In association with: BETA | OUTSOURCING
UK-based company Catalyst was the creative outfit behind Bizarre Creation’s Bloodstone (above), sourcing and managing the creation of concept art, storyboards and in-game art assets, whilst Spov created all the cinematic cut-scenes for Infinity Ward’s blockbuster Modern Warfare 3 (right)
SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM Some of the blame for any poor quality resu lts over the years could lay at the developer’s own doorstep as well. The communication pipelines between developer and outsourcer are critical to a successful partnership, and studio’s have in the past been guilty of lacking extensive guidelines and leaving the service provider to it. Ashtiani says that occasionally Atomhawk
will receive a brief from a developer made up of bullet points, and expects to “then magically get a finished image back that is exactly how they wanted it”. He also says that getting enough feedback from a client can also be a difficult process, and this can potentially affect the quality of the product. “The issue that most frequently causes
problems for both parties is feedback time. For example a studio books us for four weeks but doesn’t have the capacity to feedback on the work we are doing fast enough,” he explains. “So each time we submit there is a two to
three day delay and over four weeks, that can easily push a project out by 20-to-25 per cent. This delay then means the client doesn’t get the project finished when they wanted it, and we end up with staff ‘on the bench’ for 25 per cent of the time while we await the necessary feedback.” Estdale says that OMUK “frequently” faces the same problem for its voice recording services, but believes that whilst developers need to be more clear and descriptive on
their goals, outsourcers also need to fill in any missing gaps. “Enlightening developers as to what is needed to achieve the goal is a key part of the outsourcer’s role,” he states. “You hire an expert to bring the full
weight of their expertise. It is an executable outsourcer if they fail to educate the developer, and a dumb developer who doesn’t listen.” Spov’s Higgot agrees, and believes it is a
two-way street, with both sides of the industry needing to work together to simplify and improve the process. “It is the client’s responsibility to issue a brief, the agency’s job to interrogate and
question the brief, and the process should continue from there. We should strive for openness, honesty and integrity in our working lives. It’s nothing clever, but it makes the job easier for us all.” Despite the problems with
communication and the remaining ethical concerns of off-shore outsourcing, the use of external service providers looks set to continue to grow as it becomes an integral part of the development process. With the costs of making games set to rise
as the industry moves to the next-generation, and as the competition on triple-A development heats up, the need for quality outsourcing partners has never been stronger.
38 | MARCH 2012
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