For this project, I have been researching all about the gaming industry and from my findings, it seems that even though the gaming industry is very vast with many hundreds of gaming companies existing today, there appear to be only three main corporations that are leading ahead of all the other companies. These companies are:
- Sony – a Japanese conglomerate company that was founded in 1946, meaning that it has been running for over 50 years. Sony has become very successful in the games industry with the success of their highest selling games console, the Sony Playstation 3.
- Microsoft – an American multinational company that was founded in 1975, meaning that it has been operational for over 30 years. Microsoft have become very famous and successful not only for their computing software, but also for their highest grossing games console, the Xbox 360.
- Nintendo – another Japanese multinational company that was founded in 1889, making it the oldest running company of the three. Nintendo have become world famous, making both games and consoles for many years, including their most successful console today, the Nintendo Wii.
These three companies are the most recognisable when it comes to gaming consoles, but there are many other companies that make a profit in the games industry by only selling games for the consoles. For example, Ubisoft is a major French games company (recorded as the third largest in 2008) that only makes computer games and not actual consoles. This means that they have to release the games on other company's consoles.
There are also developers who create games, but not on a very large scale. These game developers also make up the majority of game companies in the world, as they are small companies, but very vast in numbers. They are called 'independent game developers'. These companies are called independent game developers because they make all of their games through their own funding, unlike larger mainstream companies who are usually paid/funded by other companies to make their games. The games made by these independent companies are usually called 'indie games', which seems to discriminate them from other games. Because they are independently made, they games made may not be as good or detailed as a mainstream game, but are used to help get an independent developer and his team (if any) noticed by other companies. For example, an independent game production company called SuperGiant Games created a very good indie game called The Bastion, which was a 2-D open world game that was critically acclaimed for it's amazing story over it's gameplay. Many larger companies like Nintendo and Sony probably also started off as independent developers, as many other games companies do. This shows that by doing well in the video games industry, there can be a huge profit to obtain the more successful a company becomes.
Because my game company is designed by me and is not funded by any other company, I would be considered an indie game developer. This can affect sales, as many people want to solely buy games from mainstream companies that they already know. I will need to take this into consideration when deciding on a target audience to aim for.
There are also developers who create games, but not on a very large scale. These game developers also make up the majority of game companies in the world, as they are small companies, but very vast in numbers. They are called 'independent game developers'. These companies are called independent game developers because they make all of their games through their own funding, unlike larger mainstream companies who are usually paid/funded by other companies to make their games. The games made by these independent companies are usually called 'indie games', which seems to discriminate them from other games. Because they are independently made, they games made may not be as good or detailed as a mainstream game, but are used to help get an independent developer and his team (if any) noticed by other companies. For example, an independent game production company called SuperGiant Games created a very good indie game called The Bastion, which was a 2-D open world game that was critically acclaimed for it's amazing story over it's gameplay. Many larger companies like Nintendo and Sony probably also started off as independent developers, as many other games companies do. This shows that by doing well in the video games industry, there can be a huge profit to obtain the more successful a company becomes.
Because my game company is designed by me and is not funded by any other company, I would be considered an indie game developer. This can affect sales, as many people want to solely buy games from mainstream companies that they already know. I will need to take this into consideration when deciding on a target audience to aim for.
Good, you are starting to think about institutions but this is a tad brief. You could now follow this up with some hard data about profit margins of these companies, some research into the production process of create a game (it will be similar to the film process you studied last year), production costs, distribution ( where games are advertised, why these choices are made e.g. if the game if for children it will be advertise during children's TV, in children's magazines, on billboards on school routes etc).
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