full image - Repost: “Why armor take so long?” (from Reddit.com, “Why armor take so long?”)
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I want to clarify that I am not here to take sides or point fingers at either Bungie or players. My aim is to shine a light on a very often-overlooked aspect of game/software development. That being the convoluted, time-consuming, and often extremely frustrating red tape and “corporate structure” that is mostly unavoidable in mid to large sized companies. With the lack of posts I’ve seen from actual developers and all the discussions this week around armor sets, I thought this would be a good time to post about this.I am not a game developer myself. However, I am a .NET software developer who’s worked for a few different companies of varying sizes from 60 employees to thousands of employees. I know and have known developers and QA of all kinds.Many fellow guardians seem to wonder why AAA game developers, such as Bungie, don't simply churn out a whole bunch of new armor sets at a faster pace. While it might seem like a simple task to just model a new set, paint it, and plop it in-game, the reality is much more complex and tied up in corporate intricacies. Let's start with the most significant aspect: the corporate hierarchy and approval process. Contrary to popular belief, game developers don't operate in a vacuum. For every single tiny piece of content they want to introduce, there are multiple stages of approval, each one involving different teams and management levels. This isn't about stifling creativity, rather it's about ensuring the new content aligns with the game's vision, art style, balance, budget, and even legal and marketing considerations. For instance, when a new armor set is conceived, it needs to go through a conceptualization process that often involves multiple brainstorming sessions. These ideas are then visually represented by concept artists, often resulting in several iterations before a final design is agreed upon. This process alone can take weeks or even months, and that's before any actual development work begins. I’ve seen a 2 word update to a customer facing online document take 5 weeks to get final approval, and not for lack of trying. Once the design is approved, it is handed over to 3D artists to create a detailed model. This work, too, is iterative, requiring regular reviews and revisions. The model then needs to be rigged (i.e., a skeleton is added to allow for movement), animated, and textured. This requires collaboration between various teams, which takes considerable time to coordinate. And remember, all of this has to fit into the overall project timeline, which may already be jampacked with higher-priority tasks.Also, let's not forget about the QA team. Once an armor set is created, it's passed over to Quality Assurance for testing. They ensure it functions correctly, doesn't break the game, and looks good in all sorts of different scenarios. Any bugs found will be sent back to the developers for fixing, which adds more time to the process.Finally, the armor set has to be integrated into the game's existing infrastructure, which may include databases, servers, and client software. This often involves more teams, such as backend developers, database engineers, infrastructure and network engineers.In the corporate environment of AAA game development, there's a significant emphasis on coordination and collaboration between different departments. The time this requires is often DRASTICALLY underestimated. Most people assume that developers of any kind are literally typing on their keyboards for 8 hours a day. That’s very far from the truth. Most developers you ask will be fingers to keyboard like 4-5 hours per day. The rest is meetings, emails, planning, trainings, code reviews, etc. Additionally, managers, directors, marketing teams or executives might want to space out content releases for marketing purposes, ensuring a steady stream of new material to keep players engaged over time. So even if new armor sets were ready, they might be held back for a strategic release.In essence, while we as gamers would love to see more and frequent content, the reality of AAA game development is a complex mix of creative, technical, and corporate hurdles. A lot of which could definitely be avoided or sped up. But that’s not how things work 9 times out of 10.That is all :)
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