Resources

The following list is a directory of resources I have personally found useful. I am not responsible for the content and state of any of them.

Feel free to contact me if a link is down or you have found a great resource that you would like me to add.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase or sign up for a program, I may earn a commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Books on game production

The Game Production Handbook Third Edition

The Game Production Handbook, Third Edition gives producers, leads, and studio managers all the information they need in order to successfully develop a game from concept to release-ready gold master. Fully revised and updated to reflect the rapidly evolving game development landscape, the third edition of this definitive and best-selling text covers pre-production, production, testing, and code release, as well as more specific topics including voiceovers, mo-cap shoots, marketing, localizations, managing external contractors, writing documentation, and project management practices.

People, Planning, and Production for Video Game Development

“People, Planning, and Production for Video Game Development” is a one-stop shop for video game production. It has tools, techniques, and philosophies to aid any student, new producer, or game professional. The many thoughts and ideas in this book will give the reader a number of different vantage points on video game production, in order to address each reader’s unique needs. It allows for flexibility in the reader’s game development life cycle while still laying out proper guidelines for management.

Agile Game Development with Scrum

Game development is in crisis—facing bloated budgets, impossible schedules, unmanageable complexity, and death march overtime. It’s no wonder so many development studios are struggling to survive. Fortunately, there is a solution. Scrum and Agile methods are already revolutionizing development outside the game industry. Now, long-time game developer Clinton Keith shows exactly how to successfully apply these methods to the unique challenges of game development.

Production Pipeline Fundamentals For Film And Games

Every production is built on the backbone of the pipeline. While a functional and flexible pipeline can’t assure a successful project, a weak pipeline can guarantee its demise. A solid pipeline produces a superior product in less time and with happier artists who can remain creative throughout the grueling production schedule.
Walk through the foundational layers of the production pipeline, including IT infrastructure, software development practices and deployment policies, asset management, shot management, and rendering management. Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games will teach you how to direct limited resources to the right technological initiatives, getting the most for every dollar spent.

Books on the game industry

Fun Factory

Fun Factory: An Insider’s Guide on the Video Game Industry is an eye-opening grand tour answering the questions “How do video games actually get made?” and “What’s it actually like to work on a title?”. What happens when you put fifty plus creative people in a room, most under twenty-five years old, and throw millions of dollars at them? Tales of axe-wielding programmers, studded leather underwear wearing artists, millions of dollars spent and lost, and the birth, life, and death of a development studio are used as insights into the video games industry. Using titles and franchises such as Baldur’s Gate, Call of Duty, Crysis, Quake, and many others as examples, Fun Factory entertains by walking through the entire creative process of how games are made from the initial concept to the final shipped title.

Game industry web portals

Gamesindustry.biz – GamesIndustry.biz is the market leading website and community for news and information about the global video games industry. The site has a significant and qualified global audience, with over 100,000 registered users spanning every part of the industry, from design, development, publishing, marketing, distribution or retail all the way through to media, freelance and students

Gamasutra – Gamasutra is the leading game development site providing:

Daily news about the game industry ,Original features and technical articles written by industry professionals
The most comprehensive job board for game developers on the web, and free resume storage for members
Directory of game developers and companies providing services to game developers

Gamedev.net – GameDev.net is a social platform about all things game development and design for hobbyists, indies, and industry professionals. (Don’t forget to visit their blog section!)

Polygon – Polygon publishes video game news, entertainment, reviews, and video. They sought to set their content apart from other games journalism outlets by focusing on the people making and playing the games rather than the games alone

Blogs

Ask a game developer – Ask a Game Dev is making games for a living and can answer your questions

Agile game development – Agile Game Development blog covers topics on applying agile methods to creative interactive multimedia products. (This blog is from Clinton Keith – the author of Agile Game Development with Scrum)

The Game Lawyer Blog – Zachary C. Strebeck is a California based game development attorney focused on providing legal solutions for independent video game and board game developers. From company formation to contracts to crowdfunding, protect your project from start to finish

Game Development Underground – Game Dev Underground is a community and toolset that helps you finish, launch and market your indie game. (Also, check his YouTube channel)

YouTube

Extra Credits – Extra Credits is a video lesson series presented by game designer James Portnow, animator/narrator Daniel Floyd, and artists David “D” Hueso, Lilenne “Lil” Chan, Scott DeWitt, and Dan Jones.