Tool up

Practice makes perfect is the traditional and more arduous option, but increasingly developers are turning to AI tools such as Copilot, an autocomplete for computer code created by Github that uses OpenAI’s largest and latest language models, GPT 3.5 and GPT 4.

In fact, research conducted by Github found that Copilot could improve perceived productivity by 88%, make coding less frustrating (59%), and allow 74% of developers to focus on more satisfying elements of the job.

The technology also increased efficiency: 88% said they experienced faster completion, 96% were faster with repetitive tasks, and 87% reported that using Copilot facilitated using less mental effort on repetitive tasks.

Learning curve

AI as a coworker isn’t a new concept — but could AI tools ever replace developers entirely?

Speaking at the recent World Government Summit in Dubai, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang voiced his belief that learning programming languages won’t be as important in the future.

“It is our job to create computing technology such that nobody has to program, and that the programming language is human, everybody in the world is now a programmer,” he said. “For the very first time you can imagine everybody in your company being a technologist.”

The idea of this equitable playing field might seem like a utopian solution to the current skills shortage across the tech industry, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the technology will still need to be guided by humans.

So while AI tools are nice to have, they are not a sum total solution, or replacement in the case of developers. If you’re looking for your next opportunity to expand upon your skillset and further your career, the VentureBeat Job Board is the perfect place to focus your search.

It features thousands of opportunities for developers, such as the three below.

Sr Gameplay Software Engineer, Electronic Arts, Orlando

Electronic Arts is seeking a Software Engineer to develop in-game AI behaviors and player mechanics to work with its gameplay team to improve and rework existing AI and animation systems. In this position you will work side-by-side with game designers and animators.

You will take part in the full game creation process from design and architecture, writing technical documentation, code implementation, debugging and tuning gameplay behaviors and ensuring owned features are shipped under performance, memory and load time budge

Applicants should have robust, solid C/C++ skills along with the ability to write clear, maintainable, portable code.  Interested? Apply here.

Software Developer, Oracle, Seattle

Oracle is looking for a Software Developer to join its team and help design, develop, troubleshoot and debug a set of core OCI storage infrastructure services. As a member of this group, you will actively define and evolve standard practices and procedures, provide technical leadership to other software developers, and specify, design and implement modest changes to existing software architecture to meet continuously evolving needs.

You will be expected to act as a technical leader on your team and demonstrate core values for other junior engineers. You should be both a rock-solid coder and a distributed systems generalist, able to dive deep into any part of the stack and low-level systems and design broad distributed system interactions. Find out more about this job here.

Software Developer, SAIC, Washington

SAIC is seeking an experienced Software Developer to work on development of the NAVAIR Airworthiness electronic Flight Clearance and associated mobile applications. The team is responsible for developing and maintaining NAVAIR ACO systems used to provide NATOPS flight manual and NATIP systems information manual publications for all U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.

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In this role you will be required to design, build and/or fix bugs in a web application, ensure the performance, quality and responsiveness of the application and implement long term solutions and building blocks within the agile framework for improved reusability. See the full job description here.

Whether you want to take your coding career to the next level or are ready to apply your decades of programming experience in a new way, visit the VentureBeat Job Board today.

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Sponsored

How a shifting games industry is affecting developers and publishers

Anna Kozlova, Room 8 Group

April 22, 2024 06:50 AM

Presented by Room 8 Group

Games companies have been rocked by challenges in the last couple of years.

The number of titles published is growing each year while consumer spending growth is modest. Meanwhile, consumer expectations are growing, development budgets are increasing while interest rates go up and investors are becoming more cautious.

All of this means a significant share of developers and publishers are looking for ways to optimize production costs while keeping quality and increasing flexibility. The industry is changing — and companies are adapting accordingly.

