2023 Game Development Report

Feb, 2024 1 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
G A M E D E V E L O P M E N T
R E P O R T
2 0 2 3

2 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
INTRODUCTION
We’re at an interesting point in the games industry. It’s never been easier
to start, nor harder to scale, a game. New tools and technologies are
removing the barrier to entry, giving developers and even gamers the
power to create faster than ever before. At the same time, blockbuster
AAAs continue to set the bar higher and higher with groundbreaking
achievements in immersion, photorealism, and novel gameplay.
These dynamics are catalyzing rapid evolution in game development ,
drawing the attention of corporate teams, industry analysts, and
investors. However, most of game development is institutional knowledge;
while lowered barriers and rising bars of game development are an open
secret, there isn’t much specificity or data about why or how.
For this reason, we decided to publish research on the state of game
development. We hope it serves as a call to action for innovation and
funding in areas that improve the world of the creative and creator so
that we, as players, continue to have a lifetime of joy with these incredible
experiences.
We conducted our research and formed this analysis with two
important caveats:
• Our focus was to examine the technology & practices behind game
development. There are many other elements that govern the
success of a game (i.e. gameplay, community, IP)
• We often present a market -level view. The reality is that game
production looks vastly different across segments like genres or
hardware platforms
⟶ INTRODUCTION
LEVEL 1: MARKET DYNAMICS 06
LEVEL 2: INDUSTRY CHALLENGES 12
LEVEL 3: EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES 26
LEVEL 4: EMERGING TECH TRENDS 33
INTRODUCTION 02

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
GEOGRAPHY
USA
36%
CAN
17% UK
12%
JPN
12%
537
TOTAL STUDIOS
SURVEYED
Our research methodology involved 60+
interviews with industry experts to form
hypotheses and validate survey questions,
many who are quoted throughout the
report.
We conducted a survey of 537 studios
across the globe to gather the data used in
this report. To mitigate the risk of fraud or
negligence in survey responses, participants
underwent thorough vetting and verification
using Imperium’s QualityScore and Dynata’s
NQI data quality certification.
The survey was designed with overall
industry questions as well as deep dive
sections for studio management, artists,
producers, developers, data teams, and
testers . Respondents were asked
demographic questions about studio size
and geography to ensure a representative
view of the industry.
THE DEMOGRAPHICS
THE DATA
8% 11%
13%
20% 22%
26%
Artist & content creation
QA & testing
Data, analytics, monetization
Production
Developer & software engineer
Studio management
PARTICIPANT ROLE
36% 38%
25%
Small (1-49) Medium (50-99) Large (100+)
STUDIO SIZE
⟶ INTRODUCTION
Other: 33%
OTHER
33 %

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
PLATFORM
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
All of the above
AR/VR
Web
Mobile
Console
PC
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Open-source Framework
Godot
Proprietary Engine
Unity
Unreal Engine
GAME ENGINE
0% 20% 40% 60%
All of the above
Hypercasual
AA
AAA
Midcore
Casual
CATEGORY
We gathered a comprehensive and
inclusive sample size that represents a
variety of game platforms, engines, and
categories, aiming to improve the
heterogeneity or our data.
Respondents were asked to identify their
current game project’s game engine,
intended platform, and game type. This
data was used to examine more granular
trends that we observed through these
market segments. No personally identifiable
information was gathered during the survey,
and respondents not able to identify
themselves or their employer.
THE GAMES
⟶ INTRODUCTION
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FROM THE EXPERTS
Julien Merceron
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
BANDAI NAMCO
Scott Forrest
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA)
“The games business is changing rapidly but few
are looking at how it affects the foundation of
game production and technology. This report
casts a light on an underserved area in our
industry, making it a must read.”
“Releasing a great game isn’t enough anymore. In
an era of keeping content relevant to a global
playerbase , we’re constantly faced with new
challenges, and we use research like this to
continue honing our craft.”
“Between making games, studying games, and
running a studio, it gets tougher and tougher
not to be ‘in the weeds.’ Reports like these help
us pause, take a step back, and see the Forest
for the Trees.”
Ben Brode
CO -FOUNDER & CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
SECOND DINNER
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

6 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Level 1
MARKET DYNAMICS
External forces that are changing
game development

7 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⟶ LEVEL 1
⟶ MARKET DYNAMICS
Game development costs are
increasing as studios strive to
keep up with industry trends
77%
of studios reported that the cost
of game development is
continuing to rise
TAKEAWAY ONE
Studios of all sizes are focused
on launching or transitioning to
live service models
65 %
of studios are currently working
on a title with a regular update
cadence for their game
TAKEAWAY TWO
Game technology doesn’t meet
the user needs of more
demanding game projects
88%
of respondents are actively
evaluating new tools to bring
into their workflows
TAKEAWAY THREE
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
COMPETITIVE MARKET
CONDITIONS ARE
AFFECTING GAME STUDIO
STRATEGY
⟶ LEVEL 1
⟶ MARKET DYNAMICS
Rising market competition and escalating consumer
expectations are changing the industry landscape. Large
studios are struggling to rein in game budgets especially as
projects become more ambitious. Meeting the high bar set by
AAA titles for game quality is proving to be a significant hurdle,
requiring sizeable teams. Additionally, providing cross -platform
support for multiplayer games poses a particularly daunting
task for smaller studios with limited resources.
Satoru Igita GM OF MONSTER STRIKE, MIXI
“Users expect higher quality games, so production costs
have increased to create that quality. Switching costs for
users has an upwards trend, so acquiring new users can’t
be pursued without saving expenses by improving
production efficiency. Creativity used to dominate game
planning, but now it’s becoming more and more important
to add strategic thinking to our innovative ideas.”
Hypercasual Casual Midcore AA AAA
Rising game budgets 17% 18% 18% 16% 20%
Players expecting AA/AAA quality 18% 18% 22% 20% 19%
Supporting cross -platform gameplay 7% 13% 10% 10% 14%
Building robust data analytics 17% 14% 18% 15% 13%
Delivering live services 12% 16% 15% 17% 20%
The chart below shows the most challenging industry trends for
studios segmented by their current game project
Columns may not add up to 100% of the population due to the chart’s omission of free response answers
The charts below show whether respondents agree or disagree
with the following industry trends
78% 77% 77%
Multiplayer games need cross -platform support The cost of game development is rising Players expect AA/AAA quality content
75% 66%
Studios need analytics for monetization and retention Live services are necessary for long -term title success
Agree Disagree

