How Long Does It Take to Make a Video Game?

Well that depends on what you define as finished in this day. Those games may not be finished but Minecraft hit 1.0 a long time ago. Stellaris was at a point that me and many others felt like they were buying a product worth the money when it was released. In Stellaris’s case, I knew the game would be a bit rough and refined in DLC, but they’ve continued to refine it via more content than I expected and after I played my fill (which was in the triple digit hours).

Long gone are the days of well we have to ship it so it’s done because we can’t update all these cartridges — for better or worse. Lots of games ship as buggy messes now that need some extra time, but studios / publishers didn’t want to miss the holiday window.

Honestly this is the biggest reason I haven’t made my dream game yet. I’ve had the idea for years and know I could take it happen if I was dedicated for a good five years or so but I have a demanding job and other interests. A key part of it is also procedural generation. The algorithms for doing so aren’t that bad (a lot of land masses and genetics simulation), but just the thought of tuning the parameters for the algorithms and making a semi-competent AI makes me feel sick. I could spend as long on the fine tuning as I could on the rest of the game!

The scope of the project would be on the ambitious side of a solo project and it’s a game I want in my life so I think it would be bring enjoyment to others if I do it right, but I doubt my ability to stay motivated for that long