The Game Development Strategy Guide
Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive
Some of today’s most popular video games have been on the market for decades, while others barely make it days before disappearing forever. What differentiates the games that survive? This expansive look at modern video game development gives you an end-to-end, cross-disciplinary understanding of the people, processes, and core design principles you’ll need to create video games that thrive.
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for anyone and everyone interested in working on and creating games, including the
following people:
- Aspiring game developers of any discipline.
- Veteran game developers looking to reframe their understanding of game development to account for modern trends and standards.
- Creative leaders who need to build and support environments where great video games are created.
- Game designers trying to improve their understanding of the business considerations that have felled so many recent games.
- User experience designers looking to understand, define, and expand their impact in the broader video game market.
- Producers struggling with the choice of business model or monetization choices for their games.
- Partners to video game developers like legal counsel, business development, venture capitalists, marketing, licensing, and human relations.
You’ll learn…
- Sets a standard for basic game design principles.
- Gives a foundation in the science and art of universal player motivation, critical to informing decisions about the game.
- Demystifies the modern gaming business, including live-service games.
- Walks through the roles that people and companies play in the game development process.
- Provides a common language for game development techniques.
- Shows how to achieve creative ideation and learn prioritization techniques.
- Explores more advanced design topics to help games thrive over time.
- Highlights how to design games that encourage positive social experiences.
- Defines modern video gaming monetization techniques.
- Codifies common ethical and legal issues.
- Provides a shared understanding of key video games hardware, software, engines, and platforms.
- Explores what works and what doesn’t in gaming—showing common patterns in the industry and design struggles.
- Gives insights that will apply to teams and games of any size—from indie games to mega games
- Highlights an oversight of the industry for nonindustry partners who need to understand game development, including the business development and legal areas.
Some of today’s most popular video games have been on the market for decades, while others barely make it days before disappearing forever. What differentiates the games that survive? This expansive look at modern video game development gives you an end-to-end, cross-disciplinary understanding of the people, processes, and core design principles you’ll need to create video games that thrive.
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for anyone and everyone interested in working on and creating games, including the
following people:
- Aspiring game developers of any discipline.
- Veteran game developers looking to reframe their understanding of game development to account for modern trends and standards.
- Creative leaders who need to build and support environments where great video games are created.
- Game designers trying to improve their understanding of the business considerations that have felled so many recent games.
- User experience designers looking to understand, define, and expand their impact in the broader video game market.
- Producers struggling with the choice of business model or monetization choices for their games.
- Partners to video game developers like legal counsel, business development, venture capitalists, marketing, licensing, and human relations.
You’ll learn…
- Sets a standard for basic game design principles.
- Gives a foundation in the science and art of universal player motivation, critical to informing decisions about the game.
- Demystifies the modern gaming business, including live-service games.
- Walks through the roles that people and companies play in the game development process.
- Provides a common language for game development techniques.
- Shows how to achieve creative ideation and learn prioritization techniques.
- Explores more advanced design topics to help games thrive over time.
- Highlights how to design games that encourage positive social experiences.
- Defines modern video gaming monetization techniques.
- Codifies common ethical and legal issues.
- Provides a shared understanding of key video games hardware, software, engines, and platforms.
- Explores what works and what doesn’t in gaming—showing common patterns in the industry and design struggles.
- Gives insights that will apply to teams and games of any size—from indie games to mega games
- Highlights an oversight of the industry for nonindustry partners who need to understand game development, including the business development and legal areas.
Testimonials
An amazingly broad and contemporary take on our industry. Whether you are new to the gaming industry or a veteran, if there is only one book you read about the game industry and all the different points of view—it should probably be this one.
—Will Wright
Game designer, creator of The Sims, SimCity, and Spore; BAFTA Fellow, and co-founder of game development studio Maxis
Cheryl Platz’s book is a true tour de force that deserves a prominent place in every game developer’s library!
—Weszt Hart
Co-author, Digital Thriving Playbook, board member, Thriving in Games Group
A compelling overview of the design heuristics, psychological concepts, development approaches and core concepts necessary for game development—essential reading for the game industry today.
—Steve Bromley
Author, How To Be A Games User Researcher
If every game developer is a gamer first, why not speak to them in gamer terms? Every career needs a walkthrough like this!
—Dr. Christopher Maverick
Assistant Teaching Professor of English, Digital Narrative and Interactive Design, University of Pittsburgh
An essential resource for developers who want to build a standout video game that thrives in a crowded market—and avoid the critical failures that plague many games.
—Catt Small
Independent game developer and Executive Director of the Game Devs of Color Expo
Cheryl compiles a wealth of knowledge and experiences in this engaging deep dive into the complex world of video game development.
—Stephanie Cheung
Art director, independent
This guide is an amazing crash course for anyone who wants to make games that actually succeed.
—Jesse Schell
Author, The Art of Game Design
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What Makes Us Play
Chapter 2: The Living Business of Games
Chapter 3: Putting the Dev in Game Development
Chapter 4: Game Designer’s Toolkit
Chapter 5: Game Experience Design in Practice
Chapter 6: The Why of Multiplayer
Chapter 7: Engaging Players over Time
Chapter 8: Creating Immersive Worlds
Chapter 9: From Emergence to Prosocial Gaming
Chapter 10: The Money Game
Chapter 11: Efficient and Ethical Economies
Chapter 12: Gaming Technology Platforms
Chapter 13: The Good and Bad of Game Dev Processes
Chapter 14: Let the Right Ideas Win
Chapter 15: Failure to Thrive
FAQ
These common questions and their short answers are taken from Cheryl Platz’s book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive (2025). You can find longer answers to each in your copy of the book, either printed or digital version.
- Does “game development” in the title mean this is a programming book?
No. This book is intended for anyone who works on video games, and starts in Chapter 1, “What Makes Us Play,” by exploring universal player motivations. The word developer in video gaming, like the broader software industry, is used in many different ways. As discussed in Chapter 3, “Putting the Dev in Game Development,”while some folks believe “game development” refers only to programming, it is usually a more general term applied to the collective act of making a game across all disciplines (as demonstrated by the existence of the broader Game Developers Conference).