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Game art
QA & testing
SW engineering
Data analytics
Game programming
Game design
The chart below shows which respondents expect an increase in their
game budget, segmented by job function
Increase Significantly increase
⟶ LEVEL 1
⟶ MARKET DYNAMICS
Game budgets are climbing from the need to differentiate amidst the
flood of new titles fighting for player attention. Technical departments
like gameplay programming and software engineering are expected
to see the most significant budget increases, primarily driven by
project complexity and cost of talent. Studio teams are also expecting
increased spend on game design and data analytics, although these
total budget sizes are typically smaller than other areas (e.g. art).
GAME DEVELOPMENT
CONTINUES TO BECOME
MORE EXPENSIVE
BLACKSTORM
Jon McElroyVP OF ENGINEERING, ANNAPURNA INTERACTIVE
“As the medium continues to advance,
teams grow naturally more ambitious and
the complexity of the problem space
increases. While some costs have come
down in the last decade from commodity
development tools, the overall cost of
development continues to go up.”

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
⟶ LEVEL 1
⟶ MARKET DYNAMICS
“Every game we intend to make or acquire will have significant live
service components, it’s essential for our economic model now.”
Phil MansellCEO, JAGEX
Game studios are adopting live services in a strategic shift to pursue more
lucrative business models. Games continuously evolve during live services through
ongoing content releases, feature updates, and gameplay enhancements, aimed
at raising player lifetime value. This contrasts with traditional game models that
rely on sales or downloadable content (DLC) to maintain relevance.
Mobile game companies already live in this world (pg. 30 highlights how they
have evolved to master this craft), but other market segments are still acclimating
to the strategies needed to keep players engaged decades after a launch.
65%
30%
5% currently working on a title delivering live services to
its players
intend to release or transition a title to a live service
model
have no plans for live services in any upcoming title
95% of studios are either working on or intend to release a live services * title
*Live services is defined as any regular update cadence planned for a game
STUDIOS ARE EMBRACING LIVE
SERVICE BUSINESS MODELS
PAHDO LABS
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
These external forces and industry trends are having an
impact across the various game development
disciplines. Game projects are becoming more
demanding, and teams are beginning to feel a gap
between what they need to be successful and the
current state of game technology.
Every segment of our survey population indicated a high
degree of unmet needs from their game development
technology, with 88% of total respondents actively
evaluating new tools to bring into their workflows.
USERS NEED MORE
FROM THEIR TOOLS
AND TECHNOLOGY
The chart below shows how many respondents experience pain points or unmet needs
with their game development technology, segmented by job function
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Studio Management
Artists
Production
Developers
Data & Analytics
Testers
Pain points Unmet needs
⟶ LEVEL 1
⟶ MARKET DYNAMICS
“Looking to the future, game development faces
a universal challenge: inadequate technology.
Addressing this is crucial.”
Gabriele FarinaSENIOR DIRECTOR, UNITY

12 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Level 2
INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
How game development disciplines
are affected by change

13 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
KEY TRENDS
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
3D art tools don’t support a Figma -like
workflow that artists need for more
ambitious game projects
74%
of artists believe the cost of 3D content
creation is becoming more expensive
Considering a game’s analytics needs
during development helps minimize data
usability issues post -launch
32%
of data teams said data usability is the
biggest challenge
Games suffer from long build times,
preventing efficient development
processes needed for high quality releases
65%
of developers said they have 10+ minute
iterative build times
More frequent and complex testing
requirements are pushing teams to
explore automation tools and strategies
43%
of QA/testing teams are using or
evaluating the use of testing automation
ARTISTS DEVELOPERS TESTERS
DATA SCIENTISTS PRODUCERS STUDIO MANAGEMENT
Producers lack visibility into dependencies
across a project, making it difficult to form
accurate estimates and coordinate releases
63%
of producers find release coordination to be a
painful task
Studios without tooldev teams struggle with
custom middleware while large studios with
tooldev teams are faced with technical debt
53%
Of large studios expect to struggle with
managing their technical debt
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Powerful technologies are helping artists raise the
quality bar for game art while also helping smaller
scope projects drive down their cost of content.
Despite new content creation tools for parametric
assets, procedural editing, and prefab asset packs,
74% of artists believe the cost of 3D content creation
is becoming more expensive.
Teams that aim for photorealism utilize complex
scanning workflows, high poly models, and high –
resolution textures that require painstaking
optimizations and validations to fit within the project’s
compute budget.
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ ARTISTS
The chart below shows which factors artists believe are most
responsible for the increasing cost of content creation
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Required quality of game assets is rising
Game environments are becoming larger
More complex game design
More realistic character animation
Talent is more costly
Rank 2 Rank 1
Plenty of games aren’t shooting for photorealism, but even stylized
projects are building more detailed environments and complex level
designs. Animations, physics, and effects are important to give an
immersive player experience.
Rohan Knuckey LEAD TECH ARTIST, EA
“Development studios relentlessly pursue larger scale
games, higher fidelity, and intricate complexity to
capture market share and keep players engaged. Of
course, content creation time, effort, and costs go up.”
THE COST OF CONTENT
IS RISING AS GAME
COMPLEXITY GROWS
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Jae Hyun YooDIRECTOR/FOUNDER, STUDIO SAI
The chart below shows the specific pain points in artists’ day -to -day work
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Creating new assets vs recycling
Converting filetypes
Working collaboratively
Managing large asset libraries
Validating asset submissions
Upload/download of large files
Painful Very painful
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ ARTISTS The world of a 3D artist is comprised of locally run programs, absent standards
and massive filesizes , resulting in artist workflows that are powered by tedious
manual processes to import/export, update, validate, or share data. 3D art
tools are far away from the type of effective iteration and collaboration that 2D
users enjoy via things like Figma or Miro. While 3D art tools are incredibly
advanced at simulating reality, artists report a high degree of pain points with
the processes that surround the direct use of their tools: their workflow.
FUSE GAMES
“The evolution of art assets in video games is increasingly complex,
reflecting mature storytelling and versatility beyond traditional
gameplay. However, a significant challenge is the lack of concurrent
editability in content creation tools, hindering dynamic, immersive
experiences and underscoring a key area for innovation.”
ARTISTS DON’T HAVE
ITERATIVE OR COLLABORATIVE
WORKFLOWS

