In this blog post, we’ll explore the roles and collaboration methods of the five job categories that make up game development, as well as the characteristics of the game industry.
The Five Job Categories in Game Development
If you enjoy playing games, you’ve probably played a role-playing game (RPG) at least once. Role-playing games feature various classes, and to take on powerful enemies, players must divide their roles in battle. For example, tanks protect allies with their high health and defense, damage dealers handle most of the attacking while under the tanks’ protection, and healers restore health so that allies can hold out. What’s interesting is that the people who create these games are also divided into several professional roles. While people often imagine game development as a group of people sitting around a computer writing code, actual game development consists of five main roles: design, programming, art, sound, and project management (PM). Just like the classes in a game, these teams closely coordinate their ideas, collaborate, and interact to achieve a common goal.
The Role of the Design Team
First, let’s take a look at the design team. Designers are responsible for designing the game’s overall structure and determining its direction. They plan every aspect of the game, from the overall concept and style to gameplay mechanics, the user interface (UI), and events. It’s no exaggeration to say that a significant portion of a game’s fun is determined during the design phase. One of the important, yet often overlooked, skills in the design team is the ability to communicate one’s ideas effectively. Designers must request work from other departments to move the project forward based on their design documents, and they must present these documents in a way that is easy for each department to understand. For example, they might provide programmers with a checklist or chart outlining the required features, and offer artists art styles or references to use as guidance. For this reason, the more understanding and knowledge a designer has across various fields, the more smoothly the project can proceed.
The Role of the Programming Team
The programming team is responsible for actually implementing the planned game systems, and it is also where the deliverables produced by other teams are ultimately integrated. Since they must implement everything from the project’s basic structure to its detailed features, they play a central role in the team and generally handle a heavy workload. Depending on the project’s scale, the work may be relatively simple; however, as the scale increases—especially in multiplayer games where many users connect simultaneously—specialized technical skills such as server communication, network optimization, and security become increasingly important. In the past, developers had to implement even the most basic systems from scratch to create a game, but today, various game engines—including “Unity” and “Unreal Engine”—provide these capabilities, significantly reducing the burden on developers. As a result, talented developers are able to create high-quality games as solo developers or in small teams.
The Role of the Art Department
The art department is responsible for all visual elements of the game, including illustrations. The art style is the first thing players notice when they encounter a game, and it plays a key role in effectively conveying the atmosphere, experience, and message the game intends to deliver. The department creates concept art that serves as the foundation for the game’s overall atmosphere and concept, as well as various images used in the actual game, such as characters, objects, backgrounds, and buttons. In 3D games, this is achieved by creating three-dimensional models within a space and then applying images to them; the art department is responsible for creating the textures that define the surfaces of these 3D models. Furthermore, the workload increases significantly when animations or visual effects (VFX) need to be produced. While some of this work involves creating individual frames by hand, movement is sometimes implemented using programming, depending on the situation.
The Role of the Sound Department
The sound department is responsible for all sounds in the game. Sound has a greater impact on a game’s enjoyment and immersion than one might think. Just consider the “Super Mario” series as a prime example—it’s easy to see how crucial sound is to a game’s success. Sound is broadly categorized into background music (BGM) and sound effects (SE). Background music may vary depending on the game’s progress, but it is generally used by looping a track of a certain length. Sound effects consist of sounds played for brief moments; when unique sound effects are needed, they are either created from scratch or designed using audio assets. Since sound works in synergy with the art style to determine the overall atmosphere of the game, it is crucial to produce it with a thorough understanding of the game’s concept.
The Role of the PM
The PM (Project Manager) serves as the team leader responsible for managing the entire project. Since game development involves people from various fields working together on a complex project, problems and conflicts of opinion frequently arise. The PM must share the project’s goals and vision with team members, coordinate the opinions of each department, and lead the team to successfully complete the project. For example, let’s assume a problem arises where a monster controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) gets stuck against a wall in a stage and cannot move. The programmer might conclude that there is a problem with the stage design created by the designer, while the designer might believe the issue lies in the programming that implements the AI. In such situations where differing opinions clash, it is the PM’s crucial role to assess the urgency and importance of the problem and devise a solution.
The Future of the Gaming Industry
As such, game development is a quintessential integrated cultural industry where technology, art, planning, and management converge. In South Korea, the gaming industry has grown into a core sector of the content industry, and public perception of games has also improved significantly compared to the past. Furthermore, the global gaming market is growing steadily, and the scope of the industry continues to expand as new technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) are integrated. As many countries are fostering the gaming industry as one of their future growth sectors, it is highly likely that a steady influx of talented professionals and investment will continue. Considering these factors, those creating new value in the field of game development can also expect significant growth potential for their own futures.
