ABSTRACT
Software engineering and game development are different as in game development it is very difficult to elicit functional requirements from the users, and the customers buy and use the software only because it is engaging and fun. This chapter presents results from a survey on how game developers think about and use software architecture in the development of games, on how creative development processes are managed and supported, and on use of game technology. The results presented in this chapter are responses from 13 game developers on a survey focusing on software architecture, creative development processes, and game technology. The research questions answered are: What role the software architecture plays in game development? How game developers manage changes to the software architecture? How creative development processes are managed and supported? and How game development and technology have evolved in the last couple of years. The results of the survey show among other things that software architectures play a central role in game development where the main focus is on achieving software with good performance and high modifiability, creative processes are supported through flexible game engines and tools, use of scripting and dynamic loading of assets, and feature-based teams with both creative and technical professions are incrementally using more game-specific engines, tools, and middleware in their development now compared to earlier.