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Long build times are endemic to the software architectures used
in game development. Lengthy build times (which can be
multiple hours on AAA projects) shape inefficient production
processes by preventing iterative development, reducing the
amount of bug testing, and wasting developer productivity with
long downtimes.
Minimizing build times is essential in live service development
when speed and quality are needed under short production
timelines. Game development teams must actively explore
various strategies to enhance build time efficiencies, spanning
from critical code architecture choices to the implementation of
tools designed to accelerate the build process.
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ DEVELOPERS
Francois Pelland VP IEG GLOBAL, TENCENT
“Game teams that reduce, constrain, and streamline
their build times will reduce project and operating
cost, increase the quality of their games and most
importantly, be closer to their players’ needs.”
TBD
“T D ”
34% 45% 16% 4%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
30 min+ 10-30 min 5-10 min <5 min
The chart below shows the iterative build times developers have on their
current project
•More development iterations
•Less developer downtimes
•More testing and less bugs
•Improved collaboration and experimentation
Short build times
•Slow development cycles from bundling updates into large builds
•Long downtimes during build times kill developer productivity
•Fewer iterations drive less testing
Long build times
LONG BUILD TIMES FORM
INEFFICIENT DEVELOPER
PROCESSES uild

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
CUSTOM MIDDLEWARE AND
PIPELINE FRAGILITY ARE
FRUSTRATING FOR GAME
DEVELOPERS
Game developers are frequently building custom tools and integrations
between their tools to form a studio production pipeline. While the largest
studios have dedicated tooldev teams, the presence of custom middleware
creates a substantial burden for most other studios. Developers need to spend
extra time and effort to maintain custom middleware, which often lacks proper
documentation and breaks when a software update happens in the pipeline,
taking away time that would otherwise be spent creating new player value.
The chart below shows the specific pain points in developers’ day -to -day work
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Time to build and compile
Building custom backend systems
Changing pipeline tech
Developing & releasing for another platform
Maintaining custom tools & integrations
Painful Very painful
Yusuke IidaDESIGN STUDIO AND VICE GENERAL MANAGER , LASENGLE
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ DEVELOPERS
GARDENS INTERACTIVE
“In large -scale, long -term game development, teams must consider
upgrades to their pipeline and tools even though it can be risky. Strategies
that enhance flexibility during pipeline modifications become essential. One
effective approach is to use a readable intermediate format for asset output,
allowing data to be modified in bulk and avoiding the time -consuming
process of re -exporting all asset data.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
As games projects become more ambitious with complex game design, sprawling
environments, and realistic NPC behavior, more testing is needed to ensure a consistent and
enjoyable player experience. Studios need to maintain a balance between encouraging
creative exploration, maintaining production efficiency, and conducting thorough testing.
Automated testing is critical for development teams to conduct more tests and enhance
game quality without overwhelming production budgets and schedules.
43% of QA and testing teams reported that they are using or evaluating the use of testing
automation for their current project. Successfully automating testing requires more than
technology — it demands extensive process redesign in developer roles and studio operations.
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ TESTERS
The chart below shows how testers expect QA & Testing to change in the next 3 –
5 years, segmented by their game project team size
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Small (1-49)
Medium (50-99)
Large (100+)
Decrease in complexity Increase in complexity
Joshua Romoff R&D SCIENTIST AT UBISOFT LAFORGE
“Testing massive open -world games
can be challenging. That’s why we’ve
been developing Machine Learning
tools for automated testing.”
INCLUDED GAMES
TESTING IS GETTING MORE CHALLENGING
AS GAME COMPLEXITY RISES

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
The chart below shows the tests that testers report to consume
the most time & effort on their game project
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Collision tests
Unit test
Smoke tests
Asset validations
Regression tests
Ad hoc tests
Performance tests
Playtest
Combinatorial tests
Function tests
Rank 2 Rank 1
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ TESTERS
Christoffer Holmgård CEO, MODL.AI
“Game testing is a many -headed hydra. As a game
grows over time, the project grows more complex and
more fragile. The industry can’t just throw bodies at the
problem anymore. Teams need to form unique
strategies and use specialized tools to manage the
compounding complexity of game development.”
LIVE SERVICE GAMES
PRESENT NEW CHALLENGES
FOR TESTERS
The number of tests that need to be run grows over the course of
a game’s lifecycle. Live service games drive increased testing
complexity the longer the title lives on, as every update to the
game project adds more functionality and logic.
The reality is that players will run more hours on a game in its first
week, or even day, than a testing team can ever hope to
accomplish. Rather than trying to find and squash every last bug,
testing teams need to develop best -practices to identify the
most important gameplay features and prioritizing testing
around those elements to create a playable and fun experience
— and maybe even pass off a playable bug as a feature!

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Data analytics are incredibly valuable for shaping strategy and title
management. Games that possess a clear understanding of their monetization
strategies are well -positioned to fine -tune their in -game economies and boost
their revenue streams. It can be especially powerful to use data analytics to
shape a game’s roadmap, but interpreting game data to inform game design
was reported to be the most difficult analysis for data teams.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
User acquisition (e.g. ASO)
Player analysis (e.g. segmentation)
Game performance (e.g. crash)
Player valuation (e.g. LTV)
Monetization (e.g. store)
Game experience (e.g. funnel)
The chart below shows which analyses data teams report to be the most challenging
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Game experience (e.g. funnel)
Player valuation (e.g. LTV)
User acquisition (e.g. ASO)
Game performance (e.g. crash)
Player analysis (e.g. segmentation)
Monetization (e.g. store)
The chart below shows which analyses data teams report to be the most valuable
Rank 2 Rank 1
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ DATA SCIENTISTS
Sarah Fuchs,CO -CEO, CO -FOUNDER, AND CHAIR, MUUS COLLECTIVE
“Data has been critical in informing our strategy for what we’re
building at Muus , particularly when it comes to diversity and
inclusion and the need for players to find representation and express
themselves in games.”
MUUS COLLECTIVE
DATA – DRIVEN DECISIONS DRIVE
BETTER GAME PERFORMANCE

