Game Makers Toolkit | How Games Get Balanced @GMTK | Uploaded April 2019 | Updated October 2024, 6 days ago.
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Balancing a game is one of the most complex pursuits in game development - especially when you’re dealing with a cast of completely distinct and diverse characters. So how do devs do it?

=== Sources and Resources ===

- Sources

Jeff Kaplan | Battle.net Forums
us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20757706588?page=2#post-24

Jaime Griesemer | GDC 2010
(“Design in Detail: Changing the Time Between Shots for the Sniper Rifle from 0.5 to 0.7 Seconds for Halo 3”)
gdcvault.com/play/1012211/Design-in-Detail-Changing-the

Rob Pardo | GDC 2010
(“Making a Standard (and Trying to Stick to it!): Blizzard Design Philosophies”)
gdcvault.com/play/1012291/Making-a-Standard-(and-Trying

Kosuke Yabuki | GDC 2018
(“ARMS: Building Mario Kart 8 Insights into a Showcase Nintendo Switch Fighter”)
gdcvault.com/play/1024907/-ARMS-Building-Mario-Kart

Akali’s win rate has plummeted—here’s why | Dot Esports
dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/akali-win-rate-plummeted-league-of-legends

Developer Update - Symmetra Redesign | PlayOverwatch on YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=elN-QGyToxM

Leroy Athanassof & Geoffroy Mouret | GDC 2018
(“Intelligent Game Design on Rainbow Six Siege”)
gdcvault.com/play/1025323/Intelligent-Game-Design-on-Rainbow

Stefan Engblom | GDC 2017
(“Quest for the Healthy Metagame: Balancing Cards in Clash Royale”)
gdcvault.com/play/1024272/Quest-for-the-Healthy-Metagame

Analysis: Why We Should Buff More Than Nerf | Core-A Gaming on YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=bsC8io4w1sY

Epic pulls overpowered Infinity Blade from Fortnite, says it ‘messed up | Polygon
polygon.com/fortnite/2018/12/14/18141134/fortnite-infinity-blade-removed

Live Gameplay Q+A Issue #1 | League of Legends Boards
boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/xwOObpq2-live-gameplay-qa-issue-1-feat-feralpony-smashgizmo?sort_type=recent

- Additional resources

Developer Insights: Arena Balance Through Science | Hearthstone
playhearthstone.com/en-gb/blog/22788308

Rock Paper Scissors - A Method for Competitive Game Play Design | Gamasutra
gamasutra.com/view/feature/130150/rock_paper_scissors__a_method_for_.php

The Unbalanced Design of Super Smash Brothers | ForrestTheWoods
medium.com/forrest-the-woods/the-unbalanced-design-of-super-smash-brothers-3fbc9b346e15

=== Chapters ===

00:00 - Introduction
01:40 - Creating trade-offs
03:37 - Using counters
07:16 - Testing the balance
10:47 - Nerfing and buffing
12:56 - Balancing across skill levels
14:18 - Conclusion
15:15 - Patreon Credits

=== Games Shown ===

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Infinity Ward, 2016)
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment, 2016)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Sora, 2008)
The King of Fighters XIV (SNK, 2016)
Tetris 99 (Arika, 2019)
StarCraft II (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Sora, 2018)
League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal, 2015)
Street Fighter V (Capcom, 2016)
Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games, 2017)
Splatoon (Nintendo, 2015)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 2017)
Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment, 2014)
Halo 3 (Bungie, 2007)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, 2007)
The Walking Dead: 400 Days (Telltale Games, 2013)
Arms (Nintendo, 2017)
Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja, 2019)
Halo Wars 2 (343 Industries / Creative Assembly, 2017)
Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee! (Game Freak, 2018)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt, 2015)
Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment, 2018)
Team Fortress 2 (Valve Corporation, 2007)
Clash Royale (Supercell, 2016)
Dota 2 (Valve Corporation, 2013)
Fortnite (Epic Games, 2017)
Killer Instinct (Double Helix Games, 2013)
Rocket League (Psyonix, 2015)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward, 2009)
Monopoly Plus (Ubisoft Pune, 2014)
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment, 2019)
Prismata (Lunarch Studios, 2018)

=== Credits ===

Music used in this episode

Race Driver GRID, ARMS, Wii U System, TowerFall Ascension, 3DS System

Other credits

The Simpsons © Fox

domisumReplay
youtube.com/watch?v=qkh53h3eTGQ

postboxpat
youtube.com/watch?v=86HXUpRMyNk

Freedom GamePlays
youtube.com/watch?v=7KO0sIXc_0U

bravenetcowboy
youtube.com/watch?v=IoGc8eqo1Xo

Clash Royale Tournament Highlights
youtube.com/watch?v=EF2sOErNRZo

Domey
youtube.com/watch?v=wAlUyCaLmA4

VGBootCamp
youtube.com/watch?v=nvpJvi5xIj4

OPLOLReplay
youtube.com/watch?v=Tw8DEQIPvQU

=== Subtitles ===

Contribute translated subtitles - amara.org/en-gb/videos/53cqjOHT6p9I