There is more than one type of game developer

13Jan/102

There is more than one type of game developer

I have worked with computer games for several years but in widely different ways. Some were commercially released. In my years at university they were student projects. I have also made games as a hobby with no other purpose than to please my desire to create them and learn from the experience. A few have even been made in small contest-like game jams where they competed against other game designs for the first prize.

It is always a good idea to consider who you are developing your current game for. A professional developer needs to think differently about a target market than a hobbyist because a hobbyist can live with a game that does not sell a lot of copies, or any copies at all in fact.

Here is a short list of the different types of game developers we see today and what generally defines them.

Beginner: often someone who wants to create new versions of classic games like Pacman or Space Invaders. Many beginners want to move on to bigger projects after a few small games.

Hobbyist developer: a trained game developer who uses spare time to create small and interesting games. A lot of these games are created for personal enjoyment rather than to please others and the hobbyist developer does not create games to make money from them.

Student developer: Often these are young developers working in small teams with a dream of making the next trendy hit game. Some students, like the team behind Portal, succeed in this.

Independent developer: Usually referred to as an indie-developer and often one who works alone and tries to develop games for a living. Many indies focus on niche markets. The pay from this line of work is not always enough to pay the bills so game development is supplied with a second job that brings home a steady pay check.

Professional developer: Full time game developer working at a company in a specialized position. Knows how important it is to create games that appeal to mainstream markets since this is where the games needs to be sold to keep the company alive.

It is important to note that this list is a simplified version of reality. Indie developers also are professional and hobbyists sometimes make money on their games so use this list as a guide to the different types of developers, not a definitive list.