The future of web3 gaming industry is not what you think (2/4)

This four-part series of articles, “The future of web3 gaming industry is not what you think,” dives deep into the future of web3 gaming, suggesting community-creation approaches that could innovate the entire gaming industry. In the first part of this series, I discussed game development and the gaming industry in the context of blockchain. I analyzed the factors that need to be considered when creating meaningful innovations for the blockchain gaming sector. When considering how to decentralize creative work, all of these factors need to be considered. In this second part of the series, I will go into more detail about the 6 stages of the design thinking process. First, I will give an overview of this process in traditional, “centralized” creative production. Then I will give an outlook on what the different stages of the design thinking process might look like with decentralized web3 characteristics. Part 3 will delve into an analysis of the different types of creative tasks associated with different individuals involved in a creative project, especially those in leadership positions. In part 4 of the series, I will provide a practical illustration of what decentralization of creative work could look like in game development, drawing valuable lessons that can be implemented across a range of industries and creative endeavors.

Decentralizing game development and design processes

In the first part of this article series, we discussed the potential impact of blockchain technology on the gaming industry and how game developers can exploit the principles of decentralization to enhance the overall gaming experience and improve game development processes. In the long term, decentralization of game development could help bridge the disconnect between game developers and players by embracing user-generated content and community-driven gaming experiences.

Traditionally, the creative tasks involved in game production have had a hierarchical structure that funnels all decision-making to the top positions of department heads and creative directors. Unfortunately, this system often leaves artists and designers at the bottom of the hierarchy understaffed and overworked, with little regard for their personal capacities. Tasks can be distributed across all departments and roles in a way that takes into account individual availability and specialized skills. This approach promotes a more fluid and sustainable system in which responsibilities and tasks are better aligned with the strengths and contributions of individual team members. In addition, automated cycles of user content generation and democratic feedback integration could lead to a continuous flow of game content, while allowing new game concepts to be user-tested on a smaller scale before being scaled up based on popularity. It has the potential to limit risk and reduce initial development costs, making game development more accessible and sustainable for developers of all sizes.

6 stages in a centralized design process vs. decentralised design process

In order to make this analysis work for different scales of production, I will think about these stages from the scale of a AAA game production company, since smaller projects are more flexible and can always be a deduced form of larger productions. Let’s take a look at the stages of design thinking in traditional, centralized design processes. While some of these stages may be fluid and not so clearly separated, for the sake of this analysis I will divide them into distinct stages.

Stage 1 — Empathise + Research

Understand the users, their needs and the purpose of the design.

Centralized game design process: In traditional game productions, the development team would research and analyze their target audience, such as their gaming behavior. This is to crystallize a clear vision of the user, their needs, the purpose of the project, but also the scope and desired impact of the design. They would study similar games and market trends, and review past player feedback. They may also conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of player behavior and preferences.

These tasks are usually initiated by executive positions who work with department leads and the marketing department to gather data and key information. The team would also include researchers, data analysts, and market strategists.

Decentralized game design process: In a decentralized game development scenario, the community plays a crucial role in the first stage of the creative design process. As users propose their ideas and needs, the community evaluates and prioritizes them based on their significance and impact on the project. This approach ensures that the development process remains transparent and inclusive, with everyone having a say in the direction of the project. From a technical perspective, users would need to be enrolled in a system that facilitates suggestions and allows them to explain the importance of the project to the rest of the community. Voting mechanisms would demonstrate quantitative solidarity, and the most important and urgent needs and wants would emerge from the bottom up.

This would mean that researchers and data analysts and market strategists would no longer have to project their accumulated data and key information, instead raw user data would directly influence the direction of the game development.

Stage 2 — Define

Clearly outline the problems identified and summarise the findings of the first step.

Centralized game design process: Once the research is complete, the development team would define the game’s scope, objectives, key features and core mechanics and potential challenges. This includes identifying any problems or challenges that may arise during the development process, such as core gameplay, technical limitations, budget constraints, or time constraints.

