanche Studios Group. [Online]. en.Wikipedia.org. Last Updated: -. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalanche_Studios_Group [Accessed 7 November 2022].

Avalanche Studios Group. (2022). Locations. [Online]. Avalanchestudios.com. Available at: https://avalanchestudios.com/locations [Accessed 13 November 2022].

Idea Development