Games on Multi-Platforms

1. P1 D-Games on Multi-Platforms
KIEREN CARMICHAEL

2. 1st Party Developer
1st party developers are part of the company that manufacture a video game console or are owned by
a publishing house that publishes games to the consoles. These developers may use the name of the
parent/associated company or they may have previously been an independent studio that was
bought by the manufacturer/publisher. A notable example of a first party developer that fits both of
these criteria is Rockstar, with their development company Rockstar North, which was previously
known by DMA Interactive before it was bought by the Howser brothers at Rockstar. These produce
the Grand Theft Auto game series for Rockstar Games. A benefit of these games is that their products
are guaranteed to be published onto a platform as they have been paid to create them by their
parent company, and so the effort of creating the game will not be lost due to an inability to get the
games published. These developers can sometimes produce games on multi-platforms depending on
if they are contracted by a publishing house that also makes consoles (sony, microsoft), publishing
houses that are contracted by console companies (343 Industries) or companies such as Rockstar
that are contracted by multiple console companies.

3. 2nd Party Developer
2nd Party Developers are often Independently owned studios who take
contracts from manufacturers and publishing house or Studios that are
partially owned by the platform holder or publishing house that produce
games for their parent company, with the only difference to first party
developers being that their name distinguishes them as independent studios
who have publishing agreements as opposed to those (like Rockstar North)
who are completely owned by those they create games for. An example for this
is Insomniac Games, who produced games for Sony. This developer has the
same advantage of 1st party developers with the added benefit that they can
also produce other games for other companies as they are not completely tied
to a single company. These developers can produce games on multi-platforms
because they can produce games for multiple companies at one time.

4. 3rd Party Developer
A 3rd Party developer develops games with input from the publishing houses with both
having considerable input in the games development. These can be distinguished by a
singular contract to produce a singular game or series and 3rd party developers tend to
be small and close-knit teams. However, third-party game development is a volatile
sector, since small developers may be dependent on income from a single publisher;
one canceled game may be devastating to a small developer. Because of this, many
small development companies are short-lived. Examples of 3rd party developers include
Treyarch and Infinity Ward (although these are now owned by Activision they are still
considered to be 3rd Party Developers, albeit in-house developers). Note- 3rd Party
Developers are Independent from publishers and it is only Input that is exchanged
from publishers to 3rd Party Developers. These developers can produce games on multi-
platforms as they choose what games they want to develop, when and for who.