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Not a culture of making data-driven decisions
Data not readily available
Challenges in analysis
Data is challenging to utilize
Rank 1 Rank 2
The chart below shows the most challenging barrier data teams
face with making data driven -decisions
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ DATA SCIENTISTS
“It’s never too early to get the right eyes on
your game’s data. Scaling data operations
post -production takes more effort to
achieve less sophisticated results and
limits your ability to respond effectively.”
HARDBALL GAMES
Michael Othen -Reeves CREATIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDED GAMES
AN EARLY FOCUS ON GAME
DATA IS ESSENTIAL FOR
POWERFUL ANALYTICS
It’s critical to develop games with a focus on data from the start, rather
than looking through a massive lake of game data after launch to
determine what analyses can be drawn. Failing to consider LiveOps data
needs during game development can lead to insufficient structure in the
game data. This leads to ineffective data that is overwhelming and
difficult to use, requiring significant effort to tag, merge, or transform.

22 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
NEON WILD
GAME PROJECTS LACK THE
VISIBILITY NEEDED FOR
ACCURATE PLANNING
The code and architectures used in game projects cause linkages between
features that grow more complex over time, creating hidden costs during
production. When producers form estimates to develop a new feature, or
update an old one, they lack visibility into the maze of dependencies in the
game code or game build and only discover them after development starts.
Navigating this additional complexity eats up additional time and budget,
and as a result, production estimates struggle with accuracy.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
<10%
10-20%
20-40%
40-60%
60-80%
80%+
The chart below shows the extent to which studios exceeded
their budget in their most recent game project
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ PRODUCERS
Guillaume Hansali GM JAPAN, KEYWORDS STUDIOS
“Games have become so complex that estimating their cost is like trying
to solve a puzzle without all the pieces and realizing halfway through
that you’ve been solving the wrong puzzle. We try to estimate each
feature independently to reduce complexity but tend to miss features’
architectural dependencies.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Gameplay programming is most impacted by intricate code linkages that make
accurate production schedule or budgets difficult. Game design teams are also
prone to miss deadlines and budgets due to dependencies. Design teams have
many roles that manage content, systems, narrative, audio, and more. These
teams are all dependent on each other, constantly working to stay in concert as
they explore new ideas that affect other team decisions. As design teams
experiment or stumble upon emergent gameplay interactions, this constant state
of adjustment cascades across team deadlines and budgets.
MONKEYLEAGUE BY UNCAGED STUDIOS
The chart below shows which teams producers
experience the most budget overages
The chart below shows which teams producers
experience the most schedule delays
15% 33% 31% 20% 1%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
On Budget 0-10% over 10-50% over 50-100% over 100%+
58%
42%
Game Programming
Game Design
12% 36% 27% 23% 2%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
DEVELOPER AND DESIGN TEAMS
ARE MOST LIKELY TO MISS
ESTIMATES
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ PRODUCERS
Will CookCREATIVE DIRECTOR, BRAINJAR GAMES
HARMONY GAMES
“Iterating for engaging gameplay is inherently unpredictable.
What is predictable: the insights gained will require an
uncomfortable amount of 11th hour refactoring.”

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
A studio pipeline can consist of multiple version control
systems that different departments use to store their data.
A producer needs to navigate these systems and branches
that individuals are building on in order to grab the correct
inputs needed for a successful release.
Deploying more dedicated systems and using more
subsequent branches helps make individual workflows
more efficient, but also creates more variables that a
producer needs to track and manage for.
Other variables can come from multiple deployment
environments required for cross platform games.
Preparing an on -time game release becomes more and
more challenging as the number of these variables grow.
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ PRODUCERS
The chart below shows the specific pain points in producers’ day -to -day work
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Unexpected effects
Patch or launch failures
Shipping hotfixes
Release coordination
Painful Very painful
Scott Hartsman FORMER CEO, TRION WORLDS
“Teams that use multiple systems and branches to
support individual workflows end up with a matrix of
variables and unfortunate surprises to navigate.
Rapidly deployed MMOs have learned that a single
source of truth and constant iteration in the mainline
is more than just a good idea, it’s a way of life.”
INTRODUCING MORE
VARIABLES TO A PIPELINE
ADDS TO PRODUCTION
COMPLEXITY

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
⟶ LEVEL 2
⟶ INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ STUDIO MANAGEMENT Smaller studios don’t have dedicated teams to create and maintain custom
middleware or integrations, a luxury enjoyed by larger studios. Small and mid -size
studios must choose wisely when building custom software, as the ongoing
maintenance pipelines or tool libraries add overhead to development teams already
facing resource constraints.
Within larger studios with dedicated tool development teams, relying on tooldev
teams can become a double -edged sword. While these studios can construct a fleet
of custom plugins or middleware, they accrue technical debt that may spread to
other game titles that tend to share the same tools or pipeline. Ultimately, this gives
rise to long -term challenges at large studios that can impact the efficiency and
flexibility of multiple projects.
The chart below studios facing challenges
maintaining custom tools & pipeline software
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Small/Indie Mid-sized
Studios
Large Studios
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Small/Indie Mid-sized
Studios
Large Studios
The chart below shows studios expecting to
struggle with technical debt on their game project
‘BUILD IT YOURSELF’ CULTURE IS
A KEY DRIVER OF DEVELOPER
OVERHEAD AND TECHNICAL DEBT
SHRAPNEL
Dino PattiCEO AND FOUNDER, COHERENCE
In multiplayer development today, the availability of new
advanced tools has simplified the development process. Now
the real challenge is pushing the boundaries of what these
tools – and corresponding game experiences – can achieve.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

26 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Level 3
EVOLVING PRODUCTION
PROCESSES
The impact of live services

