It can be hard to trace back to the first ever video game; it largely depends on how you define it. But even so, the earliest examples from the 1950s are barely recognisable as games. Most of them look more like obscure science demonstrations.
One of the first examples that’s widely recognised as the first video game is Atari’s Pong released in 1972. It might seem unfair to judge it with today’s lens, but the game is quite one-dimensional. It lacks the countless colours on offer now where fully-fledged stories can be carefully unfolded over hours of interactive content. Back then, content was minimal.
Over 50 years later, video games are no longer the pastime of nerds gawping over the latest graphical advancements in dark arcades. Nowadays, you’d struggle to find somebody who hasn’t played a video game, and the social communities that support them are thriving.
Suddenly, the demand for content in videos games and the communities around it are huge. Animal Crossing, a title that sold more digital copies than any other console title, is bursting with content as users look to decorate their house, garden, and attire.
For developers, this can be massively resource intensive. The amount of historical research needed to ensure the Assassin’s Creed franchise is visually accurate would have required thousands of reference material from old archives.
As games get bigger, and the world’s they build get richer, this demand for content is only going to grow. And that’s only in relation to more traditional video games. Virtual reality and augmented reality will increase the demand for content even more.
When demand is so high, it might seem impossible to fulfil it. But stock content platforms like Alamy are ready to support this growing demand.
Alamy has over 20 years’ experience supplying content for a vast range of use cases. Also, we don’t edit incoming submissions. That means we host a greater variety of content compared to competitors, and this is beneficial to game designers who need inspirational gaming stock content.
Whether it’s props for an open world game, reference material to maintain historical accuracy, or simply portraits of famous personalities so that they can be replicated in game, Alamy has it all.
The content is always shifting too. With a network of over 100,000 photographers, content creators and 650 agencies, you can see up to 150,000 new visual assets uploaded every day.
But content is only one side of the coin. Getting the right licence for that content is important too.
Flexibility in licensing is the key for developers here. That’s why Alamy is committed to ensuring designers and developers get the right licence that’s flexible to the whims of this dynamic industry.
It really doesn’t matter what the use case is, we’ll build a licence bespoke to you. This can include textures and props for scene setting, background and backplates for landscapes, cinematic videos for cutscenes, and even real-world artworks too.
By building bespoke licences that consider the exact usage the content will be used in, it means licences are efficiently priced so that you’re not paying more than you have to.
The process is seamless and effortless so that you can go back to building digital worlds with the extensive range of video clips, photos, 360 images and illustrations that you can find on Alamy.
The gaming industry is a fast-paced world. The success of a game can quickly lead to development of expansion packs and DLCs. Perhaps that content needs to be used in new scenarios if a game explodes onto the eSports scene too. This can be quite the headache for game designers because the content licences might need updating, which can result in massive cost increases.
Alamy understands that it’s not always easy to foresee every possible use case. So we like to make it easier to make changes to a licence. It’s simply a case of chatting to our licensing experts and they’ll find a solution for you.
To find out how we can support your next gaming project, speak to us about the kind of content you can find, as well as licensing options to suit your needs.
You can find out more about how Alamy can support game designers on our gaming page.