Drafting a Technical Specification for Game Development
A project without a technical specification is a project where, after three months of development, it becomes clear that the client meant "multiplayer" as "playable on one screen for two people", while the team built a full-featured network matchmaking system. Or artists drew UI for 1920×1080 resolution, while the game needs to work on devices with 720×1280 screens. A technical specification for a game project is not a formality—it's a tool for synchronizing expectations.
At the same time, a technical specification for a game is fundamentally different from a specification for a corporate website. Here you need to describe not only functionality but also technical characteristics that directly affect cost and timelines: target platforms, performance requirements, network architecture, content support.
What Should Be in a Game Project's Technical Specification
A good specification answers three questions: what we're building, how it works technically, and how we verify we did it right.
Platforms and performance requirements. Not just "Android and iOS", but minimum and target devices. Minimum Android: Snapdragon 660, 3 GB RAM, Android 8.0. Target fps: 60 on target devices, 30 on minimum. This affects the entire technical stack: choice of Render Pipeline, LOD policy, Draw Calls limitations.
Game systems with behavioral specifications. Not "an inventory system", but "inventory supports up to 200 slots, items with attributes (type, rarity, stackability up to 99), Drag&Drop between slots, filtering by type, sorting by 3 parameters". The more specific the system description, the more accurate the effort estimate.
Network architecture (if multiplayer). Client-server or P2P. Authoritative server or client-side prediction with reconciliation. Maximum number of simultaneous players in a session. Latency requirements (100 ms? 50 ms?). This is not just "we want multiplayer"—these are decisions that shape architecture for years ahead.
Content model. How new content is added: through an editor (developer), through CMS (game designer), or through DLC (user). Support for modifications? This determines whether you need an Addressables system with remote content, localizable assets, configuration data format (JSON, ScriptableObject, external database).
Typical Gaps We Close
Most clients come with a Game Design Document (or parts of it)—descriptions of gameplay, mechanics, story. But GDD is not a specification. From GDD it's unclear: which engine to use, which Render Pipeline, how save/load will be structured, whether an analytics system is needed, how monetization works at the technical level (IAP, ads, server-side purchase validation).
We take a GDD or verbal project description and translate it into technical requirements. For each game system we determine: technical stack (libraries, SDKs), dependencies between systems, edge cases and boundary conditions, acceptance criteria.
Example of one system being worked through. Achievements system: 50 achievements, progress saved locally + synced with server, support for Game Center (iOS) and Google Play Games (Android). Technical requirement: AchievementManager must provide offline-queue—achievements unlocked without internet are sent on next connection. Deduplication on server by playerId + achievementId. Maximum sync time—5 seconds with good connection. This is already a spec the developer understands the task from.
Specification Structure We Use
- General project description—genre, target audience, platforms, interface language, timelines
- Technical platform requirements—OS, hardware, performance, screen orientation
- Project architecture—engine, Render Pipeline, network architecture, backend services
- Game systems—specification of each system with functional and non-functional requirements
- Third-party integrations—analytics (Firebase, GameAnalytics), monetization (Unity IAP, AdMob), authentication (PlayFab, GameSparks)
- Content requirements—asset formats, delivery pipeline, volumes
- Acceptance criteria—for each module: what "done" means
The final document volume is 15 to 60 pages depending on complexity. For a simple hyper-casual—15 pages is enough. For an RPG with open world and multiplayer—less than 40 pages won't do.
| Task Scale | Estimated Timeline |
|---|---|
| Specification for hyper-casual / prototype (1–3 systems) | 3–5 days |
| Specification for midcore game (5–10 systems) | 1–2 weeks |
| Specification for complex project (MMO, open world, 15+ systems) | 3–5 weeks |
| Revision of existing specification + technical risk audit | 3–7 days |
Cost is calculated individually after reviewing the project concept.