27 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Fast -paced live service production schedules make
developer velocity and release stability a priority
51% – 61%
of producers want to have a weekly or biweekly
release cadence
TAKEAWAY ONE
In a live services world, games are competing to
attract and retain their player attention. Production
teams are leaning into fast -paced game updates to
consistently offer new player value.
The speed at which features can be developed and
stability when delivering updates are critical to player
experience and title health
Game platforms, mobile, and MMO teams are
pioneering scalable development practices
68%
of producers think their production pipelines are
unfit for live services
TAKEAWAY TWO
Game development norms were formed around
shipping a game once, not to support continuous
improvement.
Live service leaders have turned to modern software
development principles, such as modular architectures,
DevOps practices, and automation infrastructure to
build long term success for their flagship titles
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

28 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Bug fixes
Hotfixes
Gameplay meta
Economy
Game Balancing New Narratives
Content Updates
Gameplay Features Release Cycles
The chart below shows respondents ideal live service
cadence for respondent’s titles
12%
14%
23%
20%
28%
22%
33%
28%
29%
30%
29%
28%
28%
28%
20%
27%
22%
17%
16%
15%
11%
2%
3%
7%
7%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Content
Economy
Meta
Game balancing
Bug fixes
Daily Weekly Biweekly Monthly Quarterly
Live service games need to keep their players interested and
engaged amidst the sea of other titles competing for their
attention. Production teams without a robust game update
cadence can quickly find themselves at risk of losing their player
base to games with constant player engagement and consistent
new player value.
Across the industry, live service teams reported their ideal
production schedules as weekly to biweekly for LiveOps cadences
and biweekly to monthly for game content updates. In the context
of game development, which typically spans multiple years, live
service production schedules are moving at breakneck speed.
LIVE SERVICE TEAMS WANT
FAST – PACED RELEASE
SCHEDULES
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Sasha ShamsPRODUCER, RIOT GAMES
“In a world of live service games, game teams stay competitive by
building trust with their players through a consistent stream of content
updates and balance adjustments to keep the game fresh. To keep up
with player expectations, development teams are under increased
pressure to continuously deliver new content while also juggling updates
to quickly respond to player feedback or fix a game breaking bug.”

29 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Multi -year game development forms production processes and
pipelines that are intended to deliver a few key milestones in
what is essentially a waterfall process. Production in live
services, however, is a constant state of planning & adjusting
game parameters to enhance player experience while
designing and deploying new features to add new player value.
68% of producers believe their pre -launch production
pipelines are not suitable for live services.
Successful live service teams are changing their studio
operations and infrastructure to prioritize developer velocity and
release stability needed in the live service era.
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES GAME PRODUCTI ON I S
EVO L VI NG TO
PRI ORI TIZ E VEL OCI TY
AND S TABI L I TY
Traditional Game Development // 2 -3 years
Live Service Game Production // 5+ Years
Release
Stability
How healthy each release is
Developer
Velocity
How efficiently new features & content are created
Release
LiveOps Strategy
Maurizio de PascaleCTO, IO INTERACTIVE
“Games aren’t just content, they’re software too. With live
services, we’re constantly delivering software to a living
breathing product. Studios need to be ready and embrace the
‘always shipping’ mindset early on during development: use
the same pipelines and workflows even for internal builds.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023Prototype Playable inal elease
eta
Alpha elease
elease elease elease

30 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Games Industry Avg.
1-2/week
3%
61%
3+ months
Top Quartile
1/week
33%
25%
2+ months
Best -in- Class
1+/day
>75%
<5%
<160 hours
Leading SaaS Orgs.
1+/day
>80%
<2%
<42 hours
Deployment Frequency
Planning Accuracy
Rework Rate (noticeable defects)
Lead Time
Developer KPIs
Tech debt management
Decoupled systems
DevOps maturity
Minimal build times
Testing automation
Containerized architectures
Games Industry Average
Top Quartile
Mobile Leaders & MMOs
Best in Class
Platforms
What are they
doing differently?
Developer Productivity
Measuring developer efficiency is challenging when there are no
standard KPIs and workflows that change drastically between building a
small feature or a large system. Our research drew from SaaS frameworks
(DORA) to focus on the update frequency, feature planning accuracy,
rework rates, and lead times for an average game update.
The industry average has production estimates that are rarely accurate,
updates that frequently require rework, and months between when a
feature is designed and when it’s deployed. Game developers tend to
shortcut efficient and scalable workflows in favor of saving time or cost.
This strategy works when a game ships once but falls short with games
that grow over time.
The top quartile is a different story. Mobile & MMO teams were early
adopters of practices like DevOps and automation that support business
models which rely on consistent updates to drive retention. Game
platforms exhibit best -in-class developer productivity, with a SaaS -like
mentality for player experience and uptime.
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Rob CameronSR. TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, ROBLOX
“Moving from a monolithic code base to a microservices
architecture was transformative for Roblox. We can
release multiple services per day, scale them up, and
enable new features dozens of times per day.”
LEADERS BUILD DEVELOPER
PRODUCTIVITY

31 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
The root cause of most game production norms are the studio’s underlying technology and
infrastructure. Different games need to make different technology decisions and tradeoffs;
a single player game with no ongoing plans for updates may choose to consciously incur
technical debt to minimize development costs. Live service games need to build efficient
production processes to quickly ship high quality releases, avoid service outages, and
prevent team bloat. Loosely coupled architectures help minimize build times, which drive
more iterative development that can properly leverage automation.
All things equal, teams with more efficient production processes end up with healthier titles.
By establishing developer KPIs, studio management can better manage production risks
and plan long -term strategies to improve a title’s performance.
Production Practices
Technology & Infrastructure
Iterative development
Documentation & visibility
Tech debt management
Loose/Modular architectures
Minimal build times
Automation
Developer Velocity &
Release Stability
• Lead times
• Planning accuracy
• Rework rate
• Deployment freq.
KPIs OUTCOMES
• Faster releases
• Faster recoveries
• Less bugs
• Less outages
• Better player
experience
• Minimal downtimes
• Durable community
INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
⟶ PRODUCERS
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES TECH & INFRASTRUCTURE CREATE
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES FOR
STUDIOS IN GAME PRODUCTION
Ulas Karademir GM, REALITY OS (FORMER VP ENGINEERING, UNITY)
“Plan for the endgame. If your game’s
go to market will be driven by live
services, it’s crucial to integrate
support for post -production liveops
during pre -production development
cycles to be successful.”
MILLION VICTORIES

