A financial plan or as it can be known as a 'budget' is important to any business as it lets you plan out your financial future. For example, if a business is creating a product then they will have a set amount, the budget, that they are willing to spend on the development. It helps to have a plan because it gives you an idea for the long term plan that you can refer to so you know if you are doing everything as efficiently as possible. Doing this also means that there will be less problems for you and your business in the future and also you can workout what kind of profit you will make
With a financial plan, it helps to have one of these of you are looking for a investor or partner as it shows them you have thoroughly thought it through and that you are professional and more than likely a good partner to work will.
A budget is created before you start to develop your product, you need to consider all aspects within this document from the basic utility's, electric and water etc..., to the software you employees use to make your product.
When you release a product for the public to buy there is a term which is called, The Break-even Point. This term means when your product has neither made you a profit or made you a loss, for example if you spent £5,000 in the development stage and only made £5,000 when it was commercially available then you didn't make any money neither lost any.
Problems within the Gaming Industry,
Games specifically triple AAA games recently are losing the game aspect because the companies are dedication a lot of their time and money into the cinematic's of the game being produced instead of the actual gameplay. Well it isn't all bad to make these very immersive cutscenes but you have too keep all the aspects of the development stage in proportion with one another to find a good middle ground.
The Uncharted series has many cutscenes within the game and people are starting to called this series of games as a 'cinematic game'. I think that game developer as taking too much inspiration from filmmakers which i think should stop or at least not take as much as they are currently. There are some games that need the cinematic effect to the game like Portal, but game developers need to create a whole new style instead of taking it from other aspects.
Another problem in the games industry is sexism and representation of women in video games. Gaming has always had a specific way to present a female character within a game, It has been a problem in the industry for years however, it has been more apparent in the past year or so.
There could be multiple reasons for the lack of change over the years but I think it comes down to two main factors, immaturity within companies and developers are too afraid to try something new in case it doesn't get positive feedback from the public.
The gaming community has always had women within it however, it is continuously rising and these women may be very offended by the way they may be seen by others. This is why I think that there is a major need for change fast before something serious happens like losing percentages of the community.
There are many problems in the industry however, the final one I am going to state an opinion on is companies creating a game and releasing many DLC's throughout the games lifespan. Don't get me wrong I think DLC is a great idea however, the base game is getting smaller and smaller every year and more DLC's are being released which is taking so much more money from people hard working wages.
As you can see from the image above games throughout the years have been decreasing in size and increasing in price. Companies are trying to milk their fans out of their money by releasing a game then placing DLC to be purchased separately that will eventually cost more that the game if you buy all the ones available.
I think that companies should revert back to the times where you just buy a game and know what you spent your money on, A FULL GAME!
Trends are important to a business because it lets them look at what people aren't particularly having fun with and those which they love so then the businesses can tailor to the public's needs. It also helps the public to receive the games that they are wanting.
Family gaming has a pretty big part in current market and industry trends, especially on consoles from Nintendo, like the Wii-U. Family gaming is becoming more and more popular as time goes on because parents who grew up with games are now passing the trend down their family line and is making it so parents pay and encourage children to play video games with them. There was a survey about how many parents play video games with their child and they say that 75% of parents do so. This is cause families are spending more time as a family due to the games because it is something the whole family is interested in.
Due to this, many children aren't getting televisions in their room and sitting on their own for a period of time as they can play games downstairs with the whole family. As I mentioned before Nintendo has mastered games that are suited for the whole family, ranging from Mario, Super Smash Bros and lots more.
Another trend within the gaming industry is E-Sports, this is a term for competitive games where there is leagues filled with teams that play against one another for usually a cash amount. It has been increasing it's prize pools because many more people are watching their tournaments. There are many games that are a huge contribution to the success of E-sports like Counter-Strike, League of Legends and other games that are hugely competitive.
Recently, Virtual Reality, (V.R.), has been on a rise with the creation of the Oculus Rift. A screen that you place right in front of your eyes. Virtual Reality is a immersive surrounding that makes you think you are involved with the story. The Oculus Rift started out as a kickstarter project and was only available to purchase a development kit to test and create games for it. However, it now available for the general public.
Image Sources;
http://store.steampowered.com/app/400/
http://gamingrespawn.com/reviews/2195/uncharted-nathan-drake-collection-review/
https://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6ccde38f9fa6ee57353afcc678f657ff?convert_to_webp=true
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