Game Art Outsourcing Studio

Designing game art can take from 1 month to 1 year.

This time span can vary depending on:

• The Number of Assets (characters, environments, objects, etc.)
• Art style
• Complexity of Assets
• Budget
• Technical Specifications

Here are 4 key tips for better managing your game art project budget and timeline:

1. Set Clear Goals and Scope: Establish well-defined goals for the game’s art style, level of detail, and overall visual quality from the outset. Clearly define the scope of work, including the number of characters, environments, props, and other assets required.
2. Prioritize and Phase Development: Prioritize the most critical art assets for the game’s core experience, and phase the development of less essential assets. This approach allows you to focus resources on the most important elements first and ensures that the game’s minimum viable product is achievable within the allocated budget and timeline.
3. Optimize Asset Creation Workflow: Streamline the asset creation process by implementing techniques such as modular design, asset reuse, and procedural generation. Modular assets can be recombined and reused across multiple environments, reducing the need for creating unique assets from scratch. Procedural generation can automate the creation of certain assets, like terrain or vegetation, saving time and resources.
4. Leverage Existing Resources: Explore the use of pre-made assets, stock models, or third-party asset libraries to supplement your in-house game art production. While ensuring consistent art style and quality, this approach can help reduce the workload and associated costs.

We provide game art services in the USA, UK, Canada, the Middle East, etc. We understand the importance of seamless collaboration across borders and time zones. Most of our clients are from the USA and here is how we ensure efficient collaboration despite time zones and languages:

• A dedicated account manager will be assigned to your project, available during flexible hours, including weekends, to facilitate seamless communication and act as an interpreter if needed.
• All our key team members, including the project manager and those you’ll communicate with, are proficient in English for efficient collaboration.

Here are 4 key managing tips for rushed projects:

1. Build in a buffer time (plan for 5 weeks if your target timeline is 6 weeks) for contingencies, iterations, and reviews. Buffer time acts as a protection against any errors or issues related to the project force majeure. This way, circumstances that might not go as planned are taken into account.
2. Build in a buffer budget due to the need for additional resources, overtime hours working, revisions, and changes. While some changes might seem minor, they can accumulate, leading to significant increases in both costs and time.
3. Consider reevaluating some aspects and changing your project scope and overview by reducing the complexity and number of assets. For example, there is no need to design several unique characters for a crowd at a wide angle; you can have a few and use them in many variations.
4. Implement Modular Asset Design: Design modular and reusable assets that can be combined or repurposed across multiple environments or levels. This approach minimizes the need for creating unique assets from scratch and promotes efficient asset reuse.

Our game art studio offers all 2D and 3D game art styles, including realistic, stylized, cartoony, low-poly, cel-shaded, hyper-realistic, pixel art, minimal, etc. We also can combine multiple art styles to achieve your ideal vision and custom game art style.

The visual style you choose depends on various factors, including:

• Artistic Vision
• Game’s Genre
• Target Audience
• Technical Constraints
• Budget
• Deadline

The key is finding an art style that balances your game’s vision, genre, and target audience. For kids’ games, a cartoony or exaggerated 3D style works well. For mature, action-oriented games, a gritty realistic style fits. Fantasy and adventure games focused on world-building suit a stylized, painterly aesthetic.

To create awesome game art, 6 critical points should be taken into account:

• Unique Art Style: A unique game art visual style is a powerful tool to be memorable and increase immersion and differentiation.
• Color Palette: Choosing the best color palette can make a game art visually appealing, set the mood, improve clarity, and differentiate it from competitors.
• Memorable Characters: Think about your favorite games; the first thing that comes to mind is their characters, so good game art must have unforgettable characters.
• Environment Design: After character design, environment design is too important. Memorable environments of the games can make a lasting impression on the mind.
• Visual clarity: Visual clarity, visual appeal, and attention to detail can improve gameplay, aesthetics, realism, and differentiation.
• Animation: The excessive and smooth use of animation makes the game art more engaging and understandable. Compared to before, now everything (UI, background, and props) is being animated and shaken up.

Our game art company creates art for all game genres, from RPGs, RTS, and virtual reality to action and Simulation video games.

