The Essential Game Porting Checklist: Is Your Game Ready?
This article highlights key considerations for developers before porting their games to new platforms. It covers aspects such as code optimization, game stability, and whether to manage the porting process in-house or outsource it. Developers are encouraged to evaluate their game’s readiness and follow a structured plan to ensure a smooth and successful port.
With the rise of platforms like Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, mobile, and cloud gaming, game porting has become a critical tool for developers looking to reach wider audiences. Players expect their favourite games to be available across multiple platforms, and successful ports can breathe new life into older titles, boost sales, and tap into new markets. Thanks to advancements in game engines and tools, porting is now more accessible than ever, making it a key strategy for both indie and AAA developers.
However, before you dive into the process, it's important to evaluate whether your game is prepared and whether the effort is worthwhile. SneakyBox, the experts in porting to all major platforms, shares the essential checklist to help developers decide if their game is truly ready to be ported and what steps are necessary to make the process smoother.
1. What Systems Do You Want to Port To?
There are quite a few platforms to port your video game to, and each offers different features. You need to decide which makes sense for your game and target audience. You should also consider the amount of work required to make the port work properly.
2. Do You Really Need This Port?
Generally, a video game port could take a few months, but there are several caveats. For example, porting to a platform with less allocated resources, such as PC to Nintendo Switch, could be more challenging and take longer than expected. This is because such a port requires a sizable amount of optimization work, leading to a doubled or tripled workload.
And don’t assume this is only applicable to AAA games; we have seen many puzzle games from indie developers in dire need of serious code rework to make the port viable to play. In this case, porting a video game may require more careful evaluation.
3. In-House Port or a Team of Professionals?
Porting a video game can be challenging, especially when performing it for the first time. If you know your game well, porting through trial and error is possible, but it might take longer than you anticipated. A hybrid approach might be more efficient—your in-house team with access to an external consulting team as the need arises.
If your team needs additional support, outsourcing the porting process to professionals like SneakyBox could save you valuable time and resources. With extensive experience in porting games across various platforms, SneakyBox can help guide your project through the complex challenges of multi-platform development and ensure a smooth transition.
4. Can You Add Unique Features to Your Port?
This question is purely about the opportunity. Platform owners, like Apple or Sony, prefer projects that emphasize their uniqueness, and game developers can use that to their advantage. If your game utilizes one or a few specific platform features, there is a high chance you might get additional promotion from the platform—saving your marketing budget. Your game might get some time in their ad videos or appear in the "featured" section, which generates sales very well.
5. Is Your Game Stable?
A game riddled with bugs and crashes (like graphics glitches, audio or video problems) will be difficult to port. These faults are not only frustrating for players, but they will also slow down the game porting process. There are strict technical requirements when adapting a video game to different platforms, and the need to implement unique platform features.
Working on such technical nuances while the game is still unstable is a recipe for disaster. Therefore, before the game porting process starts, it's essential to ensure the game's stability (zero bugs policy) and keep in mind the specific requirements of the platforms. Last but not least, just before the porting process starts, it is essential to plan the updates that will be needed in the future.
6. Is the Development Stage Over?
Like a completed game with bugs, a game in the development phase poses significant challenges to the porting process. It’s a challenge to port a game that is still being worked on, especially if an outsider does it because the porting specialists might not be familiar with the further development process or planned updates. However, by using clear, proactive communication and patience, these issues can be overcome.
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7. Is Your Game Well Optimized?
Efficient memory management is crucial, and you must bear in mind that some devices have much less memory than others, so your camera effect of choice might work perfectly on Switch but drop the framerate by half on PS4. Game design could prove essential in optimizing memory management.
Some issues are impossible to optimize technically, so you must find a creative solution to mask or hide the problem but still keep the same experience. Sometimes it means thick fog that conceals the fact there are no buildings more than 20 meters away from you; sometimes, it's a clever level design that hides loading screens in elevators or long hallways with sharp, twisting turns.
8. What Is the State of Your Code?
A general rule of thumb when porting is that the better your code is, the easier it is to port. So, general coding should be done with these principles in mind:
While these principles could delay the project and make development a bit more complex, addressing them early will make the porting process smoother in the long run.
9. Plan, Plan, Plan
Like all great things, your video game port must start with a great plan. It is important to assess all the tasks that must be done and dedicate sufficient time and resources to them. UI/UX changes can take longer than anticipated, and proper research on specific platform requirements is key since you might need to rewrite some systems of the game.
10. Get a Video Game Port That Works?
After the plan is in place it is time to get going on a port that works. For that, you will have to adapt or redo every part of your code that attaches your game to a specific system. That includes input detection, file system interactions, sound and video playback, and many more.
Sounds complex? It is, but luckily we generally use already developed game engines which let us use pre-existing solutions. Unity can provide quite a lot of shortcuts for you, and all you will need is to add the finishing touches. Make no mistake, it is still rather difficult and time-consuming, but at least you are not starting from scratch.
11. Testing Your Port
There will be a lot of testing as it's important to keep the game parity between different platforms. The more confusing, low-quality code the game has, the more likely that a small, trivial change will have some unexpected consequences. You have animated a loading icon to be visible while waiting for a new level? Congratulations, now, in the final boss fight, in its second stage your character can only walk left. Why? Well, exactly, WHY?!
Final Thoughts: Is Your Game Ready?
Porting is an involved process that requires careful planning, stable code, and optimized performance across platforms. Use this checklist to assess whether your game is ready to be ported, and remember that preparation is key to ensuring the process goes smoothly.
If you find yourself needing guidance or support, SneakyBox offers expert assistance throughout the porting process, ensuring your game successfully reaches new platforms without losing its quality.