Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Video Game Development Teams

Collaboration between different disciplines within a design project is often challenging. This is particularly true in video game design, where three main departments: game design, visual art, and programming must work together to create a coherent and functional product . Effective collaboration between these disciplines requires interdisciplinarity: each team must understand the others to move the project forward. The main objective of this research is to explore how the coexistence of these disciplines (multidisciplinarity) evolves into a collaboration process of exchange between them (interdisciplinarity). Our research proposes a new way of understanding video game development – not only as a technical process, but as a socially constructed one. To our knowledge, despite the centrality of interdisciplinary collaboration in game development, it has not yet been studied by a multidisciplinary research team, especially one composed of researchers who have themselves developed games and possess deep industry expertise. This unique position give us confidence that we can identify new key competencies required to create games, complementing the specialized technical skills already documented.

In 2021, Canada remains a leader in the video game industry, with more than 900 companies and over 32,000 workers. However, staying competitive internationally requires continuous efforts in recruiting and training a highly skilled workforce. Canadian studios are not exempt from the challenges of working in the digital era, and increasingly seek candidates equipped with both technical and social skills.

The methodological approach is a multiple case study drawing on ethnography, anthropology, and social sciences. We will study two cases, each involving a multidisciplinary development team integrating game design, art, and programming expertise. Data will be collected through on-site observation of creators working in Canadian studios, and complemented by individual interviews. The cases will be analyzed qualitatively and comparatively to shed light on the drivers and barriers of interdisciplinary collaboration in video game development.