Key Takeaways from GI Sprint: Expert Insights on Game Development

Over the past three weeks, GamesIndustry.biz has been exploring ways for game studios to counter rising development costs and create games more efficiently. The first GI Sprint covered various topics, including AI, cloud technology, remote work, game conception, and team management. All the videos from the series are available on YouTube and as podcasts on multiple platforms. To make it easier to access the best advice, we've included the main points below. Our initial session featured the former head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, who shared thoughts on unsustainable game development costs, particularly in the AAA space, and strategies to reduce them. His recommendations included designing fewer levels, making games shorter, and leveraging AI and tools to streamline development. He also emphasized the importance of discipline in delivering projects on time and avoiding excessive time spent on unproductive ideas. On a similar note, Ant Workshop's managing director discussed the benefits of developing more focused and frequent releases. Key points from his discussion included keeping game scope simple to speed up development, reusing ideas from past projects, considering lower price points, and reevaluating success metrics. We also spoke with Xbox's GM for gaming AI and a product leader for Xbox Game Creator services about how cloud and AI can help developers create games. They identified four areas where these technologies can assist: coding, story creation, live service management, and community management. However, they noted that cloud and AI cannot replace human game developers. A panel of experts further explored the role of AI in making game development faster, better, and cheaper. Their advice included avoiding the latest trends without careful consideration, exploring open-source tools, automating monotonous tasks, and retaining a human touch in game development. King's AI Labs department lead shared how the company is using AI, including a playtesting bot that has significantly reduced manual tweaks and sped up level refinement. The Hitman developer's new chief technology officer discussed the advantages of running in-house technology and the potential role of AI in reducing rework. Free Lives, Ant Workshop, and indie game developer Rami Ismail offered candid advice on bringing game ideas to life and knowing when to abandon them. Their suggestions included stopping unproductive projects early, focusing on fun and feasibility, and avoiding time-wasting features. Organizational psychologist Graham McAllister detailed the challenges of aligning team vision and provided tips on how to overcome these issues, including precise communication of the game idea, locking down the vision early, and encouraging team questions. Veteran designer Jesse Schell shared his experience of maintaining a stable team without layoffs since 2002 and offered advice on changing business practices, prioritizing people, and being efficient and agile. Finally, Bossa Studios and FuturLab discussed the benefits of remote working and maintaining efficiency, highlighting the importance of adapting to remote work, maintaining vision alignment, efficient remote working, and clear online communication.