from generalist to specialist

The games industry is a very fast changing industry. Because it is relatively new compared to other entertainment industries, for example, the film industry, it is constantly shifting. The technology used to create games has gone from very basic 3d models to the high poly models that we have today in the space of my lifetime, and shows very little signs of slowing down.

Because the industry is growing so quickly, it means new job roles are being created. In the past, a very small team of people worked on games. For example, two people, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, created pong, which was a very early game . Now big budget games often have hundreds of people working on them. For example, the games developer Naughty Dog employs over 170 people. However, this company was started by just two people, Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin.  The job roles that people have has also become more specialised. There was a time where the programmers would make all the graphics themselves and the role we are training for didn't exist.

An exception to this could be the growing amounts indie game developers. They usually have smaller teams, with people taking on multiple roles. The internet has helped greatly with this, as it allows small developers to promote their games to a wider audience. The finished game can also be made available for download, which cuts down the cost of distribution and allow more people to get a copy of their game. An example of this is mine craft, which was originally made by one person, Markus Persson, and later expanded to a larger team . Also, the wide spread use of smart phones has lead to more mobile games, which has been great for smaller  developers as these games are smaller and do not require such a large team to produce.

Because of the size of games, some companies use outsourcing . The definition of this is   'Outsourcing is any task, operation, job or process that could be performed by employees within an organization, but is instead contracted to a third party for a significant period of time.' This is used because outsourcing companies are often in countries outside of Europe and north America, so it costs less. They are often used on big projects were lots of assets need to be made. However, some people are afraid that outsourcing limits the jobs available to  game artists in the uk, as it is cheaper to outsource a lot of assets. On the other hand, it is often difficult to tell what you might get back; the benefits of having a team in one place can't be under estimated, as it makes it a lot easier to communicate between people and make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Because the industry changes so quickly, it is difficult to be able to predict what will happen in the next ten years or so. More and more specialised jobs may be created as games get bigger, or it may be that smaller teams will become more predominate, with employees taking on multiple roles. Personally, because of this, I don't think it is a good idea to become too specialised while working on this course, as you never know what developments might happen in the future or what jobs will be available.

http://operationstech.about.com/od/glossary/g/Outsourcing.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft#Development