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Video game development
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==== Maintenance ==== Once a game ships, the maintenance phase for the video game begins.{{sfn|Moore|Novak|2010|p=97}} Games developed for [[video game console]]s have had almost no maintenance period in the past. The shipped game would forever house as many bugs and features as when released. This was common for consoles since all consoles had identical or nearly identical hardware; making incompatibility, the cause of many bugs, a non-issue. In this case, maintenance would only occur in the case of a [[Game port|port]], [[sequel]], or [[enhanced remake]] that reuses a large portion of the engine and assets.{{Cn|date=January 2021}} In recent times popularity of online console games has grown, and online capable video game consoles and online services such as [[Xbox Live]] for the [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] have developed. Developers can maintain their software through downloadable patches. These changes would not have been possible in the past without the widespread availability of the [[Internet]].{{Cn|date=January 2021}} [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] development is different. Game developers try to account for the majority of configurations and hardware. However, the number of possible configurations of hardware and software inevitably leads to the discovery of game-breaking circumstances that the programmers and testers did not account for.{{Cn|date=January 2021}} Programmers wait for a period to get as many bug reports as possible. Once the developer thinks they've obtained enough feedback, the programmers start working on a [[patch (computing)|patch]]. The patch may take weeks or months to develop, but it is intended to fix most accounted bugs and problems with the game that were overlooked in past code releases, or in rare cases, fix unintended problems caused by previous patches. Occasionally a patch may include extra features or content or may even alter gameplay.{{Cn|date=January 2021}} In the case of a [[massively multiplayer online game]] (MMOG), such as a [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG]] or [[MMORTS]], the shipment of the game is the starting phase of maintenance.{{sfn|Moore|Novak|2010|p=97}} The maintenance staff for such an online game can number in the dozens, sometimes including members of the original programming team,{{Cn|date=January 2021}} as the game world is continuously changed and iterated and new features are added. Some developers implement a public test realm or player test realm (PTR) in order to test out significant upcoming changes prior to release. These specialized servers offer similar benefits as beta testing, where players get to preview new features while the developer gathers data about bugs and game balance.<ref>{{cite web |last1=D'Onofrio |first1=Matthew |title=New World Devs Discusses Their Development Process And How They Tackle Bugs |url=https://www.mmobomb.com/news/new-world-devs-discusses-their-development-process-how-they-tackle-bugs |website=MMOBomb |access-date=12 June 2023 |date=9 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tury |first1=Jord |title=How To Access The PTR Server In World Of Warcraft |url=https://www.thegamer.com/world-of-warcraft-ptr-server-login-access-guide/ |website=TheGamer |access-date=12 June 2023 |date=12 October 2022}}</ref>
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