Video Game production is the process of developing a video game undertaken by a developer who may be a single person or an international team dispersed across the globe. And a video game production is not an easy job. The development can take for several years to reach completion. Indie games also known as independent video games usually takes less time and money and it can be developed by individuals and smaller developers. And the independent video game production has been on the rise, facilitated by the growth of accessible game development software such as Unity Platform and Unreal Engine, and new online distribution systems such as steam and Uplay, as well as the mobile game market for Android and iOS devices.
Video game production has a lot of benefits as playing video or mobile games has a lot of benefits like bringing people together, improved mood, boosting the power of brain. Moreover, playing video games helps in improving dexterity, problem-solving capabilities, and concentration. Video game production would help kids with autism as playing video games will help them to get more engaged. Video game production is the second biggest gaming field after mobile game production. And Americans spent over 50 billion USD in Video Games in 2021.
So, video game production is booming today. Today, the best gaming companies in the world experience the incredible success. And in gaming fields, the one that offers the best quality with most pleasant gaming experience is video games. In 2017, the gaming market was worth 78 billion USD and it hit up to 90 billion in 2020 and eighty percent of that revenue is in software. Since 2016, over 5 billion people have bought and played video games. Thus, video game production has brought enormous game revenues for many game publishers, development studios, and private individuals.
Most people who design and build video games for a living will tell you that game development is never pretty as planned. In video game production, there are many stages such as impending deadlines, bottlenecks in production, pressure from video game publishers, and endless work-weeks. However, there are some brave ones who could do well in their video game production. And they are some big players in the video game development.
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Sony – 20.3 Billion USD
Sony is a multinational video game production company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation. The company was founded in 1993, 27 years ago, in Tokyo. In video game production, Sony’s Play Station has been occupying most of video games since its release. This video game production company has been successfully released Play Station series till now. Since the launch of the original PlayStation console in 1994, the company has been continuously developing PlayStation home video game consoles, accessories and services lineup. Then the company has expanded from Japan into North America and in Europe.
Sony’s game revenue totaled 20.3 Billion USD last year and PlayStation 4 which came out in late 2013 continues to be the world’s most popular video game console. Moreover, Sony also produces many original video games for its console. The company’s handheld video game console, the PlayStation Vita, contributed to Sony’s no.1 position on the video game market. And also there are some notable releases from Sony Computer Entertainment such as Uncharted, Last of Us, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Little Pig Planet, Ratchet and Clank, God of War, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. As of March 2007, a total of 962 million copies of PlayStation software had been shipped worldwide and the top list of its video games are Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII, Gran Turismo 2 and Tekken 3.
Nintendo – 11.2 Billion USD
Last year was a very successful year for Nintendo which helped the Japanese video game company to reclaim the no.2 spot in this ranking of the Top 10 biggest video game production companies. The Japanese video game production company is headquartered in Kyoto and founded in 1889 as Nintendo Karuta by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards.
Nintendo has gained success in their video game production. Moreover, they might not use the latest technology compared to Microsoft’s Xbox Series X or Sony’s PS5, but that do not have any effect on the incredible performance of Nintendo. Nintendo is doing so well last year and so they are going to do many great things in 2021 and beyond. So, how do we know Nintendo is doing well? On November 5, 2020, Nintendo released its latest financial earning report, which, among other things, revealed that Nintendo was confident enough to increase its financial forecast midway through the fiscal year.
Many people are stuck at home during the pandemic and so they find ways to spend their time. So, Nintendo has increased sales due to this fact and so they have decided to increase their sales. And also Nintendo’s famous video game productions, Super Mario and Pokemon Franchises surged to 376.6 billion yen from 196 billion last year.
Microsoft – 11 Billion USD
Microsoft is the world’s largest software company and in video game production, they are the third largest. Their video game production branch, Xbox, consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications, streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox Live, the development arm by the name of Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft firstly introduced Xbox in November 2001 with the launch of the original Xbox console. Moreover, Microsoft owns more game studios than Sony with 23 game studios.
There are many famous games produced by Microsoft’s video game production, such as Minecraft, Microsoft Flight Simulation, Forza Horizon and Gears of War. This video game production company was based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March, 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is an American video game production company based in New York City. The company was established in December 16998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, and as successor to BMG Interactive, a dormant video game publisher of which Take-Two had previously acquired the assets. Founding members of the company were Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Co-founders Sam and Dan Houser head the studio as president and vice-president for creative, respectively.
Since 1999, several companies acquired by or established under Take-Two have become part of Rockstar Games, such as Rockstar Canada (later renamed Rockstar Toronto) becoming the first one in 1999, and Rockstar India the most recent in 2016. All companies organized under Rockstar Games bear the “Rockstar” name and logo.
