Challenging Operations

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    • Challenging Operations

      Hello All,

      I heard Mr. Mike lecture at GDC and wanted to debate a few points. He graciously set up this forum and invited me to participate. My hope is through conversation, we can refine operational points of a game company, share a few ideas and bring the industry forward a few paces.

      First of all, I loved the speech. I think it's a great starting point. So here's my first question: Mr. Mike himself raised the point of R&D and that a larger percentage of his budget should have been spent in this area. So how much? I think there's another unfilled hole in the presentation: Marketing? And how much of a budget should be portioned off for the marketing?

      - Clarinda
      Clarinda Merripen
      Director of Operations
      Cyberlore Studios, Inc
    • RE: Challenging Operations

      I'd first say that it would be useful to narrow the scope of the discussion by deciding what kind of company we are talking about?

      - Standalone software studio that develops, publishes, and markets their own products?
      - Third party studio that works with a publisher?
      - First party studio that works with outside developers?

      I assume we're talking about the 2nd option, but I didn't want to just guess. Also - what size of company are we talking about?

      - Small; under 30 people.
      - Medium; under 100 people.
      - Large; under 500 people.
      - Electronic Arts; everyone else!

      Again, I'll assume something and go with the 1st option.

      Is that a good beginning?
      Mr.Mike
      Author, Programmer, Brewer, Patriot
    • R&D and Marketing are two extremely variable expenses that differ greatly for different situations.

      On a sliding scale, I think companies that are starting out may not have the luxury to invest in R&D... and Marketing is something that a publisher might be able to take over completely, sparing the small studio the expense of marketing entirely.