Video Game Developer Glossary "S"

Glossary by George Spanos with Special thanks to Xan

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SKU:

Pronounced "skew' is an acronym for Stock Keeping Unit. It is a unique version of a game. The boxed version of the game for a particular geographic region. When a game is released for a particular territory it will include one or more localisations of the game. For example, the version of the game being made for release only in Japan is the "Japanese SKU". The version of the game for release in Europe is the "European SKU", which will typically include English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions of the game.

Ship Date:

The date that a game is slated to ship to retail outlets for sale. It can also be used to describe a date where a game is completely finalized and is ready for consumer purchase or play.

Social Game:

A type of game that is most commonly found on social networking sites such as Facebook. These types of games are usually intended for the casual gamer who enjoys beating their friend's top scores.

Sound Designer:

The person or persons responsible for creating and implementing sound into video games. The sound designer's responsibilities can include: gathering and creating sounds, writing sound pipeline documents for production, implementing sounds into the game engine (through basic scripting, animation notifies, and sound triggers), adjusting all parameters of a given sound within the engine (pitch, volume, spatialization), implementing music, and testing implemented sounds. Sometimes the sound designer may be required to record voice-overs and other actors that are required for the game. In smaller studios the sound designer's role can also take on the audio lead's role.

Sound Effect/SFX:

A sound played by the game, often associated with an object on screen or a player action. Typically this term excludes other types of audio, namely music and speech. In game development a sound effect is not the same as a single sound. It can include a collection of single sounds grouped for playback in a meaningful way. A footstep sound effect for the player character's right foot movements may include several versions of a single footstep sound which are selected one at a time, at random, when the sound is played. The engine sound for a car may include a large amount of single sounds that are needed to simulate the sound of an engine. They may play simultaneously, or overlap and change pitch as the car shifts through gears.

Style Guide:

Each creative department in a video game development studio can incorporate a style guide into their methodology. A style guide usually outlines the game's visual, sound, animation, or game design methodology. It is a sort of encyclopedia, or bible, of rules that game designers should follow as they create assets for the game.

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