Sacred Road, produced by Blockade Ent. in partnership with Rhythm & Hues, was spotlighted at GDC. The series is the first to be made with a game engine. © Blockade Ent., 2008.

While the conference did not present an official theme this year, there was an undercurrent. The subject of outsourcing was pervasive in conversations and sessions, sometimes as the main subject, although just as often alluded to during a discussion of a broader topic. One pair of sessions was hosted by Paul Steed, a long time game industry artist turned author and now game art outsourcing specialist. Steed and his panelists discussed both sides of the outsourcing equation sharing with the audience lessons on how to deal with development companies, publishers and individual contractors.

Massive Black and dSonic are two examples of the current style of successful domestic outsourcing companies in the game industry. dSonic was started eight years ago and is still run by brothers Kemal and Simon Amarasingham. The brothers have deep musical training and background, as well as connections and history in the game industry. Kemal’s audio work first appeared more than10 years ago in many of the titles developed by Looking Glass Studios, most notably the groundbreaking stealth series, Thief. The brothers run the company from offices in both Boston and San Francisco. Their clients run a wide range from major publishers to small developers. The past eight years has seen dSonic go from small audio outsourcing group, with most of the work done by the founders, to a larger organization that employs a team of sound designers, audio directors and musicians. These days the brothers oversee the business, caring for clients, employees and the future, all in a days work.

Massive Black, also with an office in San Francisco, is focused on high end art outsourcing for both games and film productions. Started by Jason Manley, who is also well known for the Conceptart.org artist focused web forum, Massive Black offers all ranges of art assets from concept art up through complete, in-game high density models. Their team includes artists who specialize in drawing, painting, traditional sculpture, 3D modeling, texturing, skinning, animation and even a few production specialists, whom the rest of the team rely on for deadlines and such. Manley and his team are also picky about which projects they take on. This comes from experience and a solid understanding of his team’s strengths, the state of the industry and a healthy bit of skepticism when it comes to promises made by clients. The greatest strength of the Massive Black team is the quality of their work and their management, which at the end of the day, are the main and essential ingredients for outsourcing company success.

One somewhat new trend that is cropping up in game industry outsourcing is the tendency for outsourcing firms to offer all parts of game creation to clients. Overseas companies, especially those located in China and India where labor is less costly, are offering the whole package -- code, art and even game design. This may be the way of the future, however, with language barriers and budgets being what they are this is still an uphill road. In addition to dealing with quality issues, overseas one stop shopping outsourcing companies will one day face increasing costs as well as increasing opportunities. The day when they have to decide whether to move from subcontract work to taking on full projects themselves is pivotal for both overseas and domestic outsourcing companies. While there is potentially a greater return for making the jump from subcontractor to main developer there is also greater risk. Many outsourcing companies are looking to small game projects to become accustomed to the difference between contract work and full development.

The Game Developers Conference 2008 was worthwhile for those in the business. With record breaking attendance, speculation has already begun on the future of the conference, with CMP publicly stating their consideration of a potentially smaller, more specialized show next year. They may be on to something with the idea. For every discussion of the particulars in an outsourcing contract, there was a line of fanboy’s waiting to catch a glimpse of their favorite star developer. This may be fun and exciting for folks looking to break in or new to the industry, but it is not what seasoned developers need from a conference of this kind. With the absence of the old style E3, it is not surprising that fans have looked to GDC for some of what they are missing. Keeping the conference alive and useful for the people that make the games shouldn’t be forgotten. The organizers certainly have their work cut out for them.

Fred Galpern is currently the managing art director for Blue Fang Games, located just outside Boston. He is also a co-creator of the game development program at Bristol Community College. Since entering the digital art field more than 12 years ago, Galpern has held management positions in several game and entertainment companies, including Hasbro and Looking Glass Studios. He began his art career in comic books and also has interactive, print and web design experience.