I'd like to preface this by stating that I know what a lead platform is (at least I think). I just don't quite understand the logic and never actually heard a developer use the term.
It's generally understood as the main platform on which a specific game is developed, effectively making other versions "ports" from the lead platform. For example, it's often said that since PS5 has a much larger market share, it is the primary lead platform for most games. Thus it receives the most attention and the early development builds are mainly tested on it, making it more mature and proven by the end of the development cycle. Sometimes, this ostensibly explains the disparity and level of polish between the different consoles/PC.
My question is, how does that stuff even work? When do they start testing the other platforms during the development? Do they finalize the game on PS5 and then rewrite everything to make it run on Xbox or PC? Do different teams work on different builds simultaneously from the start? Also, wouldn't it just be easier to have PC as the lead platform most of the time since pretty much everyone knows how it works and also shares a lot of similarities with the Xbox? I understand that almost everything is built on PCs. Assets, models, coding, etc, if such is the case, wouldn't it make sense to run everything on it first? Or can they use development kits for that? Or maybe what they build early on simply isn't made to run on Windows PCs and as a result, cannot be tested on it since they would have been made specifically for a console like the PS5 with a different environment and APIs. Therefore, you simply cannot just "make it work" on a PC even though everything was done on PCs.
I know it's a loaded question and not 100% clear but I'm not familiar with game development and the whole process of multiplatform development sounds nebulous to me.
Thank you in advance for your insight.
It's generally understood as the main platform on which a specific game is developed, effectively making other versions "ports" from the lead platform. For example, it's often said that since PS5 has a much larger market share, it is the primary lead platform for most games. Thus it receives the most attention and the early development builds are mainly tested on it, making it more mature and proven by the end of the development cycle. Sometimes, this ostensibly explains the disparity and level of polish between the different consoles/PC.
My question is, how does that stuff even work? When do they start testing the other platforms during the development? Do they finalize the game on PS5 and then rewrite everything to make it run on Xbox or PC? Do different teams work on different builds simultaneously from the start? Also, wouldn't it just be easier to have PC as the lead platform most of the time since pretty much everyone knows how it works and also shares a lot of similarities with the Xbox? I understand that almost everything is built on PCs. Assets, models, coding, etc, if such is the case, wouldn't it make sense to run everything on it first? Or can they use development kits for that? Or maybe what they build early on simply isn't made to run on Windows PCs and as a result, cannot be tested on it since they would have been made specifically for a console like the PS5 with a different environment and APIs. Therefore, you simply cannot just "make it work" on a PC even though everything was done on PCs.
I know it's a loaded question and not 100% clear but I'm not familiar with game development and the whole process of multiplatform development sounds nebulous to me.
Thank you in advance for your insight.