Secrets of the Game Business (Game Development Series) [Paperback]

Francois Dominic Laramee (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Series: Game Development Series | Publication Date: February 5, 2003

This essential collection explores the inner workings of the game business through the experiences and insights of industry experts. The articles, case studies, and interviews cover all aspects of the industry, providing real-world examples that illustrate how successful companies and individuals have achieved their goals. Everything is covered, from how the retail market works to financing a start-up.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

François Dominic Laramée (Verdun, QC) has designed, programmed, and/or produced over 20 games for con-soles, personal computers, interactive television, and online networks over the last decade. He is a prolific writer and the holder of graduate degrees in computer science and business administration. He is also the editor of Game Design Perspectives and he has contributed to the Game Programming Gems and AI Game Programming Wisdom series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1st edition (February 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584502827
• ISBN-13: 978-1584502821
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,992,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for understanding the publisher better!, July 7, 2003

By 

Randy J. Wilson "Raze" (Staten Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of the Game Business (Game Development Series) (Paperback)

I've acquired a few books about game development and the game business, yet this is the first one that truly gave me the information I had wondered about for some time now. Many questions regarding royalty rates, the process of going from a game in its gold copy all the way to the retailer's shelves, and more are explained here.

This book helps to clear up any misconceptions that developers often have about the publisher, as well as keep future and startup development teams primed and with a good guideline of what to expect.

Definitely worth having in your collection, especially if you're a new developer like myself, or are intending to get involved with the game industry.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the startup developer!, February 20, 2004

By 

Dave Mark (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets of the Game Business (Game Development Series) (Paperback)

There is a review already on here claiming that the book is poor because he was an industry veteran and the book didn't teach him anything new. I find that rather like picking up a 2nd grade "learn to read" book and claiming that it is not valuable because you already know how to read. Obviously this book is not targeted to industry veterans.

However, the book IS targeted at people who are new to the game development industry and want to know it works from a business, legal and production standpoint. In that role, it performs admirably. The writers are all established voices in the industry and share their insight well. As the president of a small development studio, I have 7 or 8 little flags poking out of the top of my copy for topics that I want to reread or reference once in a while.

I believe that the book will be of help to anyone thinking of starting a new studio right up through their first year of business. As long as you believe that your time is worth money, the price of this book it is worth spending so as to save yourself the time and headache of trying to figure it out on your own.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Collection, October 5, 2003

By 

John Hattan (Southlake, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of the Game Business (Game Development Series) (Paperback)

Reviewing a collection of essays isn't easy, because they are by definition a hodgepodge of widely-varying subjects, similar to a restaurant reviewer who's charged with reviewing a buffet. A buffet that is mostly excellent could get an overall mediocre rating if there's a really frightening tub of vegetable mush that wrecks the whole experience, and a review of a mostly mediocre buffet could scare people away from a truly excellent entrée hiding in there. The only buffets that are easy to review are the ones that are 100% good or 100% bad, and those are a rare thing.

Thankfully, the editor Francois Dominic Laramee has made my job easy by editing together a uniformly excellent collection of essays on the game business. The essays are all well-written, and Mr. Laramee has done a terrific job of editing them together into a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts (along with contributing four essays himself). The authors represent a good cross-section of independent developers and game company executives, all of whom appear to be quite willing to impart their own business wisdom to the reader.

One thing I liked right away was that the material is all presented in concrete terms and not some nebulous motivational-speaker gibberish. The authors, on the whole, are more than happy to provide real numbers and case-studies to back up their claims. The subjects covered are wide-ranging, going from do's and don'ts of dealing with publishers, putting together a business model and business plan, managing a project that won't get cancelled, and specific "wrap up" topics like managing customer-support in MMORPG games.

Another pleasant surprise (likely due to Laramee's Quebecer heritage) is that the essays are not USA-centric, as you see in most books about business. While there are certainly plenty of case-studies of US companies, there are also some essays about the game industry in Europe and how to deal with offshore contractors.

_Secrets of the Game Business_ should be required reading for anyone with plans to become an independent game developer. While it's far from a complete guide on how to get into the business, lacking things like the legal minutiae of obtaining copyrights and trademarks and making work-for-hire agreements, this book is a terrific overview of how to build a product, work with a publisher/producer, and get your product on the shelf. Happy reading!