Why is it important to carry out market research?
It is important to carry out market research to see how appealing your game will be to your target market, as well as how effective your USPs are.
What do you need to consider when making a game?
Where the current gaps in the market are regarding game genres, as well as whats popular in the industries current state. Using this you can determine what kind of game would be best to make and the ideal audience you should target.
What could cause harm or offense?
- Violence and Gore
- Using copyrighted/trademarked assets without seeking permission
- Using buildings and people from real life without also seeking permission or carrying out the relevant research regarding what is being used, for example the Empire State Building and the Queen.
- Religions and religious figures being shown in an offensive manor
- Flashing images which without using the correct precautions or warning the player upon opening the game can affect people with photo sensitive epilepsy.
What regulations are there?
- Copyright
- Trademark
- PEGI Rating System
Who checks the content of the game?
- The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)
- PEGI (Pan European Game Information) rate the games suitably
How will you know if your game will be addictive/find out what makes a game addictive?
Good ways to see if your game will be addictive are to:
- Survey it and see the responses collected to get an idea of what people are looking for/if they are interested in your game.
- Go to game expos and conventions and ask about for feedback. Getting a stall and asking people to test your game is also a very good way of collecting feedback.
Why do games companies need to follow guidelines when making their games?
If guidelines are not followed closely, companies can face scrutiny, bad publicity, fines, lawsuits and can even have the game banned in certain regions/countries. They need to follow these guidelines to maintain ethnicity also.