Qual é a diferença entre desenvolvedores da Web e de jogos

What is the difference between web and game developers

June 1, 2024 Roberto Magalhães

Website developers and game developers may seem like the same job description to those outside the industry. However, these career paths require entirely different mindsets and skill sets to get the job done.

With the video game market reaching a value of approximately $60 billion in the United States alone, some companies have chosen to try to figure out how to enter this lucrative and exciting industry. However, these companies may have in-house or outsourced web, app, or software development teams on the payroll to handle the company's digital presence.

This is where many of these companies wonder if the idea of “devs are devs” is a true statement. The simple answer is no: website developers and game developers are definitely not the same thing. While there are pros and cons to each development career path, many developers choose to stay true to their chosen type of development path once they realize what it takes to switch from one to another.

What exactly separates game and web developers, and why aren't they hired interchangeably?

What do web developers do?

As the name implies, web developers create websites and related content for the internet. Developers in these roles handle the design implementation, back-end functionality, maintenance, and support of web solutions, from simple blogs to more complex online stores or social networking sites. This involves building functionality into websites to perform necessary tasks.

Web developers specialize in programming languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and so on to get their work done. There are also different specialties in web development: front-end, back-end and full-stack development. While some developers choose to work only on the front or back end, many choose to learn how to handle both as full-stack developers.

Front-end developers use coding languages that help them design the look and feel of websites. A front-end developer creates anything that a visitor interacts with on a website. Back-end developers write the core logic that makes websites work as intended, while collecting data from databases and choosing how to display that information on the front end. Back-end developers use languages such as PHP, Python and Node.js.

Full-stack development roles combine front-end and back-end responsibilities into one type of developer. These developers typically excel at all stages of development and help continually contribute functionality throughout the development process.

The role of a game developer

While it would be unfair to say that game development is entirely different from website development, there are many stark differences that separate the 2 types of developers. The game development process is the art of conceptualizing, designing, coding, and eventually releasing video games. While websites are continually advancing in terms of interactivity and artificial intelligence these days, they simply haven't reached the depth of functionality of video games yet.

Video game development requires the use of many different components throughout the development process. This includes aspects like physics, digital character models, core logic, environments, and so on. Website development simply doesn't need to think about these things. Those who go into web development typically focus on a specialty like 3D rendering, creative leadership, network programming, engine development, and so on.

Although completely dependent on the complexity and budget of the game, video game development takes anywhere from a few months to years to reach product launch day. It's also not unheard of for a development team to consist of several dozen smaller teams working on a game in parallel to get to its release date. There are many different roles working to complete the entire game development process.

These types of teams or roles include game design, art, sound engineering, game level designers, testers, producers, and game developers. Video games are fully immersive experiences involving sound, environments, and even physics – none of which are aspects that website developers should regularly consider or account for in a development project.

Video game engineers take the visions of the art and design teams and translate them into reality, writing the code that makes the game playable on consoles and other devices. They must build the core functionality of the code that makes the game work, while also incorporating art and configuring user access and interactions with the game. They must also take into account artificial intelligence, multiplayer networking and many other important factors.

Can a web developer become a game developer or vice versa?

When companies are looking to hire a new developer for their team, they should take the time to figure out what they really want to build in order to make the right hiring decision. Web development is a much more streamlined and straightforward process compared to everything that goes into video game development.

Assuming that a web developer could do the work of a game developer or vice versa is simply not a fair assumption. Each type of development comes with its own processes, specialties, procedures, and collaboration requirements, among many others that make the jobs similar, but definitely not interchangeable.

Game development is also actually a much more competitive and exclusive development world thanks to the oversupply of potential candidates versus available work. Web developers have a much easier time finding an entry-level position to start working after they finish their studies or training.

Logistics not only pose a challenge for switching from one to another, but also involve a change in how developers approach programming due to the addition of cutscenes, art, and physics. This shift in thinking and approaches is not something that developers of any stripe can simply turn off and on. It takes years of learning and practice to become either type of developer and considering them interchangeable does both a disservice.

If you liked this, be sure to check out our other articles on web development.