Rise in outsourcing in video game development

Niko Partners who has been doing research on the growing Chinese video game market released a new report about outsourcing game development to China. A survey of 20 outsourced game development studios showed that the cost of development can be 40-60% less compared to the USA or Europe. “With the high production costs of current and next generation titles in 2006, outsourced development of videogames is seen as a strategic way to offset high costs and large scale labor requirements,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. “As Chinese developers continue to improve their skills across all game platforms, the country has become the primary center for outsourced game development globally.” While there are more projects getting developed in China there are very few games that undergo their complete development through outsourcing. Game design is still handled in house.