History Videogame / GameDevTycoon

Noted for having a particularly creative and ironic [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil anti-piracy]] feature, where if you pirated the game in RealLife, your in-universe game fails on account of copious amounts of digital piracy.

** The event when you release your first mature game has a reference to the Australian video game review show ''Series/GoodGame''

* AllegedlyFreeGame: {{Defied|Trope}}. Greenheart noted the trend among some of their competitors and purposefully steered clear of it.

An iOS port was released in November 2017 and an Android port followed shortly after in February 2018.

** How this game's timeline tends to skip over events in gaming history, despite reflecting most of it. The UsefulNotes/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance are all essentially treated as the same console. In addition, a good part of Creator/{{Sega}}'s history is pretty much skipped over with the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn being completely non-existent.
** It also lumps in ''Apple Computers'' as just another PC maker [[note]]up until the Intel Mac era, Apple machines uses a completely different architecture than the PC (6502, later [=M68k=], then [=PowerPC=], versus x86, later x86-64) and thus is not compatible with PC software at all. During the Mac era, there was a market for PC-on-an-expansion-card add-ons for Macs in case software emulation isn't powerful enough to user's desired software[[/note]], and completely skips over Atari. Also, Godovore goes bankrupt after the C64-expy when in real life Commodore did release another [[UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} top-selling computer]] that stayed in market for about '''a decade''' before being driven to bankruptcy by an embargo on the [=CD32=] in the US.
** The early-[[TheEighties 80s]] computer choices are limited to the PC and the C64 -- no hint of the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum or the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC, although both were massive in Europe.

** Thanks to the way adding "extra features" works, it's entirely possible to make games that are missing some extremely rudimentary features without having them tank horribly. Making an RPG for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 Playsystem 4]] without a save feature? Sure, why not. [[note]]Then again, what is meant by "save game" is an open question; it's entirely possible that games that save your character, but not the world state (e.g., Diablo II and III or [=MMORPGs=]) count as lacking such a feature.[[/note]]

** In early versions of the game, you also have to research the ability to have a game be controlled by a mouse. This comes after making things like joysticks and ''steering wheels'', when one would think that the mouse would come first. A case of RealityIsUnrealistic, actually. Joysticks as we know them (electrical contacts and all) date to the 1920s, while the computer mouse didn't make it to market until the late 1960s- heck, the computer mouse remained a niche up until the mid 80s, when GUI-based operating systems went mainstream (with the introduction of the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh and UsefulNotes/AtariST). Commodore 64s and [=PCs=] supported joysticks before then. And even then, mice didn't become mainstream among PC users until Windows 3.0 was introduced in the early 90s.

* NintendoHard: Depending on how you play, your playthrough can end up as this. Unlike say ''VideoGame/GameDevsStory'', funds are taken monthly instead of yearly, employees salaries increase as they level up, And you lose money for failing a contract.

** One famous programmer who may be available for hire is "[[{{Film/Tron}} Kevin Flin]]"

* KillerApp: In-universe, if you release an extremely high-rated game for your self-developed console, expect sales of the console to spike. In fact, it is pre-requested to make your own console successful its development and production are going to be money sinks for your company without providing at least 3-5 solid games that go along with it.

%% IsometricProjection

* KillerApp: In-universe, if you release an extremely high-rated game for your self-developed console, expect sales of the console to spike.

Noted for a particularly [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools creative]] and {{Iron|y}}ic DigitalPiracyIsEvil AuthorFilibuster, where if you pirated the game in RealLife, your in-universe game fails on account of copious amounts of digital piracy.

* KillerApp: If you release an extremely high-rated game for your self-developed console, expect sales of the console to spike.

** If you release a game without naming it, you release it as "Game #x". In response, reviews might say "The name says it all" or "As generic as the name."

* FourPointScale: Played with. Make a game bad enough and, even if it's completely bug-free, you can expect it to see reviewers give it 5/10 or less. Since reviewers don't discriminate on game size, making a small game after an AAA one is a good way to be rated 1/10! However, any value below 8 is considered to be lackluster and getting below average of 6.5 is in-universe equivalent of "complete crap". So in the end of the day, it doesn't matter one bit what score you've got if it's below 8, because they are functionally identical.

* BrokeTheRatingScale: If you manage to develop a perfect game (and the formula is rather precise), a reviewer will give you an 11/10 rating.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: When making a game and agreeing to an interview you may get a section asking if you consider one development priority in phase you haven't gotten to yet more important than another based on the genera of game you're making. If you read the resulting article it'll tell you which priority is more important for a successful game before you get to that phase.

* ExecutiveMeddling: An InUniverse mechanic in the form of publisher contracts. These contracts can, but won't necessarily, specify genera, catagory, system, and age group. Any one of these can be a preselected combo that, even with the best development in the world, can tank review scores. Sometimes they will pick bad combos, sometimes they won't, and sometimes they'll pick combos that requires the player know what else to add to the development to make it good or else be doomed to a flop.

