Are you a game developer looking for the perfect project management software to fit your needs? Then keep reading, as we’ll reveal three such solutions so that you can make the right pick.
How Project Management Software Aids Game Development
Developing a game is anything but simple, as it is a process that is long and complex. Your typical game goes through several stages before it becomes 100 percent complete.
What starts the process? The pre-development stage, where ideas get exchanged and planning takes place. Here is where a development team decides the game’s primary goal, its platforms, the audience it will be geared towards, how much it will cost, and more.
Once pre-development is complete, it is time for the production phase. This is where the game’s “meat and potatoes” is created, as teams create characters, storyboards, models, worlds, mechanics, levels, and so on.
After a game is produced, it gets launched to the general public. That does not end development, though, as the post-production phase still needs to be completed. During this phase, development teams produce and launch any game expansions or downloadable content to give their audience something extra to look forward to. And, most importantly, post-production is where teams handle any bugs or other issues that almost always appear – depending, of course, on their software development methodology and approach.
Since a single game has so many phases and moving parts in each, it is easy to see why a team would need help managing it all. That is where project management software comes into play, as it can streamline development to make everything run smoothly while improving speed and efficiency. How can it do this? By offering features like Kanban boards and Gantt charts, plus collaboration, budgeting, and time-tracking tools that are tailormade to boost production.
Read: Wrike Project Management Software Review
How To Choose The Right Project Management Tool For Game Development
Every project manager or game developer has different needs. And while most of the project management software we’ll discuss can fit most needs, you’ll have to think of what your team values the most.
What factors should you focus on when choosing project management software for game development? Your team’s size is obviously important, as is the project’s complexity. And once you have a vision in mind for how you want the entire process to run, you’ll need to think of which specific features will be needed most.
Project Management Software For Game Developers
Here are some examples of the top project management software for game developers. You’ll find them to be common choices amongst dev teams, but there are many more on the market that you can explore on your own should these fall short.
Jira Project Management
If using the Agile method is part of your teams software development approach, Jira might be the perfect fit for your game development needs. Why? Because this project management software was specifically created with the Agile method in mind.
The Kanban boards in Jira can help you easily visualize data on backlogs, bottlenecks, cycle times, etc. And its configurable Scrum boards can promote collaboration and cohesion by helping your team communicate and execute sprint planning with ease.
Speaking of configurable, Jira can be customized to fit your specific needs since it integrates seamlessly with over 3,000 software applications. Whether your team uses Slack, G-suite, or other applications regularly, they can continue to do so if you make Jira your project management software of choice.
Are you seeking something that offers time-saving automation? Jira has it, as its complex automation tools give you the power to automatically assign tasks or link issues, synchronize parent and child tasks, and much more.
Jira’s roadmaps provide a broad view of projects so you can avoid bottlenecks in advance, and you can also use this trusty feature to plan for any contingencies.
Some of Jira’s game-centric offerings include a quick-start feature that lets you launch a new project in under five minutes. Developers can track issues with a system that lets them mark, index, and track bugs when necessary. And if there are any coding issues, multiple team members can collaborate to handle them remotely via Atlassian’s cloud-based Crucible, a code management system that works well with Jira.
Jira’s pricing begins with a free version that supports up to 10 users and features Scrum and Kanban boards, backlogs, roadmaps, Agile reporting, apps and integrations, and more.
Jira’s Standard plan costs $7.50 per user per month, while its Premium plan costs $14.50. As you go up in pricing, you get more bells and whistles for your team, such as project roles, advanced permissions, increased storage, and more.
Read: Jira Review: Features and Pricing
Codecks Project Management Tool for Gave Devs
Codecks is a project management tool made specifically for game developers, and it offers a little bit of everything to satisfy project managers, programmers, and visual artists alike.
Codecks calls its software “Playful Planning,” and with good reason. It uses the design of collectible card games as its foundation so you can track your project’s progress in a simple, intuitive, and fun fashion. Instead of focusing so much on the software itself, which can be the case with some complex competitors, Codecks lets you focus on the task at hand.
While aesthetically pleasing, the cards in Codecks are highly functional. You can link them to milestones, assign cards to workers, arrange them into decks for a high level of organization, and more.
Besides being easy and even fun to use, Codecks offers other attractive features for game development teams, such as detailed time tracking and reporting, plus collaboration to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
Codecks has a Free plan that limits you to three users and five projects. This no-cost option offers time tracking, reporting, and integrations, plus 1 GB of file storage. The Pro plan costs five Euros per month, which gives you unlimited users and projects, 5 GB of file storage, and more. And if you need Codecks’ top-of-the-line offering, contact them directly and ask about the Enterprise plan, which offers self-hosting and tailored onboarding.
Read: Best Video Game Development Tools
Asana Project Management
Like Jira, Asana is project management software designed to work with the Agile method. You can use Asana’s built-in dashboard to easily add tasks and members, create customizable sprints, and track assignments. To save time, sprint tasks can be automated, so team members don’t have to update them manually.
To prevent individual team members from being overworked, use Asana’s Workload feature. It takes into account task assignments per member and determines their availability. If a specific item or resource is in danger of being overloaded, you’ll be notified thanks to an easy-to-understand color-coded system.
Bug tracking is robust in Asana, making it an attractive choice as project management software for game developers. You can use customizable forms to provide essential details on bugs as they’re detected. And if you need to share those details with outsiders who don’t have access to Asana, you can do so by sending them a link.
Asana’s pricing begins with a Basic version that’s “free forever.” With this plan for beginners comes unlimited tasks, projects, messages, file storage, and collaboration for up to 15 team members. You can also enjoy list view and board view projects, plus time tracking and over 100 free integrations through this no-cost plan.
Asana’s Premium plan costs $10.99 per user per month. It offers unlimited dashboards, timelines, custom fields, forms, rules, task templates, milestones, and more. Lastly, larger teams can use the Asana Business plan for $24.99 per user per month. It gives you everything Asana offers, including approvals, portfolios, workload, etc.
You can read a review of Asana’s Pros and Cons at our Project-Management.com sister site.