Here are 10 key strategies to help you benefit the most from a partnership with a game art studio:

1. Clear Vision and Goals: Establish a shared understanding of the game’s artistic vision, style guides, and overall goals from the outset. Clearly define the scope, deliverables, and expectations for each collaborator.
2. Open Communication: Maintain open lines of communication among all parties involved, including artists, designers, developers, and project managers. Regular check-ins, feedback loops, and conflict resolution processes are essential.
3. Respect for Roles and Expertise: Recognize and respect the unique skills and expertise that each collaborator brings to the project. Foster an environment of trust and mutual respect, where everyone’s contributions are valued.
4. Consistent Art Direction: Appoint a lead artist or art director who can provide clear guidelines, oversee the artistic integrity, and ensure visual consistency across all assets and collaborators.
5. Efficient Workflows and Pipelines: Implement streamlined workflows, file management systems, and production pipelines to facilitate seamless collaboration, asset sharing, and version control.
6. Flexibility and Adaptability: Be prepared to adapt and make adjustments as the project progresses. Embrace feedback, iterate on ideas, and be open to compromises that serve the greater good of the game.
7. Time and Resource Management: Establish realistic timelines and allocate resources effectively, considering the workload, skill sets, and availability of each collaborator.
8. Documentation and Knowledge Sharing: Maintain comprehensive documentation, style guides, and reference materials to ensure consistency and facilitate onboarding for new collaborators.
9. Collaboration Tools: Leverage appropriate tools and platforms for team communication, asset sharing, task management, and real-time collaboration, such as project management software, version control systems, and cloud storage solutions.
10. Trust and Respect for Intellectual Property: Clearly define intellectual property rights, ownership, and usage guidelines from the outset to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

There are 4 criteria for picking the best AAA game art studios for your projects:

• Portfolio: A game art company’s expertise is showcased via its breathtaking game art portfolio, and nothing tells better what they are capable of than its past works.
• Reviews: Read their reviews online and see what their past clients think of them. The most honest on-hand thing you can find in the best game art studios is their online reviews.
• Communication: First impressions matter – especially when it comes to communication. If they’re slow to respond or just plain rude from the get-go, imagine how it’ll be once they have your money! Trust your gut and work with people who make you feel good.
• Time and Budget Compatibility: After all, you might find the best game art studio, but your time schedule and/or money budget do not meet their demands. Find a game art agency that meets all the previous characteristics as well as your budget and schedule.

Our game art studio can produce art for game engines such as Unreal Engine, Unity, Godot, GameMaker Studio, Construct, etc. Even if you desire, we can implement the art into your game engine and deliver them to you.

Here are 3 common challenges and risks in game art workflow and strategies to address them:

• Challenge: Project Delays and Unexpected Disruptions
• Solution: Comprehensive upfront planning, minimizing excessive revisions/edits, maintaining open communication, and building some buffer time (10%-20%) into the timeline for unexpected issues and contingencies like artist illness, emergencies, etc.
• Challenge: Misunderstandings
• Solution: Extremely clear and detailed brief, over-communicate priorities, ask the game art studio to explain their understanding back to you (do not just seek confirmation of your explanation), and emphasize crucial requirements repeatedly.
• Challenge: Budget Overruns
• Solution: Pursue a fixed-price contract rather than hourly, conduct detailed scoping in brief, set clearly defined budget limits and contractual provisions, and build in contingency buffers for possible risks.
• Challenge: Technical Limitations
• Solution: Evaluate technical capabilities early and align game art production with supported features and performance targets. Implement optimization techniques, such as level-of-detail (LOD) systems, occlusion culling, and asset optimization.

Here are 5 ways a customer can extract more value from a game art project:

• Modular Asset Design: Adopt a modular approach to asset creation, where components like meshes, textures, and materials can be easily combined and reused across multiple assets or environments. This approach not only saves time and resources but also promotes visual consistency and allows for greater flexibility in creating variations.
• Procedural Generation: Explore the use of procedural generation techniques for certain types of assets, such as landscapes, vegetation, or architectural elements. This can automate the creation of complex and varied assets, reducing manual effort while still maintaining artistic control over the overall aesthetic.
• Level-of-Detail (LOD) Systems: Implement LOD systems that automatically adjust the level of detail of assets based on their distance from the camera or importance in the scene. This optimization technique can significantly improve performance while maintaining visual quality where it matters most.
• Asset Repurposing and Kitbashing: Explore ways to repurpose or “kitbash” existing assets by combining, modifying, or recoloring them to create new variations. This approach can yield a greater variety of assets while leveraging the work already done, saving time and resources.
• Asset Monetization: Explore opportunities to monetize your game art assets by offering them for sale on digital marketplaces or asset stores. This can generate additional revenue streams and extend the value of your art assets beyond the initial project.

Here’s what you can expect from our game art studio:

• Regular Updates: We’ll provide you with regular updates on the progress of your game art, including concepts, 3D models, and animations for your feedback.
• Revision Process: We understand revisions are often part of the creative process. Our game art studio offers a structured revision process to ensure your feedback is incorporated effectively.
• Open Door Policy: Our game art company has an open-door policy, so you’re welcome to ask questions or discuss any concerns you may have at any time.
• Educational Resources: Our game art studio can provide you with educational resources to help you better understand the game art process and the creative decisions involved.
• Multiple Format Delivery: We deliver the final game art services in various formats suitable for various platforms and uses.
• After-Service Support: Our support extends beyond delivery. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about using your game art or repurposing it for future projects.