The executive producers and game director would oversee the definition phase, working with the team leads to establish the vision and goals for the game. The leaders would then break down and bundle the creative tasks and assign them to the rest of the team, including game designers, writers, and art and technical experts.

Decentralized game design process: In a decentralized game development scenario, it is crucial to establish a robust and transparent system for task definition, distribution, and management. The system, which facilitates user input, needs to be designed in a way that allows for precise descriptions while keeping creative tasks and project ideas clear and simple. To ensure the smooth functioning of a decentralized game development project, these tasks need to be supplemented with other production-related information, technical and artistic constraints, and general conditions such as project milestones and deadlines to help users stay on track and ensure timely delivery of the final product.

One possible approach to task distribution is to use a skills and competence-based matching system where talents can showcase their skills and expertise in specific areas of game development. This system would allow the community to self-organize based on their individual strengths and interests, leading to more effective collaboration and task completion. In addition, a bidding mechanism could be used to allocate tasks to the most qualified individuals, thereby incentivizing high-quality contributions and ensuring that the most critical tasks receive the attention they deserve. Furthermore, this system should allow the community to contribute to the project efficiently, while maintaining quality and coherence across tasks and components.

Stage 3 — Brainstorm

Generate a range of ideas without judging their feasibility.

Centralized game design process: During this stage, the game development team generates ideas for game mechanics, story, characters, and artwork. Brainstorming sessions may include sketching, writing, and playtesting sessions to refine ideas. At this stage, smaller sub-teams may present their ideas and the results of their experiments and explorations.

The creative directors of the different departments and executives would lead the brainstorming sessions, working with the game designers and artists to come up with a range of ideas. The evaluation of which ideas make it to the next stage is usually based on the expertise of the executive producers and creative directors.

Decentralized game design process: In both centralized and decentralized game development approaches, this stage of creative design is similar. Individual artists who have been assigned specific tasks are now using their skills to complete them. In a decentralized approach, however, the artists are likely to come from a wider variety of backgrounds and skill sets. Providing educational content, best practices, and blueprints becomes even more important to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can contribute effectively.

Educational content could include tutorials, guides, and training materials that help users understand the technical and artistic aspects of game development. Best practices would provide guidance on how to approach specific tasks or challenges, drawing on the collective knowledge and experience of the community. Blueprints, on the other hand, could offer pre-designed templates or frameworks that users can use as a starting point for their own work. By providing this kind of support, decentralized game development can help bring on board newcomers who may not have extensive previous experience in game development. This can increase the diversity of the community and lead to more innovative and unique game concepts.

Stage 4 — Concept + Prototype

Develop approaches and create prototypes, sketches and concepts based on the ideas with the highest potential.

Centralized game design process: In the fourth stage, the game development team uses the previously created prototypes, sketches, and concepts based on the ideas deemed to have the highest potential from the brainstorming stage. Game developers create a proof of concept or minimum viable product (MVP) to test game mechanics and validate the game concept.

The executive producers and creative directors would oversee the concept and prototype phase — working with the game development team to refine and test the gameplay, mechanics, design, and overall user experience. The role of the team leaders is to implement the work that the individuals have created and integrate it into the overall product. The team would consist of game designers, artists, programmers, and QA testers.

Decentralized game design process: In a decentralized game development scenario, the assembly of the MVP could be performed by the pre-coded algorithms. To ensure the success of the MVP, it is essential to establish a clear set of quality conditions and criteria that must be met for the game to be considered viable. These pre-defined stages should be aligned with the original problems the game was designed to solve, ensuring that the final product meets the needs and desires of the community. The evaluation of the MVP should be based on these quality conditions, with feedback to the development team on areas that need improvement.