* {{Sequelphobic}}: In-universe. No matter how upgraded and researched your hardware is, releasing a sequel to a low-rated game nets the sequel similar ratings (read: crap). Semi averted in that there's nothing stopping you from creating a new game (as opposed to using the ''Create Sequel'' option) and [[InNameOnly name it as a sequel]].

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: In-Universe: the in-game critics value innovation and releasing two games of the same genre / topic combo in a row will hurt your review scores, even if the second is literally a sequel of the first.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: In-Universe: the in-game critics value innovation and releasing two games of the same genre in a row is poorly received.

** Some of the publishing deals offered are this. The deal may call for a game that will not sell well on the platform, not go well with the target audience group, or overall a weird topic/genre combo that wouldn't fly, but people will fall for it because the required rating may appear low and/or the promised return in cash sounds good, and thus they lose cash when fined by the publisher because the game doesn't meet the required ratings for obvious reasons.

* ViolationOfCommonSense:

** Thankfully, Green Heart games have managed to make much more sensible topic/genre combos through updates.

** 2013: For this day, the developers made a joke news post about an upcoming expansion pack for the game called the ''Shareholders' Edition'', where instead of actually gaining a fanbase and making quality games, [[MoneyDearBoy you simply focus on making money and nothing else]]. Some of the upgrades you can buy include [[VideoGame/SimCity forcing always-online DRM, forcing players to buy small things, and focusing more on the new "CrassBox" engine to make the game look good instead of actually making it playable]].

* FourPointScale: Played with. Make a game bad enough and, even if it's completely bug-free, you can expect it to see reviewers give it 5/10 or less. Since reviewers don't discriminate on game size, making a small game after an AAA one is a good way to be rated 1/10! However, any value below 8 is considered to be lackluster and getting below average of 6.5 is in-universe equivalent of "complete crap" - so in the end of the day, it doesn't matter one bit what score you've got if it's below 8.

* FourPointScale: Very much averted. Make a game bad enough and, even if it's completely bug-free, you can expect it to see reviewers give it 5/10 or less. Since reviewers don't discriminate on game size, making a small game after an AAA one is a good way to be rated 1/10!

** It's subtle, but the game seems to aim a few at Sony... sorry, [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Vonny]], as well- The blame for the split with Nintendo is laid at their feet, as is the blame for causing the death of the Dreamcast, much is made of the controversial launch of the [=PS3=], and the announcement of the PSP is implied to be timed to try to sabotage the success of the Nintendo DS.
* UnstableEquilibrium: Getting a string of hit games can leave the player with enough cash that bankruptcy is very unlikely. There are still things in the later game that can bankrupt a previously cash-rich player if they are careless, but a frugal player can keep their funds high.

** There are a couple Topic/Genre combos that the game treats as 'Bad', Such as [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Time Travel + RPG]], that otherwise have RL examples of why that combo would actually be good[[note]]In several cases, however, the developers have ShownTheirWork: in the example above, ''Chrono Trigger'' isn't the ''only'' example of a Time Travel RPG, but it's the only one that's really well remembered...for good reason. Historically speaking, it would indicate that ''Chrono Trigger is the exception to the rule, which is what this game follows[[/note]].
** According the game, alternate history is a good topic for action games and rpgs but history is only good for simulation and strategy.

You start out in the 80's with little more than rudimentary technologies and your own ability; from there, gaming history will unfold, as [[WritingAroundTrademarks strangely familiar companies]] step into the ring or fade into nothingness, while you advance from designing games alone in your garage to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin managing a big-name gaming giant of your own creation]]. Success is not easy to come by, however; your consumer base can be cruel, and gaming journalists [[EightPointEight even more so]].

* EightPointEight: In-universe, it can be very disappointing if you sink a lot of money into a game, only to get 7s and 8s instead of the 9s and 10s (or [[BrokeTheRatingScale 11s]]) you were hoping for.
** However, the rating scale in the game is a ''true'' ten-point scale: 8.8 (or 8.75, the closest you can get) indicates a game that will sell very well, as it is very good, and will earn you a lot of fans. Even a 5.25 rating will ''probably'' make back your money invested, though only just before the game comes off the market. It's only when you have a 5.0 or lower that the game is considered to have more faults than features and is guaranteed to lose you money and fans.

** The player character has figurines of VideoGame/MeatBoy, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros a mushroom]], [[VideoGame/CaveStory Balrog]], [[VideoGame/BitTrip CommanderVideo]], and the unnamed ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}'' character in one of the later studios. Oh, also [[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Wolf]] and [[{{VideoGame/XCOM}} Origin]] [[http://cdn2.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/239820/ss_27c2f806bc4eb8aaed7c12c0ababbca0b9805340.1920x1080.jpg?t=1377246663 Unknown]].

You start out in the 80's with little more than rudimentary technologies and your own ability; from there, gaming history will unfold, as [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute strangely familiar companies]] step into the ring or fade into nothingness, while you advance from designing games alone in your garage to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin managing a big-name gaming giant of your own creation]]. Success is not easy to come by, however; your consumer base can be cruel, and gaming journalists [[EightPointEight even more so]].