Documentation to Succeed
More than 12,000 games, mostly indie, launched on Steam in 2022, on a positive trend since 2019. But only 4% of them are successful, in the sense that they make 200,000+ $ revenue – while the vast majority of 80% struggle to make even 5,000 $. This not including the many more games that never get to launch.
Despite the relative ease of entry compared to other industries and generosity of the gaming market, competition is now at all-time high and the numbers undeniably show that failure comes more often than success.
While failure can have a wide range of generic or specific causes, from production to marketing, there is a common element to the few games that succeed.
They have a clear vision and a solid foundation to their game: a strong concept, a good understanding of the market and competition, and a solid grasp on how to engage the audience. In a nutshell, they planned well and executed along the lines of the plan.
This is where game design documentation comes in. It is the foundation of a game, since it is a tangible expression of the game vision. It ensures the project remains faithful to the vision and defines what pillars, mechanics and scope are needed to fulfil it.
Strong documentation is based on research and expertise; it outlines and aligns the key elements, quantifies the necessary resources, sets development steps and key milestones for the project. It brings clarity to the team – who are working towards an agreed goal, achieving agreed milestones within an agreed timeframe -, as well as potential partners and investors – who can assess the project strengths and decide to support development.
Without this clarity, the project is likely to find itself deviating from the original hook, including conflicting mechanics, over-scoping vs. the team size and/or expertise, generally lagging behind schedule and, if eventually able to launch, will likely not reap the desired rewards since it’s missing key elements for player engagement.
Every game development phase has specific documentation needs, for example:
· In the Concept phase, it’s essential to clarify the game vision, supported by a market and competition analysis.
· In the Pre-Production phase, it’s essential to validate the Core Gameplay Loop by building a prototype, testing it and collecting feedback.
· In the Production phase, it’s essential to refine and unify all the game’s systems, to attain the desired game feel.
Game design documentation may seem trivial or tedious, but in the absence of clarity or, in other words, without a solid plan, it’s easy for a game to fall into the 80%, or never come to life at all.
Let’s give your game the best chance to succeed by clarifying the potential of your vision into a solid game design document!