To facilitate this evaluation process, an expert council could be formed, consisting of individuals with expertise in various aspects of game development. This council would evaluate the MVP based on the pre-defined quality conditions and provide feedback and guidance to the development team. The council’s feedback would be critical in shaping the direction of the project and ensuring that the final product meets the needs and desires of the community.

Stage 5 — Combine + Test

As part of the iterative design process, steps 4 and 5 are repeated until a state is reached where the design meets the needs, problems and purpose defined at the beginning of the design process.

Centralized game design process: In this stage, the development team combines the best ideas and prototypes from the previous stage to create a cohesive game experience. They then test the game with a small focus group of players to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement, including game mechanics, graphics, and overall user experience. This process may be repeated several times until the game content reaches a state where it meets the needs, problems, and purpose defined at the beginning of the design process.

The executive producers, creative director, and QA team would oversee the testing phase and work with the team leads to ensure that the game meets the defined goals and objectives. The game development team at this stage would consist of QA testers, game designers, artists, and programmers.

Decentralized game design process: Once design tasks are approved beyond the prototype and concept stages, they are integrated into the environment for which they were originally intended. The approved designs are implemented and tested in the game development environment, allowing for further refinement based on user feedback and quality assessment. In a decentralized game design scenario, this could be fully automated embedding.

After the newly developed product is integrated, it enters a user testing phase where user feedback is collected. To facilitate user testing, decentralized game development platforms could provide various mechanisms for community members to provide feedback. For example, this could be facilitated by pre-built in-game voting mechanisms. The iterative process of stages 3–5 would continue until the users deem the design final. This means that the final product would be shaped by the needs and desires of the community, resulting in a game that is both innovative and tailored to the preferences of the community.

Stage 6 — Implement

Produce the final design and launch it in the intended real-world environment. The creative vision is materialised and translated into the user experience.

Centralized game design process: Finally, in this final stage, the game is produced and launched into the real world. The creative vision is realized and the game is translated into the user experience. The development team is responsible for finalizing the game, polishing it, and ensuring that it meets the quality standards of a triple-A game. The final phase involves implementing the game, including finalizing game mechanics, creating and integrating assets, testing, debugging, and optimizing performance. The development team then launches the game, markets it, and monitors player feedback to make further improvements and updates as needed.

The executive producers, marketing department, and game director would oversee the implementation phase and work with the team leaders to ensure that the game meets the defined goals and objectives. The team would consist of game designers, artists, programmers, QA testers, and marketing strategists.

Decentralized game design process: In the final stage, the system will incorporate the new design into its existing system as a final product or new feature. Because of the automated nature of this stage of the process, iterative improvement through user creation and feedback-based improvements will be continuous. By harnessing the collective knowledge and skills of the community, decentralized game development can produce high-quality games that are truly representative of the community’s values and preferences.

In addition to creating games that are better aligned with community values and preferences, decentralized game development also has the potential to foster a more engaged and collaborative community. By involving community members in the design and development process, decentralized game development platforms can create a sense of ownership and investment in the final product. In addition, the transparent and democratic nature of decentralized game development can help build trust between developers and the community. By providing visibility into the decision-making process and allowing for community input, decentralized game development can help build a more collaborative and inclusive game development ecosystem.

In this article I have analyzed how the game development process looks like in traditional centralized creative productions and presented my ideas on how the different stages of the design process could be different in a decentralized development scenario. In part 3 I will break down the 6 stages of the design process into what this actually means for the tasks of developers in web3 games, what challenges they face, and what possible solutions might be. I will look at different types of creative tasks associated with different people involved in a creative project, especially those in leadership positions.

About Crowd Control

Hi! I’m Anna. As the co-founder and creative lead of CrowdControl — a community-owned trading card game on — I am responsible in exploring how blockchain can truly innovate the gaming industry. Instead of only recreating existing games on the blockchain, we at CrowdControl want to change the way game development works, create maximum fun through player engagement and immersion, and give the power of content creation and game balancing to the people. Find out more about us on our website and join our community on Discord.