The Documents and Assets Created During the Video Game Production Process

TL;DR

This paper surveys the various documents and assets produced during video game development to aid archivists in understanding and managing video game industry records, focusing on the creation process and record types.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the records generated in video game production, serving as a practical guide for archivists assessing game-related collections.

Findings

Catalogs types of production records

Explains the purpose of different documents

Highlights the record-keeping practices in game development

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to take that first step in helping archivists understand the video game industry by examining the documents and assets created by game companies. This paper is intended as a survey of the records generated during video game production, and an overview of why and how those records are created. It is not intended to be a statement on archiving best practices, but rather a tool for archivists to use when assessing and processing video game collections. It is an overview of how a video game is made and the paper trail left behind that an archivist might encounter.