Former Riot Games Developers Introduce Open-Source Tool to Revolutionize Game Development

The Believer Company, founded by Riot Games veterans, has officially launched its internal development tool, Friendshipper, as an open-source project. This innovative tool has been instrumental in streamlining the development process of the studio's debut next-generation open-world multiplayer game. By leveraging Friendshipper, the team can rapidly implement bug fixes during playtests and significantly enhance overall development efficiency. According to CTO Landon McDowell, the primary objective of Friendshipper is to enable swift code changes, facilitate rapid builds, and seamlessly deploy these changes to both internal teams and external testers. McDowell attributes the decision to share this technology to a fundamental belief that there is a better approach to game development. Having experienced the challenges of traditional game development firsthand, The Believer Company aims to create a more efficient and enjoyable development process. This includes more frequent play testing and minimizing crunch time. Since its inception last year, the studio has grown to 65 employees, with only a small team dedicated to Friendshipper's development. McDowell emphasizes that Friendshipper is just one potential solution to the problems faced by game developers and that the industry as a whole can benefit from collaboration and knowledge sharing. By releasing Friendshipper as an open-source project, The Believer Company hopes to foster a community that can learn from and contribute to the development of more efficient game development tools. The ultimate goal is to make game development a more enjoyable experience, which in turn benefits players. In an upcoming editorial special, GamesIndustry.biz will delve deeper into the topic of faster, better, and more cost-effective game development. The conversation with McDowell also explored other ways to achieve this goal, which will be discussed in more detail during the GI Sprint editorial special.