“Why did you copy that other game? Don’t you want to make something new and original?”

Of course (nearly) all game developers want to make something new and original but there are a great many factors that inform a team’s decision on what game to make. I want to give my perspective on the decisions that may go into making an “in-genre” game. I hope I can change a few minds that think when a game is influenced by another game, that the developers are not just creatively bankrupt or making a “cash grab”.

We are fans

This might be a surprise, but most game developers are game players too. We are fans of all the same games every one else is playing. You know when you sit around with your friends playing a game and say, “I like Game XYZ, but I would LOVE this game if it had this and that“? Well, game developers have those same conversations and we (sometimes) get to do something about it! We can make the game we would love to play.

For Battle Party, the team liked LoL, DOTA, and other MOBAs. However, we are filthy casuals and find the standard MOBA formula too complicated, too toxic, and find the games take way too long to play. We wanted to make a MOBA for people like us.

 

Existing Team & Tech

OK, so maybe you want to make a FPS with a grappling hook or, in our case, a super streamlined “Arcade MOBA”. What existing game engines or code base do you have already? What does the current team have experience or expertise making? Do all of these things line up?

Our team had a lot of experience with 1) multiplayer competitive games and 2) Diablo-style isometric games – a perfect fit for making a MOBA.

 

Business Goals

Now you have the game you want to make and the team to make it, but does it align with your parent company’s goals? Is anyone going to give you time and funds to make it?

In our case, CN needed a competitive online game with global appeal. A game where we could roll out new character-specific content over a long period of time.

We had been wanting to make our take on MOBAs for a long time and the opportunity finally presented itself. We had the right design for the business goals, we had the team and tech, it was a perfect fit!

 

Deadlines

Game deadlines almost always slip. However when making games for a television company, there is a lot on the line. There are episodes of shows being produced, commercials being made, worldwide marketing plans being created – the game has to go out on time. The is no wiggle room, not a single day.

Here is where the risk of something new is a huge gamble. We have to ask ourselves, “Can we make a game that’s new & innovative, in a year, with this team, that’s good, on time and in budget? Can you 100% guarantee that?” There is absolutely no way you can guarantee that.

I have worked directly on 50+ games and consulted on 100+ more and I have seen how many times something truly unique, something that sounds really exciting on paper, ends up either a) taking way longer to “find the fun” than you imagined or b) turned out being bad in development, no matter how much work you put into it.

 

Conclusion

The next time you see a “copy” of game, consider that it might be the game the team was really excited about making. Maybe they had the right skills and tech already in place so they could worry about the fun part of development – making the game fun and not having to worry about making it just work. Maybe their parent company’s needs aligned perfectly with something they were passionate about. And maybe they had 6 months to make it.