Rockstar Games predominantly published games in the action-adventure genre, while racing games also saw success for the company. One of such action-adventure game franchises is Grand Theft Auto, which Rockstar Games took over from BMG Interactive, which published the series’ original 1997 entry. The most recent game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has shipped over 110 million copies since its release in September 20123, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. Other popular franchises published by Rockstar Games are Red Dead, Midnight Club, Max Payne and Manhunt.
Rockstar without a doubt should be in the top 10. They do not release a video game unless it is going to be Massive. With ground breaking titles under their belt, such as Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne, LA Noire and their upcoming title, Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar never ceases to amaze.
Electronic Arts (EA Games)
Electronics Arts EA is an American video game production company headquartered in Redwood City, California. It is the second largest video game production company in the United States and Europe by revenue and market capitalization after Activision Blizzard and ahead of Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft. This video game production company was founded by Trip Hawkins, an Apple employee, in May 27, 1982. The company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as “software artists”. EA has published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987’s Skate or Die!. Then the company shifted towards internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991.
EA develops and publishes console games of established franchises such as Battlefield, Need for Speed, The Sims, Medal of Honor, Command and Conquer, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Army of Two, Titanfall, and Star Wars. Then EA Sports titles FIFA, Madden NFL, NBA Live, NHL and EA Sports UFC.
Konami
Konami is a Japanese entertainment and video game production company. They operates as a product distributor (which produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, pachinko machines, and arcade cabinets), video game production company and publisher company. Besides those, it has casinos around the world and also operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan.
Konami’s video games include Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Contra, Frogger, Gradius, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Suikoden and Pro Evolution soccer. Additionally, Konami also owns Bemani, known for Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania, as well as the assets of former game developer Hudson Soft, known for Bomberman, Adventure Island, Bonk, Bloody Roar and Star Soldier. Konami is the twentieth-largest video game company in the world by revenue.
Square Enix
Square Enix is a Japanese video game production company founded in September 22, 1975, 45 years ago. Square Enix is famous for their famous video game productions such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts role-playing video game franchises, among numerous others. Square Enix also owns British video game production company Eidos Interactive, which was absorbed into Square Enix Europe to publish titles such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Just Cause. They also owns arcade video game production company, Taito, known for games such as Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, and Darius. Moreover, this video game production company is in the business of merchandise, amusement and the publication of manga under its Gangan Comics brand.
Several of their games franchises have sold over 10 million copies worldwide, with the Final Fantasy franchise selling 144 million, the Dragon Quest franchise selling 78 million and the Kingdom Hearts franchise selling 30 million. Square Enix’s main concentration is on video gaming, and it is primarily known for their role-playing video game franchises. Among their properties, the Final Fantasy Franchise, begun in 1987, is one of the best-selling, with a total worldwide sales of over 110 million units as of June 2014. Moreover, the Dragon Quest franchise, begun in 1986, is also high-selling and it is considered as one of the most popular game series in Japan.
Valve
Valve Corporation is an American video game production company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. This video game production company is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota Series. The video game production company was founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. In 2012, this giant video game production company employed around 250 people and was reportedly worth over 3 billion USD, making it the most profitable company per employee in the United States. In 2010s, Valve began developing hardware, such as the Steam Machine and the HTC Vive and Valve Index virtual reality handsets. There are many famous video games produced by Valve. Some of them are Counter-Strike Online, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Dota and Dota 2.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a French video game production company headquartered in the Paris. And they possess several development studios around the world. Some of their famous video game productions are Rayman, Raving Rabbids, Prince of Persia, and Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Just Dance and the Tom Clancy’s series. They are well known for video game production of open-world sandbox games. As of March 2018, Ubisoft is the fourth largest video game production company after Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive. Moreover, Ubisoft is a video game production company partially owned by both Tencent Games and EA, however, their video game production is under their names.
In a quest to expand the dominance of this video game production company in video game production industry, Vivendi Games steadily bought more shares of Ubisoft before a deal was signed in 2018 to strike down any potential takeover. But, the “takeover” of Ubisoft was unwelcome from a cultural and creative standpoint.
Some of Ubisoft’s famous video game production are Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy Series, and Far Cry. Of them, Far Cry may be the most famous video game production of Ubisoft. The Far Cry games have generally been well-received and are considered commercial successes. Ubisoft reports that through 2014, lifetime sales of the Far Cry franchise has exceeded 20 million units.
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive is an American video game production company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which offers internal video game production. Then, this video game production company created the Private Division label to support publishing from independent developers and more recently, they announced a new internal studio for the label called intercept Games.
The company also formed Ghost Story Games which was a former 2K studio under the name irrational games. Take-Two Interactive also owns 50 percent of professional esports organization NBA 2K League. As of 2018, Take-Two Interactive is the third-largest video game production company in the Americas and Europe after Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, with an estimated market capitalization of 13 billion USD. Some famous video game production of Take-Two Interactive are BioShock, Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, and Red Dead among others.
