ABSTRACT
Today’s large-scale, complex computer games rely on an extensive history of advances in research and development that span numerous disciplines. Over seven decades ago, relatively simple games were developed in research-oriented environments that possessed rare and expensive computing systems. From these early beginnings, computer games have become ubiquitous. Their transition into popular cultures began in the late 1960s via ongoing innovations in home console, arcade, personal computer, portable console, mobile phone, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and multiplatform streaming games. The current large-scale entertainment games have become increasingly complex and can take years to develop. They have demanding traditional quality of service requirements in addition to distinct user experience requirements to provide engaging and fun games. To realize these requirements, team compositions in practice reflect the interdisciplinary foundations of game development which include the arts and humanities; behavioural sciences; business; engineering; and physical sciences and mathematics.
This chapter begins with a view on the interdisciplinary nature of games and a brief history of game development to provide a high-level view of the field. Then, the focus is narrowed to emerging results that investigate game development issues from software engineering perspectives. A summary of recent peer-reviewed literature (i.e., 2015–2020) is presented. It includes 83 articles (18 articles on serious games for software engineering education and 65 articles on software engineering methods for game development). The results have been reported at multiple levels of maturity; they appear in peer-reviewed workshops, conferences, and journals. Lastly, also reflecting on the emerging literature in the field, a synopsis of the nine core chapters of this book is introduced for the reader. The synopsis is organized into two categories. The first category includes work on serious games for software engineering. The second includes software engineering methods for game development; these chapters focus on game design topics.