32 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Production efficacy in live services carries a material impact
to business performance. When players encounter
disruptions in their gameplay experience, they lose
engagement, and their frustration drives churn. The longer it
takes for development teams to address these issues, the
more significant the financial impact becomes.
Teams that fail to optimize their production and release
processes to meet fast -paced production timelines find
themselves caught in a costly break/fix cycle, siphoning
valuable developer resources away from delivering new
player value and maintaining stable gameplay. In today’s
market, this is the difference between a good game and a
truly great one — a distinction that can define a studio’s
success and longevity in the industry.
The chart below shows additional p layer churn from noticeable defects or outages
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
<1%
1-2%
3-4%
5-9%
10%+
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
<1%
1-5%
5%+
The chart below shows m onthly revenue loss from noticeable defects or outages
Large studios Mid -size studios Small studios
50%
80%
39%
THE IMPACT OF LIVE
SERVICE FAILURES
⟶ LEVEL 3
⟶ EVOLVING PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Zorbey Canturk PRODUCT LEAD, ACTIVISION BLIZZARD KING
“AAA games are trying to tackle LiveOps like a Mobile
F2P, and mobile studios are trying to deliver content
more intricate than ever. Tech directors and
producers are caught in the middle trying to make it
work, and it’s expensive when it doesn’t.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

33 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Level 4
EMERGING TECH TRENDS
What to expect on the road ahead

34 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
Studios want to buy vs build
65%
of studios are planning to increase their
use of off the shelf tools
Teams are excited about emerging game
technology and tools that help them get to
market faster
TAKEAWAY ONE
Cloud has a big role to play
94%
of studios are using or exploring the use of
cloud infrastructure
Hyperscalers will play a bigger role as
studios virtualize their infrastructure and
support cloud streaming
TAKEAWAY TWO
AI is starting to make an impact
52%
of artists see AI creating as much value as
a human artist within 2 years
While studios are excitedly exploring a wide
range of AI use cases, artists are seeing the
most benefit today
TAKEAWAY THREE
Technical infrastructure is a priority
63%
of studios are prioritizing IT, engineering, or
developer infrastructure investments
Technology innovation is becoming a
critically important strategy for executive
management teams
TAKEAWAY FOUR
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

35 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Game studios are home to some of the most technically talented
individuals and have traditionally built bespoke software tools,
engines, backends, or anything else they needed in pursuit of the
desire to push creative boundaries.
However, there’s a shift mentality happening, with 65% of all studios
now preferring to “buy vs build” their game technology .
The game industry is in a much more mature state than over the
previous decades, with well -funded companies ranging from
startups to tech giants providing powerful solutions that simply
weren’t available before.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Buy off the shelf tools Build custom tools
Small Studios Mid-size Studios Large Studios
The chart below shows respondents’ preference for building
vs. buying their game development technology
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
EVERYREALM
Reid SchneiderEXECUTIVE PRODUCER, RACOON LOGIC
“We ALWAYS prefer to buy vs. build. When
we buy, we know there’s a team out there
whose primary mandate is to support the
tools/tech. As a development studio, we
need to focus on what our players can feel,
touch, and see. Spending time building
custom tech is not our focus as an
independent developer. We need laser -like
focus on our content.”
THE INDUSTRY ATTITUDE
TOWARDS CUSTOM
SOFTWARE IS CHANGING
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

36 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Studios are enthusiastic about shifting away from a culture of
building and maintaining custom technology. 65% of
respondents said they plan to increase their use of OTS
technology over the next five years .
A key value proposition for ‘buying vs building’ solutions is to
make it easier to find and hire talent who use industry standard
software, rather than spending months to onboard developers to
a custom tool. However, studios remain cautious about whether
off the shelf tools can meet their requirements, which vary widely
across game types. Another key concern is becoming over –
reliant on vendor support. In the event of mission -critical system
failures, studios need to ensure swift issue resolution without the
risk of being stuck waiting for a vendor’s response.
The chart below shows the primary reason respondents would
buy a solution instead of building their own
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Standardize the technology we use
Improve game time to market
Improve technology stability
Reduce cost of game development
Avoid long term technical debt
The chart below shows the primary reason respondents would
build a custom solution instead of buying OTS
Rank 2 Rank 1
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Not enough functionality
Risk of vendor support reliance
Too expensive
Steep learning curve
STUDIOS SEEK TO
STANDARDIZE THEIR
TECHNOLOGY & IMPROVE
TIME – TO – MARKET
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
Chris BellCREATIVE DIRECTOR, GARDENS INTERACTIVE
“Using widely adopted software lowers the barrier for
teammates to quickly jump in and contribute to a
project, while also helping us spend more time and
resources on the development of the game itself.”