How intense competition is affecting devs and publishers

More games were released on Steam in 2023 than any other year (the number of games released has been rising steadily for decades), as the barrier to entry drops as low as it’s ever been. Engines like Unity and Unreal Engine 5 are intuitive and increasingly simple to use. Some of the most popular games of the past year, like Palworld, have been made by small development teams (Pocket Pair, Inc.); Lethal Company, the smash hit released last October, was made by a single person (a dev known as Zeekerss). It is no longer essential for indie teams to have massive development budgets to make a game a hit, as long as they bet on gameplay innovation.

On the other hand — and while it may sound contradictory — big-budget releases will remain a dominant strategy for those with globally recognized IP. This is because as competition increases, marketing familiar game worlds and characters is the most effective way for such titles to stand out.

Thus, an interesting contrast has developed: Almost anybody can now make a game with relative ease, and so any talented developer can launch a success; yet the increased competition makes standing out from the crowd incredibly difficult — meaning big-budget games still have the advantage in terms of user acquisition.

People are playing fewer games — for longer

While heightened competition is a challenge for game-makers, user preferences are changing. Despite the increased number of games available, people are actually playing fewer games than they used to –instead they’re spending more time in the games they do play. In response, some companies may shorten their dev-cycle timeframes.

This is risky: while games like Lethal Company and Palworld show that multi-million-dollar budgets are not essential, if companies release undercooked games, they risk alienating their audience and damaging their reputation. Players still expect high quality and a certain level of innovation. Owners of globally recognizable game franchises might make the development process more iterative internally as their appetite for risk lessens.

AI is, of course, a potential solution. Developers the world over are turning over every rock, looking for ways to use AI in their workflows. It will become — is already becoming — part of the art production and VFX pipelines. It will transform in-game dialogue. AI will never replace people, but it is clear that companies will continue to leverage it for its ability to save massively on time and effort.

Rising costs and diminished workforces

Ultimately, the challenges that developers and publishers face are dampening their appetite for risk.

Game development costs have risen dramatically. What was once called a AAA budget is now just a AA budget, and what is now a AAA budget is so high that it was non-existent 10 years ago. AAAA games are already here.

At the same time, it is hard to create a team that can deliver that amount of content and also retain the team after peak production needs. This, combined with investor pressure and lay-offs, is likely to make developers reluctant to grow their internal teams, opting instead to keep things lean.

As such, I expect companies to work with external solutions providers like Room 8 Group more often — companies that, by offering external solutions across the game-dev spectrum, fit seamlessly into existing workflows and provide strategic support. We offer full-dev and co-dev solutions, while also providing support in areas such as engineering, art production and quality-assurance solutions. This means we can save developers time, money and resources, which is especially valuable during tough market conditions. External companies are already an important part of the game-making process; I anticipate we will become an even bigger part.

Looking ahead

As publishers and devs change their approach to suit a new, less forgiving industry, how might the space change further in the near future?

Clearly the premium release model is here to stay, but subscription-based gaming is also on the rise. In both cases, there will be an expectation from players for devs to offer more value by, for example, adding more gameplay time, necessitating a bigger budget.

Platforms like Roblox and Fortnite are more popular than ever, in large part because they have fostered good conditions for user-generated content (UGC). In fact, Zeekerss, the aforementioned developer of Lethal Company, was originally a Roblox creator. Moreover, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) has made high-level game development much easier for UGC creators. This trend is only going one way.

Free-to-play PC games are still a minority, and it’s hard to tell whether they will grow in popularity. Still, there is no dominant monetization strategy anymore. While the premium model won’t be rendered obsolete anytime soon, this business-model diversity will only increase in the near future, especially given there likely won’t be a new console released in 2024 (a new console launch may lead publishers to release more AAA games).

Industry reset

Growth in the games industry is there, but not to the same degree as during the COVID pandemic. This means the industry will need to adapt to keep players excited with new content, new IP, and by continually innovating, while keeping an eye out for optimization in the production process. To that end, utilizing solutions providers can benefit companies massively.

Learn more about the game industry’s future and explore Room 8 Group’s approaches in my interview at GDC 2024.

Anna Kozlova is CEO at Room 8 Group.

Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.

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