Despite the temporary crypto market crash, blockchain gaming is holding still. Over the last couple of years, investors have put $3.6bn into NFT/blockchain game development, and the activity in this field doesn’t seem to pause. But where does all this money usually go?
On the verge of NFT game development, it’s inevitable to deal with finding and hiring specialists for project execution. This stage can become one of the most resource-intensive since hiring a new employee via the HR department usually costs 3 to 4 times the position’s salary.
So, where should you look for specialists to fill the game developer NFT roles and avoid wasting extra money on them? Explore different hiring options and learn more about choosing proper specialists from a professional NFT game development company. So, let’s jump to the point.
What Should NFT Game Developers Bring to Your Project?
Before diving deeper into the ways of hiring game developers for NFT game creation, it’s better to know what to expect from these specialists. So, what this kind of developer can and should do for your NFT gaming project? Explore the main tasks below.
Working on the Development Strategy
In order to perform NFT game development on time, specialists must carefully think through a plan of action. Since only developers know the process in the tiniest details, they should build a workflow once they gather all the project data. Usually, necessary information, technical requirements, game design, concept art, and the like should be collected in a single document called GDD — game design document.
Game Logic Creation
NFT game is a complex system with hundreds of elements of mechanics, visuals, and financial transactions. Thus, all the functions should perfectly synchronize to provide gamers with a top-notch user experience. That’s why it’s normal for blockchain game developers to work on game logic, watching that all the game parts are like pieces of a big puzzle that fit one another.
Blockchain Implementation
NFTs are part of the crypto world and the key figure in creating NFT games. They are powered by different blockchains, some of which can be on the Ethereum platform, Solana, or others. This technology is a foundation of financial operations in a game as well as security assurance. Accordingly, the blockchain implementation task is critical and can’t be trusted to a specialist with little experience.
Front-End & Back-End NFT Game Development
Any game is divided into two blocks — the front and the back end. For each block, there’s a particular specialist. Front-end developers are responsible for parts visible to gamers and their ability to interact with a game, trade NFTs, etc. At the same time, back-end developers work on the server, database, and everything that makes a game run, but users can’t see it.
Unit & Integration Testing
Once NFT game developers complete some coding, they must ensure that lines of code perform their specific functions. So, developers conduct quick testing of each separate code part (unit) in order to pass them further for more detailed testing. In addition, all the code lines should work correctly in tandem, so it’s necessary to apply integration testing to check how different code parts get along.
Aside from focusing on the NFT side of the coin, you can find a reliable metaverse game development company to scale your initial project to an entire immense virtual world. With this approach, you’ll be able to target new audiences and bring more customers to your business.
How To Define a Professional NFT Game Developer
Choosing NFT game developers to work on your project, you’ll have to deal with various specialists. Yet, several factors need special attention to recognize actual professionals who would perfectly fit your project.
Appropriate tech stack. Depending on the scale of your project and publishing platform (mobile, desktop, metaverse), your game development takes the application of particular knowledge and skills. For example, it’s not only crucial to have deep expertise in blockchain for specialists, but also to be proficient in specific programming languages (e.g., C++/C#) and tools (e.g., Unreal Engine/Unity).
Relevant experience. Just like specialists’ tech stack should match a project’s requirements, the narrow expertise of NFT game developers also matters. You can hire a game developer who has experience working with NFT games in general, but if they haven’t dealt with the type of tasks that your project implies, there won’t be a fruitful cooperation.
Portfolio. Any experienced specialists who have worked on numerous projects should have a portfolio illustrating at least 3 to 5 relevant projects they’ve participated in. Thus, you’ll be able to save much time presently knowing what level of project execution quality you can count on. Otherwise, having only the developer’s word and no proof of their expertise can be too risky.
Recommendations. After job interviews, you can have third-party opinions from previous colleagues or clients if you are unsure whether a specialist is a right fit for your team. In addition, you can have someone who could vouch for a developer in order to dispel doubts. It can be the person who dedicates an NFT game developer from their team or some authoritative figure.
Strong collaboration skills. An NFT game developer job implies working in a team of different professionals. It’s vital for this specialist to get along with a manager in order to strictly follow the client’s requirements, other developers who work on different game parts, as well as testers who will return reviewed code lines for fixing. Thus, collaboration skills are a must.
If your candidate meets all the requirements above, there are big chances you can look no further but hire. However, an NFT game developer’s qualification may not be enough, as there’s another severe factor affecting the budget size to spend on hiring as well as the risks you can face.
Different Types of NFT Game Developers For Hire
Finding professional NFT game developers is a challenging task. Yet, it’s possible to find a specialist who would fit your project in multiple dimensions — from expertise level to reliability and reasonable financial compensation. So, you are welcome to explore the top 3 widespread commitment types to make the best choice.
Freelance NFT Game Developers
Finding specialists on freelance platforms is one of the fastest ways to fill vacancies. This option definitely has other strengths, like per-hour payment and the ability to hire NFT game developers from any location. In addition, you don’t have to pay a full-time salary and provide employees with perks and social packages.
Nonetheless, factors like limited liability usually significantly affect your company. For example, freelancers tend to combine several projects, so they don’t have a 100% focus on tasks for your game. The distraction leads to an increasing mistake rate, prolonging the execution time.
Besides, there are security concerns as well as limited commitment once a project is done. Thus, choosing freelancers for complex and responsible projects like NFT game development isn’t recommended.
Full-time NFT Game Developers
Gathering a full-time NFT game development team also has two sides. On the one hand, it’s convenient to have a stable team committed from a project’s beginning to its endless upgrades, fixes, and regressive testing. Additionally, your company’s confidential data is legally protected by NDA and cooperation contracts.
However, finding and hiring an in-house team is costly, as it takes an entire HR department to operate. Considering that 39% of HR managers’ time is administrative work, you spend more than a third of your HR budget on finding developers.
Additionally, full-time employees need providence with the working environment, equipment, decent monthly payments, social packages, and perks. Also, the replacement of each leaving developer will be accompanied by many expenses.
Dedicated NFT Gaming Specialists
There are companies working on the B2B model, and they provide dedicated specialists as services for other businesses. This concept of outsourcing and outstaffing contains all the advantages of the in-house team and freelance options.
First of all, you are choosing among the best professionals already selected and checked on various job interview stages. Also, NFT game developers from an outsourcing company are equipped with the required hardware and software. They don’t have access to internal company processes but collaborate with your team to achieve a better result.
Usually, you can hire NFT game developers from a specific company and pay them per hour, just like in the case of freelancers. In other cases, it’s possible to make an individual agreement or pay for time and materials spent. The only challenge in partnering with an outsourcing NFT game development company is to choose the right partner among NFT game companies.
Rely on Proficient NFT Game Development by Game-Ace
At the game development studio Game-Ace, we realize that you expect the partnership to deliver an outstanding result. That’s why we’ve been mastering game development for 17 years and working with the technologies of the future, like blockchain. In order to provide you with the best services, we offer you to choose any of our flexible business models. Moreover, you are welcome to explore our NFT gaming portfolio as well as hire dedicated NFT game developers of any type and seniority level.
Contact us to find out more details and discuss the future of your project with Game-Ace.
