Game apps are one of the most lucrative app niches in 2022. For a developer as well as a non-techie, it is one of the fastest-growing businesses with endless potential for growth.
Games have proven to be the earliest use cases for Augmented and Virtual Reality, for instance, blockchain, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT). And early adopters, whether developers or non-techies, have yielded fruitful results out of their decision to plunge into the field.
Miami, especially, is the hotspot for opportunities in the sector. It has a vast talent pool in the IT sector and rather an economic one, too, as compared to other regions in the USA. Plus, the place is home to strategic advisors, investors, and opportunists who love to listen to pitches and then invest. This means if you start an app-based business in this region, you won’t have to worry about finding a potential investor or your initial cashflows required to cover development costs.
If you too are an aspiring appreneur and would like to hire game app developers in Miami, here is a quick guide to help you with the subject:
1. Freelance vs. Agency
While some may argue that quality can be found anywhere, this certainly shouldn’t be the case when you are investing in game app development. That’s because of the huge financial resources, opportunity costs, and energy you are putting into the project.
In such cases, we recommend appreneurs and startups don’t work with freelancers for standalone services. Rather, they should hire a fully-functional development team with multiple services from strategy to design to technical to testing and maintenance. Complete game development takes 5 – 8 months. And so a freelancer might not be able to show this level of commitment.
To find a development team that does it all, you need to hire a game development company or game developers companies for an enterprise-grade company, preferably based in your own location, since that would make project management easier and more effective.
These teams have strategists and full-stack developers on board who follow agile methodologies. Also, doing so can save you the time and hassle of hiring different resources in different stages of the process. All you’ll have to do would be to communicate your requirements and monitor milestones via a dedicated project manager.
2. Clutch and GoodFirms
These are the ideal platforms to start your search. That’s because these are B2B platforms with independent ratings and reviews verified by actual customers.
Other than that, these platforms have specific standards to rate the quality of services for different domains and industries. For queries as general as a mobile app developer or as specific as iPhone apps development in Miami, you’ll get relevant results that will match your query at least 80% – also, their minimum project size to know if the company is under your budget or not.
Once you like the details of a company on Clutch or GoodFirms, you can move on to check their official website and ask other prospects, too who have worked previously with the company you deploy.
3. Social Proof
Social proof includes the testimonials on the company’s website, along with the following:
- Reviews on social media handle like Instagram and Facebook
- LinkedIn endorsements
- Community engagement on Reddit and Quora
- Strength of Google Business listing profile
Once you are satisfied with how these companies engage with their clients and what their previous customers have to say about them, you can move to check other specific areas of your interest.
4. Technical Expertise and Experience
For technical expertise, you need to check which programming languages your prospective developer works on, what platform they develop for, what stacks and databases they have already worked with, and if they can provide maintenance and monetization model integration services as well.
It is ideal your hire a game developer with experience in:
- Cross-platform development: so that your game performs the same on Android as well as iPhone devices
- Unity: this is a major game development language and framework, and most modern and successful games are built on this framework
- Design tools: design tools like Adobe XD are important to save you the hassle of separate design and development services
Also, if your game app has a unique or emerging tech integration, for example, NFT, you need to work with a developer who has experience with Ethereum or blockchain strings. For Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, you need a developer who has worked with IBM Watson or Microsoft Axure.
5. Portfolio
Once you know that your prospective developer has the right skillset you need for your game development project, it’s time to check the quality of their design and development services. A lot of game applications are free. So, go to your developer’s website, and check out their portfolio section alongside the names of the game apps they have developed earlier.
Then, download if those games are free and check them for:
- Magnitude of game
- Genre, storyline, and characterization in the game
- Quality of user interface and user experience
- Monetization model of the game
- Download rates of the game
- Reviews of customers
Compare no. of downloads and customer reviews about user interface and user experience. If both of these are decent, the developer is good to go.
6. Game App Development Ideas
While you will already have created a business plan and must have a game characterization and storyline in mind for the overall development process, it is ideal for brainstorming for further maturity and idea validation. That’s because developers work with industry leaders and can contribute materially and intellectually as they know the pulse of the market.
For beginners, here are some top game app development ideas for 2022 and beyond:
- You can start an NFT-based fighting or racing game like Ether Legends, Cryptokitties, or Zed Run. These games are backed by blockchain strings and follow a play-to-earn model.
- You can leverage Augmented Reality and let your players move for great targets in their actual environments. Pokemon Go is an inspiration for this idea and is now currently the top trending game worldwide.
- You can choose to develop a real movement game and integrate it with health and biometrics. Then, reward your players when they complete their fitness goals.
There are different ways to monetize these games. While free games are the most popular, you can choose to sponsor ads or affiliate with other games or apps. Also, you can choose to introduce the basic version of the game and persuade your players to make either in-app purchases or upgrade to the premium version.
7. Agreement Terms
While it is the industry norm that the source code of the mobile app, along with its design resources and other digital assets, belongs to the client, we recommend appreneurs and startups establish businesses that confirm these factors and ensure these clauses in their contracts.
Also, ask if your developer could allow for flexible payment structures: with a down payment and then residual in equal monthly installments. This will help you with initial cost coverage and maintain the planned cashflows.
Wrapping Up
While hiring a game developer is not challenging, it surely is tricky because of the huge talent pool in Miami. All in all, we suggest appreneurs find a developer who is well-versed at work, has a grip on soft skills, and is ready to turn your game’s vision into a successful digital reality.
