The Industry & The Players
Week 1 • Lecture 1
Market Snapshot
Gaming is Bigger Than...
Global Gaming Revenue
How Did We Get Here?
Platform Revenue Split
Mobile Dominates
Games shown: Candy Crush, PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact
Console Gaming
Consoles shown: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch
PC Gaming
Features: Steam, esports, modding, highest fidelity
F2P vs Premium
F2P Giants
Regional Markets
MENA & Pakistan
Fastest growing region globally
World-class talent from Pakistan
Arslan Ash
Tekken World Champion
EVO 2019 & 2023 Champion
First Pakistani to win a major FGC title
Sumail Hassan
Dota 2 Legend
TI5 Champion at age 16
Youngest esports millionaire
Market Snapshot Recap
- $200B+ global industry
- Mobile = 50% of revenue
- F2P dominates earnings
- Asia leads, MENA growing fast
Who Makes Games?
The Spectrum
500+ people
50-200 people
1-20 people
AAA: The Big Budgets
Games shown: GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza 5
Budget Comparison
Indie: Small Teams, Big Dreams
Games shown: Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Celeste
Team Sizes Across the Industry
AA: The Middle Ground
Games shown: Helldivers 2, Hi-Fi Rush, A Plague Tale
$10-50M budgets · 50-200 people
Publisher vs Developer
Major Publishers
The Team
Design
Mechanics, levels, balance
Art
Concept, 2D, 3D, VFX
Programming
Gameplay, engine, tools
Audio
Music, SFX, voice
QA
Testing, bug reports
Production
Schedules, coordination
Game Designer
Mechanics · Systems · Balance · Player Experience
Artists
Concept · 2D · 3D · Technical Art · VFX · UI
Programmers
Gameplay · Engine · Tools · AI · Networking · Graphics
Audio
Music · SFX · Voice Acting · Implementation
Solo Dev Heroes
Toby Fox
Undertale
Music + Design + Code
Eric Barone
Stardew Valley
Everything. 4 years.
Lucas Pope
Papers, Please
Unique vision
You can do this too.
How Games Reach You
The Old Days
Digital Revolution
Steam: The PC Giant
Console Storefronts
Walled gardens · 30% platform cut · Approval required
Mobile Stores
Billions of downloads · 30% cut · Discoverability is key
Alternatives
itch.io
You choose cut
Indie-friendly
The Subscription Era
Physical vs Digital
Distribution Recap
- Steam dominates PC (75%)
- Consoles = closed ecosystems
- Mobile = massive but crowded
- Subscriptions reshaping the market
Discussion
Let's Talk
- What games do you play?
- What platforms do you use?
- What drew you to this course?
- What kind of games do you want to make?
Next Time
Genres, Design & What Makes Games Fun
See You Next Class!
Questions? Come chat after class.