MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
There has been a relatively large amount of internet chatter this year about the ‘democratisation of technology’ – that is, making technology more accessible to everyone.
One of the ramifications of this trend is what could be considered the democratisation of Software Developer Kits and tools.
Software developers and start-ups can now compete with larger organisations thanks to the increase in quantity and quality of SDKs. A change in the balance of power in software development is taking place as access to tools grows and budgetary restrictions are reduced.
So just as technology and games themselves are being democratised, so are the means through which they are created.
While certain resources will of course always favour big businesses (man hours perhaps being the foremost of these), there have been some significant shifts in the developer space-time continuum that are making the market more competitive for developers and start-ups.
Unity, for example, one of the most popular game rendering engine producers, has recently announced that large elements of its technology will be completely free on various mobile platforms of which Android is one.
Ultimately I see this as a positive development. Market competition will of course increase, as will the amount of creativity in apps which might otherwise have been swept under the carpet.
Of course there will be areas such as promotion and marketing in which budget remain a significant factor, but less so than before, particularly if developers are encouraged to work more collaboratively.
As you have no doubt read perceptual computing and game development are now at the forefront of the race to develop the next big series of apps (i.e. the new Angry Birds).
If you’d like to see what of sort of tools and resources are available have at look at these software developer kits, and in particular Intel’s recently launched Perceptual Computing SDK 2013.
· This blog post is written by Softtalkblog, and is sponsored by the Intel Developer Zone, which helps you to develop, market and sell software and apps for prominent platforms and emerging technologies powered by Intel Architecture.