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
GAME TECHNOLOGY
VENDORS NEED TO OFFER
MORE THAN JUST SOFTWARE
Technical Support
Offering installation and activation support, typically over the first 90 days, is
essential to help onboard customers successfully help reduce problems a
game team might face down the line. Studio customers also strongly prefer, if
not require, vendors to provide license options with defined support level
agreements (SLAs) that help establish support visibility and accountability for
mission critical systems.
Larger companies often require extra support features to help unexpected
problems from arising. For example, game teams often freeze their software
versions to avoid breaking pipeline integrations which mean vendors need to
offer continued bug fixes and enhancements even for legacy products via
Long Term Support (LTS).
Enterprise Requirements
As customers, game studios buy more than just software licenses, especially
with mission critical software and at large AAA teams. Solution vendors need
to consider the technical support needs of their customers, as well as
additional enterprise features that larger publisher IT teams typically require.
The chart below shows the technical support preferences of respondents
38%
39%
40%
44%
44%
43%
49%
46%
48%
50%
19%
12%
14%
8%
6%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Enterprise Security
Software LTS
Paid Premium Support
Support SLAs
Installation/Activation Support
Required Strongly Preferred Not Important
Maurizio SciglioDIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS, EPIC GAMES
“Adopting a 3 rd party solution is one of the most
critical, existential decisions a studio makes.
Developers must trust that the vendor is stable,
credible, and has an adequate support structure in
place for when things inevitably go wrong. After all
they’re trusting the vendor with their most valuable
assets: their money and creations!”
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
PRODUCTION TEAMS WANT TO
USE THIRD PARTY SOLUTIONS FOR
THEIR BACKEND SERVICES
Game backends have seen a major shift towards the use of 3 rd party backend software,
especially for services that do not require extensive customization. Developers are
eager to avoid re -creating the wheel for more generic services like social features or
server hosting. Game services that are more unique to a project’s gameplay or logic,
such as player data or matchmaking, are still likely to be custom built.
Ultimately studio teams are looking to save time and budget while enabling a rich set of
meta -game features with minimal launch risk. 23% of developers would consider
entirely relying on a 3rd party backend provider, while 94% of studios are seeking to
use at least one off the shelf service in their backend stack.
“
The chart below shows what respondents are using for their backend services
0% 20% 40% 60% 20% 40% 60%
52%
53%
54%
49%
42%
39%
48%
47%
46%
51%
58%
61%
Player data
Matchmaking
Economy
Social features
Server hosting
LiveOps
Custom Off the shelf
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
Eden ChenCEO, PRAGMA
SHRAPNEL
“Game studios at large are transitioning from expensive custom
solutions that are costly to build and even costlier to maintain, to
backend game engines which give studios a richer set of backend
features out of the box, leading to more stable launches and better
player retention.”
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
AI IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ACROSS ALL
ASPECTS OF GAME DEVELOPMENT
The industry is buzzing with excitement about the potential impact AI can have across
the game development lifecycle. Emerging AI tools are expected to expand creativity,
improve productivity, and lower skill barriers. With too many specific use cases to
properly define, we decided to ask respondents which key domain of game
development they expected AI to have the most impact .
The chart below shows which aspect of game development
respondents expect to be most impacted by AI
Rank 2 Rank 1
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Player-generated content
Audio/language creation
Game programming
Narrative & story design
Game art (e.g. environment)
Testing & QA processes
Game system design
NPC design
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
Kylan GibbsCEO, INWORLD AI
BLACKSTORM
“Creating AAA -quality NPCs that are interactive, believable, and
essential to core game loops is becoming accessible to studios of
all sizes, with the help of AI character engines. Shifting from scripted
dialogue to dynamic, player -driven narratives is just the first step in
how AI NPCs will contribute to living, breathing game worlds.”

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
HARDBALL GAMES
While the industry remains enthusiastic about the potential of AI, the usage and value
creation of new AI tools are still in their early stages. For example, generative AI tools that
generate 2D, or even rudimentary 3D, concept art still need to solve challenges with
copyright protection before major studios feel comfortable bringing these assets into
production workflows.
It is important to note that we do not see AI tools ‘replacing’ studio employees. Game
development is a creativity maximizing industry. If a technology can save a project $1M,
teams are far more likely to reallocate that budget to more features than reduce the
game budget by $1M.
The chart below shows when respondents believe AI tools will provide as
much value as a game studio employee
5%
5%
2%
10%
19%
20%
17%
24%
29%
36%
33%
35%
37%
45%
22%
38%
22%
45%
29%
21%
42%
17%
15%
12%
5%
4%
11%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Studio management
Developer/SW engineer
QA/Tester
Producer
Data analyst
Artist
It already is 1-2 years 3-5 years 5+ years Never
TODAY’S AI TOOLS CATER
MOSTLY TO ARTISTS
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
“It’s always been David vs. Goliath for small
studios, and the rising costs of developing
games make it harder every year. A new wave of
tools and services, many AI -powered, give David
a mecha suit to even the odds.”
Matt WybleCHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, SECOND DINNER

© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Over the past decade, game studios have slowly been adopting
cloud capabilities into their workflows and pipelines for use cases
like virtual workstations, storage, and build servers. Common risks
and considerations that studio teams consider between operating
on -prem vs hybrid or public cloud infrastructure revolve around
reliability, security, and performance. Mid -size studios tended to
be the most cost -conscious while smaller studios were concerned
with the learning curve of changing their technology.
Long term, workflows and pipelines are expected to continue to
embrace cloud capabilities, with 46% of studios using cloud
infrastructure in production and 48% exploring or using cloud
infrastructure in R&D .
The charts below show respondents’ biggest concerns with migrating their
studio workflows to the cloud
Small & Indie <50 people
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Reliability (e.g. stability, uptime)
Learning curve
Performance (e.g. scalability, latency)
Mid -size 50 -100 people
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Reliability (e.g. stability, uptime)
Learning curve
Performance (e.g. scalability, latency)
Large 100+ people
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Reliability (e.g. stability, uptime)
Learning curve
Performance (e.g. scalability, latency)
Rank 2 Rank 1
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
“Game developers need to focus on building fun,
innovative games that delight players versus spending
time and effort handling infrastructure. Cloud
technologies accelerate game production, improve
developer efficiency, and enable remote work in ways
that simply aren’t possible with legacy IT infrastructure.”
Dan CarpenterDIRECTOR, AWS FOR GAMES
WORKFLOWS ARE
MIGRATING TO THE CLOUD

42 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Game studios are excited to implement cloud streaming for their
upcoming projects. The technology is improving rapidly, making streaming
easier for developers to support and more performant for players.
Cloud streaming has a strong value proposition for all developers.
Eliminating constraints like storage or performance enable low -powered
devices to have high -powered experiences and expand a title’s playerbase
to an audience without a high -end PC. While console developers express
the most planned adoption, 65% of all game studios intend to support
cloud streaming in their upcoming projects .
Mobile PC
57%
40%
3%
52% 42%
6%
72%
25%
3%
Console
Yes No, but interested No, not interested
The chart below shows respondents’ interest in supporting
cloud streaming in an upcoming project
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS STUDIOS ARE EXCITED ABOUT
TECHNOLOGY THAT HELPS
REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE
HOMETOPIA BY EVERYREALM
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

