There are several hundred game studios of various sizes worldwide, and the most famous ones have already established themselves in the game industry. Someone masterfully tells stories, someone is famous for perfectionism and the desire to make it perfect right away, and someone creates the best action games in the world. In this article, you will find out where the best game studios are located that create masterpieces for gamers worldwide.
Game Studios Worldwide
But where are most gaming companies located? Many people think that the answer is the USA. This is partly true because Activision, Rockstar Games , and Electronic Arts are some of the most famous game studios that gave us amazing games. Also, many studios place their team in American cities because Internet speed and comfort positively affect game development. The list of the top game development cities can be made from 4(by the way, two representatives of Canada were included in the list):
- Los Angeles
- Seattle
- Vancouver
- Toronto
More than 15 studios are located in the United States, making this country the gaming industry’s center. But what are these companies?
Riot
Riot has released a lot of visual and musical content over the years. This is because they are located among the top game development cities. They chose Los Angeles because of the atmosphere of this location. Every year the studio pleases with cinematics in different styles or events. There is much cinematics, and there are ten times more soundtracks with different genres. Here you have two whole albums of a metal band and soundtracks for EVERY new character or rework. The characters are given special attention, as some in the game have not changed visually since 2010. The problem is that it’s easier to make skins with new animation than to remake a 3D character model. But still, after a long time, it is possible that with the help of a game outsourcing company, they released a rework of Udyr. New textures and a complete character redesign immediately hit the eye, which is a clear example of how outsourcing services accelerated the reworked release.
If you observe a little, you notice the game developers’ sincerity. When it comes to the problem of releasing skins for certain characters (players complain that skins are released very rarely for unpopular characters), developers directly write about the problem of payback. It is also worth noting that Riot articles write what the players want to hear. By the way, many gaming companies can learn community management from Riot.
Team Meat
Indie studios create cool games, and Team Meat from North Carolina, USA, is no exception. Super Meat Boy is a very strange pixel platformer where death is inevitable. Controlling the red square and many other strange characters, players must master their reflexes for a fraction of a second as they have to jump and run while managing to avoid turning into a bloody mess.
Super Meat Boy proved to be addicting and frustrating in equal measure and was a huge hit for the two-man team called Team Meat. Released on Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010 and later on PC, Super Meat Boy reached sales of 1 million copies by January 2012 and 2 million by April 2013.
Not only USA
Of course, American video game development is amazing, but this is not the only country with talented studios. How about CD Projekt Red? One of the most famous studios in the world. The Polish team gave us an incredible trilogy about the witcher Geralt, which has always been considered “their own.”
Or, for example, GSC Game World – a Ukrainian company known for its S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in which players explore the abandoned areas of Chornobyl and Pripyat. The first game in the series was in development for seven years and became a real hit after its release in 2007. The company hosts regular costumed fan meetings. In 2011, GCS officially ceased to exist, much to the annoyance of its fans. However, the original studio reopened in 2014 and is currently working on the old paid version of the game. Due to recent difficulties, the studio has dispersed to different countries. However, some of them remained in Ukraine but continued top game development on one of the most anticipated projects of 2023 – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
Final Thoughts About Game Development Studios
Where are most gaming companies located? It is obvious that in the USA, due to comfortable working conditions in the so-called game development cities, Internet speed and software quality. It is logical that even for studios from Europe, it is sometimes cheaper and more profitable to maintain a team in the office in Los Angeles or New York. But the same game companies in Japan, Poland, Ukraine, or France can easily compete and create masterpieces regardless of location or Internet speed. For example, gamers have been waiting for a game from GSC for quite a long time. Despite the difficulties, the team continues to work fundamentally on the territory of their country, although this slows down the development process.
