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How long does it take to create a video game?

I need specific information for a reasearch in school. Thank You!

game-development
Thank you comment icon Please, I need the answer by tomorrow! Daniella
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Art’s Answer

Hello there!

It can depend on a lot of factors.

One of the largest factors is the scale of the video game. Is it a large multi world game or is it a single level video game? Of course, a large open world game that can give players at least 60 hours of video game time can take 2 years or even more to complete. However, a videogame that is just a single stage demo can take significantly less time and can be done in 2 weeks if there is a coordinated team behind it.

Other factors to consider:
The size of the team making the videogame. A smaller team means less people creating the videogame and thus can increase development time.
The type of video game being made. A videogame about puzzles can be made quicker than an open world videogame meant to explore various locations.
Internal development issues. Sometimes the development of a video game does not go according to plan. You may be stuck trying to realize what the videogame is and can even take the videogame in different directions.
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Juney’s Answer

+1 to everything Art wrote!

Two notes in addition:
* These days, some games are developed further after they launch. World of Warcraft, GTA 5 and Minecraft have been continuously developed after they released.
* Also, some roles & disciplines aren't needed throughout development, so for some, the development timeline might be years, while it's only a couple weeks for others.
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Marianna’s Answer

I am not a pro at all, but just saw that you need answer by tomorrow so something better then nothing.
It was small college project when pair had to make a small game - visual novel, with a simple story, but with varios endings. Finally, without a lot of studying for this it took about 10 hours in general. Hope it helps




P.S. If you are interested. The plot of novel: the princess send a letter to a five-headed dragon And she asked him to steal her because her father wants to marry her off. All five heads agree because they have to pay rent for the cave, and she offered the money. But the king announced a dragon hunt to save the princess after he stole her. The princess tells the dragon to arrange a casting for her future husband out of all those knights who will come for her. And so each head asks knight (the user) a question, if you guess, then you pass on, If not, then you get blacklisted.
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Mark’s Answer

The more you know about what you want to make, and the types of platforms you will deliver on - the better estimate you can come up with. Projects scale in time like they do with people. Number and type of platforms (e.g. a Mobile phone game is faster to develop on than Console). The type of monetization make a big difference. How risky your concept is (how far it is from an existing game) will affect development times. Does the game need to be commercially successful (as opposed to an artistic project)? Game genres and art style also factor into the size of team or length of time. Also think of time to create as a related variable to size of team. A solo developer can create a big or novel game over a very long time, a nimble experienced team can do a lot of development in a short time, etc.
Typical times in my experience: AAA games take 5 years and team sizes start at 50 people and go up. Indie (mid tier) projects take 2.5 years with teams of 16 people. Solo indie projects take 3-4 years. Add 30% for doing something that isn't similar to what is already in the marketplace. Add a year for anything multiplayer. Add 6 months of development time per additional platform.

Mark recommends the following next steps:

Create a model of different representative sizes of titles and platforms based on public data from corporate statements, and funding reports from sites like crunchbase.
Build an estimate of the team size needed for the game you are considering. Multiply typical lengths of development by people using industry standard ranges for compensation to calculate your studio's 'burn rate'
Play some of the simulations of 'game studio' development on Steam and run your fictional game studio
Join groups like the IGDA student chapters (or other developer student chapters) or your local indie game developer group to continue the conversation.
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