Concept Outsourcing

There is a movement afloat in game companies who seem to think that concept art can be outsourced to low wage countries.  Concept Artists are actually Visual Designers, they receive information from the Game Designers and make it a reality – they further the design by adding visual cohesiveness to ideas.  You need the 'Concept Designer' working in the studio do this, otherwise the game vision will be impaired, it is only when they are working directly with the rest of the team that this vision is fully realized.  Generally outsourcing is perceived to be a cheap way to generate content but in reality when you add things up (outsource package generation, extra direction, new hires for outsourcing management, time consuming fixes, miscommunication, cultural differences, the constant question of: 'Why the hell did they do that??', duplicitous or bad faith contract negotiations, corruption, projects held hostage, stolen content, incompetence) it can be costly in the long run...


Besides you are screwing your own country while empowering other countries.