Why Is Game Development So Slow?

"What!? It's going on sale early on July 10th!?"

Upon receiving this Ji You, Yang Ying a sudden wave of dizziness.

He was extremely anxious.

Wasn't it supposed to be released on July 15th?

Why did the promise suddenly get delayed?

And what a damn thing, a reverse delay, it was 5 days early?

It's July 5th now, exactly 5 days until the official release.

This has made Yang Ying a little anxious, because he knows that "Bloody Scientist" is not yet a complete product.

Although the company stated on Weibo that the game had been completed, it was actually only at a playable stage.

The main reason lies in the issues of deletion and modification and rushing to complete the project, which caused many unexpected situations at the code level, resulting in a lot of bugs in the game.

Even the first level can't be completed due to a bug.

To be honest, Yang Ying himself felt that the people operating Weibo were exaggerating a bit.

The game's characteristics, which I clearly outlined for them, were simple and unadorned, but they insisted on adding all sorts of descriptions to highlight its individuality.

If the game's actual performance doesn't live up to their hype, it will likely be another disaster.

Moreover, Yang Ying originally planned to use the remaining time to expedite the fixing of serious bugs, and then maintain the rest gradually later.

But I never expected that even the last bit of time would be shortened by President An, leaving me with only 5 days left!

If it's released like this, the reputation will be predictable, and as the person in charge of the Leap Group, I must take responsibility for it.

Because the leader is never wrong.

"Bloody Scientist" is, after all, a product developed under Yang Ying's leadership. The fact that it was censored by the higher-ups was already a blow. Now that it's being released with bugs everywhere, it's bound to cause trouble!

"No! We can't release it early! It will ruin the game!"

After thinking it over, Yang Ying sent a message to President An on the company's internal communication software, explaining the game's situation and the problems that would arise from releasing it ahead of schedule.

Then, I started waiting for a reply.

As a result, he waited for half an hour, and he was so anxious that he didn't know whether to urge them or not.

Fortunately, President An did reply, but his first sentence told him to stay in Bengbu.

[What do you mean? Wasn't the game finished?]

Paralysis!

The game is indeed finished after deleting the later content, but it has many bugs!

Fixing bugs takes time, and bugs can negatively impact the gaming experience.

At that point, forget about making a name for yourself in the terrorist market; you'll be lucky if you don't end up with a lasting infamy.

Before Yang Ying could reply, President An sent another message.

[I told you to shorten the process and cut out those parts that couldn't be developed in time, but you didn't do it?]

Upon seeing these two messages, Yang Ying could only briefly reiterate the current state of the game, using a language that his superiors could easily understand.

Then another half hour passed.

President An then replied.

[I understand games have bugs, but why are there so many? Why haven't you fixed them after so long? Why is your efficiency so slow?]

Thump—

Yang Ying slammed his fist on the armrest of the chair, feeling annoyed.

Why are there so many bugs?

Don't you even consider how much development time you've given?

Don't you even look at the expedited work schedule you're demanding?

Don't you take a look at the content you asked to be cut?

Because of these things, the game has a ton of bugs!

In order to release the product on schedule, my colleagues are working overtime to fix bugs.

You're so high and mighty, you don't understand development, yet you dare to criticize us for being slow!?

Do you want to shorten the release time and launch it earlier?

Is fixing bugs really that simple?

While inwardly cursing that President An an idiot, Yang Ying typed a reply on the internal chat software.

[I apologize, President An. Due to some technical reasons, many bugs are not only difficult to investigate, but also very troublesome to fix.]

[Furthermore, your original request for a July 15th release also had many bugs, but it would definitely be much better than an earlier release. If it really releases on the 10th, our time to fix the bugs will be further shortened, and we certainly won't have time to deal with the critical bugs affecting the process.]

[That's why I've thought about it for a long time before telling you the current situation: I strongly advise against releasing it ahead of schedule.]

After saying that, Yang Ying took a deep breath.

As the person in charge of "Bloody Scientist," he did not want the game he created to be treated this way.

Moreover, he couldn't figure out what President An was thinking.

The company's senior management has stated that this game is not for making money, but only for entering the market and building a reputation.

In that case, quality becomes extremely important.

How can you talk about reputation if there's no quality?

Didn't the previous film, "The Jungle Terror," already prove that?

Are we going to follow the same old path again?

What kind of mess is this?

First, they compressed the development cycle, then they cut back on subsequent content, and now they want to release it ahead of schedule.

Who could handle that?

Yang Ying also planned to use this game to make the Leap Group famous overnight!

About ten minutes later, President An replied.

Why does it take you so long to develop a game?

Upon hearing this, Yang Ying speechless and choked with fear.

But President An continued.

[You've taken as long to develop one game as others have developed two, and now your third one is about to come out. What are you doing?]

[I've given you the authority to hire more people when you're short-staffed, or to borrow people from other teams to help with development.]

[I told you to cut the unnecessary parts and focus your manpower on the completed content, and now you're telling me the game still has a ton of unresolved issues? And it can't be released early?]

Faced with these words, Yang Ying truly had no way to express his bitterness.

He wanted to explain, but as a seasoned veteran in the workplace, he also knew that any explanation he gave in this situation would only be a pretext for President An's incompetence.

It's common knowledge in all the development teams that President An doesn't understand games or game development.

He won't care about your technical difficulties; he'll only ask why you didn't finish on time.

Previously, although the company had development cycle regulations, they were never as tight as they are now.

Because development is a slow and meticulous process, rushing it does no good, let alone releasing it ahead of time, which would only affect the quality of the game.

Moreover, as President An just mentioned, the development time of one of his games is equivalent to that of two or even three other games.

Yang Ying guessed who it was immediately.

The Only Game ...

Sure enough, it's because of competition...

As one of the leading companies in China, Ji You, despite having sufficient human and material resources, lags far behind Only Game in development speed. This naturally leads to comparisons with other companies by management.

As someone working in the game industry, he was naturally aware of and quite surprised by the two new titles from Only Game.

Back when "Bloody Scientist" was officially launched, their "Skyhill" hadn't even been released yet.

Now that "Bloody Scientist" exists, their game is already...

Therefore, Yang Ying did not offer much explanation, but simply replied resignedly.

[Sorry President An, we will do our best!]

It seems that President An wasn't so busy anymore; he replied immediately after seeing the message.

[Let me tell you, the company's top management, including myself, all thought your game was finished and just waiting to be released as planned.]

[The company invested 1.5 million yuan in promotion, hoping to effectively publicize the game. But only a few days? Four days? Or five days? All the hype has been stolen by that other game, "Forest," and all they've released is a trailer.]

[At this rate, our game won't have much promotional effect, and we might not even be able to gain initial positive word-of-mouth. Do you think we can afford to wait? While there's still some buzz, the company should invest another 500,000 yuan in promotion to release it early and attract consumers.]

[Regarding the bugs you mentioned, are you the producer or am I? Isn't this your job? Your job is to fix problems as much as possible without delaying the game's release! Otherwise, what are you here for?]

[I don't care if you're working overtime or what, I've given you the release date. The rest is up to you to figure out how to implement it and how to complete it.]

Yang Ying was speechless in front of the screen.

Upon seeing President An's message, he felt a chill run down his spine.

He really wanted to swear, really wanted to point his finger at his boss and yell, "You think you're going to have a different idea every day?!"

But he dared not.

He could only glance silently at his busy team members outside the office, sigh, and think to himself that he would have to work overtime again tonight.

He then raised his hand and typed a response on the keyboard.

[Okay, President An, I understand.]

Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year and a prosperous Year of the Rabbit!