How much does cost to make a multiplayer game development

Multiplayer is the pillar of the gaming experience, with its multiplayer cosmos. The tendency of the multiplayer game is buzzing right now. Multiplayer game development is an intricate and expensive process, including multiple cost factors. The cost depends on the type of game, the team size, and the tools. Some games cost a few dollars, while some games cost millions. Now, let us know the breakdown of the cost of game development.

Estimating the cost of multiplayer game development

The average cost of a multiplayer game starts from $10000 and goes up to $10 million or more. The cost depends on making based on features and functionality. Here is the list of costs depending on the type of game:

Small Indie game(2D and 3D) - $5,000 – $50,000
Mid-size games(with features and graphics) - $50,000 – $500,000
Large AAA game(big budget game) - $1 million – $100+ million

Key factors that affect cost

The cost affects the development team, game engines, game design and art, networking, servers, etc.

Development team

A game is never developed without the team. A skilled team is required to build the game. So the cost depends on the demand of developers, designers, and engineers.

Solo developer - You can save money by creating games by yourself.
Small team - The small team costs $10,000 - $200,000. The number of a small team is 3 to 10 developers.
Large team - The estimated cost of a large-scale developer that works as a team is $500,000. These have 50+ people.

Game engine

Multiplayer app games are built on the software. A game engine is software where multiplayer iOS games and Android games. Some game engines are free of cost, and some are costly and have paid versions.

Free engines - Unity and Unreal game engines are free of cost. Unity is free for small games, and Unreal is free but takes a share of the profit.
Paid engines - These engines are specially for AAA games. The engines work for customization. Custom game engines can cost $100,000.

Game Design & Art

Multiplayer web game development needs characters, animations, and an interface. Multiplayer app games need a great visual representation and immersive experiences. In 2D games, it costs less, but when we come to 3D, it costs high rates. So the cost depends on the quality of the graphics.

Simple 2D art - They cost $1000 to $10,000 for the game creation.
Basic 3D art - the cost of basic 3D art is $5000 - $ 50,000.
High-quality 3D art - The estimated cost of this is $50,000 - $500,000.

Testing and bug fixing

Testing helps to make your game bug and error-free. Testing support to ensure smooth gameplay experiences. For testing, the Company has multiplayer web game development teams. The size of the team depends on the testing.

Small team - The small team has been hired for the basic test of the games. They cost $5000 to $20,000 per test.
Large team - The high-quality games 3D games, or Multiplayer iOS games companies have a large team to fix bugs and errors. They cost $50,000 to $ 200,000.

Market Size & launch

The global gaming market is valued at around $62.1 billion. If you create a multiplayer game, you need to advertise for the promotion. Marketing costs depend on the game's launch.

Small Indie Game: $1,000 – $10,000
Mid-Size Game: $50,000 – $500,000
AAA Game: $1 million – $50 million

Final cost estimation

The cost of the multiplayer game development depends on quality, complexity, team, and marketing. Here is the estimated cost for the games that are being taken for the development.

GAME SIZE	ESTIMATED COST
Simple Indie Game	$5000 - $50,000
Mid-Size Multiplayer	$50,000 - $500,000
Large AAA game	$1M - $100 M

Is making a multiplayer game hard

multiplayer game development is very challenging. The hardest part of the game development is engineering. It is difficult to address its unique set of issues. Complexity, gameplay mechanics, coding, graphics, and sound are the challenging issues for game development. The dynamic changes in the game industry are also a big issue for development. Developers face competition, tight deadlines, and demand for flexible game designs. Developing a game involves a time-consuming, energy-draining, global collaboration, and personality traits process.

How to build a multiplayer game

To develop a game, you have to choose a game engine first. Unity and Unreal game engine. Decide on a secure and faster networking platform. Peer-to-peer, Client-server, and dedicated server are the networking models. Sync player actions, then store the data in the database. Firebase and MySQL are databases for storing user data. After that, you have to test the game that is developed. The developer can test the data and fix the issues with real players. A cloud server is used for deploying the game. So, deploy the developed game on a cloud server. Take daily feedback and updates that have come into your game. This process improves the game and gives positive results.

Conclusion

Before the multiplayer game development, it is essential to know the actual cost of the game creation. The above data will help you to understand the game factors. The game development cost depends on the market size and stats. According to cost, you developers develop the games. If you want a simple game development, you can start with a small business. On the other hand, if you want a big name in the industry, you will need to large amount of budget. Because according to the budget, developers give quality, graphics and animations.