Outsourcing
Several development disciplines, such as, for example, audio, dialogue, or motion capture, occur for relatively short periods of time. Efficient employment of these roles requires either large development house with multiple simultaneous title production or it requires outsourcing from third-party vendors. Employing personnel for these tasks full-time is expensive. Majority of developers outsource a portion of the work. Outsourcing plans are conceived during pre-production stage; where the time and finances required for outsourced work are estimated.
- Programming is not usually outsourced. Some modular tools, such as, video compressor or map editor, may be outsourced.
- The music cost ranges based on length of composition, method of performance (live or synthesized), and composer experience. In 2003 a minute of high quality synthesized music cost between US$600-1.5k. A title with 20 hours of gameplay and 60 minutes of music may have cost $50k-60k for musical score.
- Voice acting is well suited for outsourcing, it requires a set of specialized skills. Only large publishers employ in-house voice actors.
- Sound effects can also be outsourced.
Read more about this topic: Computer And Video Game Development