43 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
The mobile browser is quickly becoming a viable game platform with the
arrival of new technologies like WebGPU and HTML5. There are a slew of
benefits that developers are excited about, from near -native level graphics
performance to inherent cross -platform support and streamlined game
updates. Browser -based games also sidestep app stores’ revenue cut,
allowing for more lucrative economic models if games are successful.
83% of game developers think browsers could be a viable game platform in
the next 3 years , indicating high confidence in where the technology is going.
The chart below shows when respondents would consider browser -based
technologies (e.g. HTML5, WebGPU ) as a viable platform for an upcoming title
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Not viable at all
5+ years
1-3 years
Viable today
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS BROWSERS UNLOCK NEW
POSSIBILITIES FOR GAMES,
ESPECIALLY ON MOBILE
Brandon WuFOUNDER, GANGBUSTERS
“Web games aren’t just released; they have a dynamic and
responsive development cycle. We build them in the open with a
live audience to iterate rapidly, gather feedback, and deploy
updates and fixes daily. With the ability to distribute to a diverse
distribution channels and devices with ease, it’s a stark contrast
to traditional platforms, giving us a unique go -to-market motion
that is as agile and adaptable as our games.”
EVERYREALMBATTLETABS

44 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
The chart below shows which departments are a top priority for studio
technology investments
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Testing & QA
Data & Analytics
Studio IT Infrastructure
Game Art
Game Design
Game Programming
Software Engineering
Rank 1 Rank 2
⟶ LEVEL 4
⟶ EMERGING TRENDS
Naohiro Shimoto CVC MANAGER, SEGA SAMMY
The technology a studio uses in -game development has become a key
differentiator for game performance in the live services era. Management
teams are realizing the role technology has in shaping processes that impact
both the top and bottom line. Game companies are forming dedicated
teams to scout and evaluate new tools as well as stepping up investments in
in technology that can help them move fast, capture attention, and deliver
consistent player value.
BLACKSTORM
MANAGEMENT TEAMS ARE
PRIORITIZING STUDIO
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS
“Line -of-sight to frontier technology and disruptive new use cases
are incredibly valuable for our studios. Our team is focused on
exploring and investing into the future of games and entertainment.”

45 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
A NEW MARKET LANDSCAPE IS EMERGING
“Game development has never been more technically and creatively demanding. From new design and development
thinking to an evolving hardware and tool environment, game developers need to be more sophisticated than ever.”
Sinjin Bain EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, TENCENT
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
Games Launcher
LAUNCH
Backends
Multiplayer & Networking
Version Control & IDE
Engine
PRODUCTION
Workflow & Collaboration
Art
Animation & MOCAP
Asset Management & Optimization
Character Engine
PLANNING
Social & Community
Talent / Operations Software
QA / Testing
Revenue Optimization
LIVE SERVICES
Player Analytics
Modding
Marketplace & Rewards
Fraud Deterrence
Content Moderation
UA / Creators
Cloud / Web Gaming

46 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
A NEW MARKET LANDSCAPE IS EMERGING
“Game development has never been more technically and creatively demanding. From new design and development thinking
to an evolving hardware and tool environment, game developers need to be more sophisticated than ever.”
Sinjin Bain EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, TENCENT
Games Launcher
LAUNCH
Backends
Multiplayer & Networking
Version Control & IDE
Engine
PRODUCTION
Workflow & Collaboration
Art
Animation & MOCAP
Asset Management & Optimization
Character Engine
PLANNING
Social & Community
Talent / Operations Software
QA / Testing
Revenue Optimization
LIVE SERVICES
Player Analytics
Modding
Marketplace & Rewards
Fraud Deterrence
Content Moderation
UA / Creators
Cloud / Web Gaming
The current state of the gaming industry is marked by a saturation of content, escalating costs, and a need for
market correction by established players. Amidst these hurdles, developers that can leverage emerging
technologies and build production advantages have ample opportunity for differentiation.
Technical innovations in game technologies like AI, automation, cloud services, and blockchain, have exciting
potential to supercharge creativity, reduce production risk, and improve the player experience. While these
technologies equip studios with new opportunities, it is important to acknowledge that the tools often require
significant process innovation and a departure from legacy game production and operations norms.
This research indicates that improvements in game technology are driving an overall shift towards more agile
and iterative production cycles, akin to the journey that modern software development experienced in the past
decade. We expect these advancements to encourage risk -taking and foster innovation in genres, gameplay,
and business models.
The historical success of such ingredients in fostering new category leaders and driving double -digit growth in
the gaming market highlights an opportune moment for technology innovation. We have highlighted many of
the leading companies already building modern and powerful capabilities on the market landscape slide. The
2023 Game Development Report aims to inform and inspire market leaders and emerging founders dedicated
to creating the tools and solutions that will propel the gaming industry into its next phase of growth.
THE PATH FORWARD
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023

47 © Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023
This presentation is for information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, an offer or solicitation with re spe ct to the
purchase or sale of any security. Securities of any fund managed by GGP Management, L.P. (“GGP” or “Griffin Gaming Partners” ) o r
Rendered VC are offered to selected investors only by means of such fund’s governing documents and related subscription mater ial s,
which contain significant additional information about the terms of an investment in any such fund. Any decision to invest mu st be based
solely upon the information set forth in such documents, regardless of any information investors or prospects may have been o the rwise
furnished, including this presentation.
There is no guarantee that any investment objective will be achieved. Past performance is not indicative of future results, w hic h may vary.
An investment with Griffin Gaming Partners or Rendered VC is speculative and involves significant risks, including the potenti al loss of all or
a substantial portion of invested capital and the lack of liquidity of an investment.
This document reflects data and information made available to GGP or Rendered VC as of Q3 2023, and all such data and informa tio n are
subject to update and revision. Although such data and information has been obtained from, and are based upon, sources that G GP
believes to be reliable, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by GGP or Rendered VC as to the complete nes s of such
data and information.
The GGP or Rendered VC funds are invested in certain of the companies in this presentation, but such companies are not repres ent ative of
all investments made or recommended by Griffin Gaming Partners or Rendered VC on behalf of its funds. It should not be assume d t hat
investments made, or investments made in the future by Griffin Gaming Partners or Rendered VC will be, or will continue to be , p rofitable.
Please contact us if you would like additional information regarding all portfolio companies held by the GGP or Rendered VC f und s.
DISCLOSURES
© Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners 2023