Outsourcing game development

Here’s an interesting write-up on the outsourcing of game development to the follow-up of Command and Conquer 3 released last year, Kane’s Wrath. It seems a little opinion-based but it’s nonetheless still a thoughtful read on the risks of outsourcing. A snippet here:

Now, some of the outsourcing has worked. For example, while much of the art and art direction was outsourced, the art in Kane’s Wrath is pretty good. So, while it’s not all bad, the outsourcing strategy needs to be reconsidered very carefully. There’s not enough data to go on for this point, but perhaps some aspects of game development (most likely art) lend themselves to be farmed out easily, while other parts simply do not. On the whole, though, when evaluating the results of the outsourcing strategy in Kane’s Wrath, I’d say it’s failed. Requests to EA for comments about the team involved with Kane’s Wrath and the Kane’s Wrath patch were ignored. I urge C&C fans to demand an answer to this important question.

The full article is here.