Fgfactory

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a game app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

Our app has short games of chance. We were growing, so we needed a company to supplement our game design, illustration and animation teams.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They produce a lot of frontend assets for us, such as game illustration and animation (our in-house team does the development as well). They use HTML to animate our games and provide a richer experience for our users. They've become part of our team and continue to help us with multiple projects.

What is the team composition?

We mostly work with one of their co-founders, but we've also communicated with other members of their team.

How did you come to work with them?

I found them through an online search when I was looking for additional engineering and design resources.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our company has grown significantly since we started working with them. We had two games in our app, but now we have more than 20 games and hundreds of thousands of users. We have a fairly large team in-house that includes engineers and designers, so it's been a joint effort.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very organized and good at execution. Also, they're great communicators. They use Basecamp on their end and everything is very transparent, so we can see who is working on our account and provide feedback. They're based in Ukraine, but we haven't had any issues with scheduling.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're flexible, responsive, and do high-quality work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your needs and understand their skills to ensure your collaboration is successful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of No Six Five, a software development company. We produce mobile games for iPhone and Android.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We needed a design team for our mobile game.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory started by creating the design documents and requirements for our project. We primarily sent them descriptions of the visual assets we needed. Their team designed models of different characters in a 3D environment. They also created all the icons, interfaces, and all other graphical assets needed for our game. Currently, they're making sure our visuals display properly for our launch.

What is the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager, a 3D artist, and two 2D artists.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I read some reviews on the internet and reviewed their previous projects. I really liked what I saw and contacted them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The game will be released in the next weeks. We’re extremely happy with the results thus far. The visuals they create are truly professional. Their design artists are excellent and provide critical graphics for the release of our project.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

They always meet my high expectations. I’m happy with the overall completion of their design work. We manage the project through Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their talented designers provide exceptionally high-quality assets. Their cost is remarkably reasonable for what they deliver. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before you start, have a detailed documentation of your requirements. They’ll do everything according to what you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a game development company. We specialize in social casino and slots games.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We hired them to create some of our in-game graphics.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory created various graphical assets for our mobile slot games like symbols, characters, objects, backgrounds, and animations. We’d provide them with early mock-ups to use as reference points and they’d present us with one option to give feedback on. They continued to refine the assets until the final versions were complete.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one designer, an animator, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them by searching online for outsourcing companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from June 2017­–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have access to user feedback. We’re very happy with their service.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed quite well. We communicated via Slack, Jira, and Google Hangouts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project manager is a good communicator, pleasant to work with, and stayed involved throughout the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They didn’t have as much experience as we expected considering the amount of money we spent. As a result, some deliverables took longer to develop than anticipated.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of nomadscreativ, a small graphic design studio in Switzerland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

I wanted to create a mobile AR game and build amazing graphics.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I explained the game as well as I could, but was missing a lot of information. They helped me figure out the game’s logic, gave me great advice about the whole game process, and built the game for iOS. They did everything from the UI design to the 3D character design to the programming.

The game is simple, featuring a mini game and a little bird. You can take care of the bird and get accessories. It isn’t complete. We need to correct some bugs, and we might add more levels.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 6–10 people, and mainly communicated with the project manager.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them on Clutch. I looked at different portfolios, and Fgfactory’s designs had what I was looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $26,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We launched two weeks ago, and we’re getting good feedback. People like the game. They’re very impressed with the graphics.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

It was super efficient. We use Basecamp, and they’re quick to respond.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very professional. You can ask them anything, and they’ll do everything they can to make your requests happen.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more precise information you give them, the easier their work will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and the CIO of Metidia, a video game company focused on ad games.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

Good-quality design is important for video games. I was looking for partners with the capacity to build great graphics on their own.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fgfactory provided artwork for 2D and 3D projects. They also created most of the UI elements in our games. I usually send them mockups, based on which they proposed different details. They’ve served as the artist for six games.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two of their project managers. Across all projects, they’ve assigned more than five people to our team.  

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

I found them on Freelancer.com, where they posted part of their portfolio. They had a cartoon-like style that was suited for casual video games. I contacted them and we started the collaboration.

How much have you invested with them?

The average cost per game is $10,000. The total cost of their work so far has been $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Fgfactory in December 2015 and have an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their art has made a very good impression on our clients. One of them still has a character made by the team as his phone wallpaper, despite it being from a Christmas game.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

We have meetings at the end of each project, in order to discuss how we can improve the process on both our sides. It’s a very constructive approach.

They’re able to speed up the work by augmenting the size of the team if we have a rush order. Whenever we encountered difficulties in creating original characters, they assigned a new artist to the task in order to offer us a completely new perspective and to ensure that our deadline will be respected. I find this to be very professional.

We have used Skype and Trello for communication. Each cartoon is represented by a Trello card, and the platform makes the work easy in general. They start their workdays at 10 a.m. on our time, which works well for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They create most of the artwork themselves, which means that each deliverable is a unique creation. This is very valuable for us and our clients.

They also deliver results fast. If I needed a new character for a game, I could send them some reference material and ask them to design one. I would typically receive a first draft of the character within a couple of days, which allowed me to adapt the imagery early on.

They have a comprehensive approach, and they want our projects to succeed. We receive feedback from their team on how we can improve the gameplay and other elements. They’re a professional team and working with them has been a pleasure each time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having direct discussions with the artists would be good. This is the only improvement point I can give. They have the capacity to manage their members, so direct contact isn’t essential. The collaboration has improved with each project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a travel tech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fgfactory?

We started two years after the iPhone was launched. At that point, nobody had much experience with the SDK [software development kit]. There were some challenges, but I would attribute those challenges to Apple. We needed our mobile development done, and Fgfactory understood how to do complicated work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We changed the nature of the scope as we went along. Initially, the ideas for the games came from the company we were working with, but that company couldn't design or program very well, so everything was done from scratch by Fgfactory, besides the ideation.

Fgfactory developed native applications for iOS and Android. We did four to five native apps for iOS and a native app for Android.

Three years ago, we switched to a new company and started doing projects for business development. We did two business applications. One of the first applications we did was for Apple Watch. That was challenging, but they did it nicely and on time. We launched the app two weeks after the watches were available.

Business applications are less complicated compared to the games they used to make for us. They did the business apps for iOS only. We would do the design and they would create the vision and motion design, as well as connecting to the API.

When we moved to B2B, we also started working with them on augmented reality [AR] with Apple's kit. They were doing 3D rendering and other 3D work. 

What is the team dynamic?

At one point, 7–8 people were working with us. At the moment, there are 5 people. It depends on the complexity of the project and the speed that we want. There were 3D designers, renderers, and so on.

How did you come to work with Fgfactory?

One of my friends introduced me to one of the CEOs. Their prices are reasonable and this is what attracted us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since March 2010 on different projects, and hopefully, we'll be working with them for a long time in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It's fantastic. The users are happy. The work has its challenges, but the users of our apps and games gave them 4-or 5-star ratings. It was done the very beginning of the app economy, so it was one of the ageless kids' games. Fgfactory deserved the high marks.

How did Fgfactory perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was done by one of their CEOs, but they would improve if they hired more people. We were fine because we have programmers ourselves from the backend and do our own Agile programming and project management. 

We communicated through Skype and Slack. They are also employing different tools like JIRA, Basecamp, and Asana. They are very good at using these tools. We spoke in our native language. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

In terms of time management and deadlines, they are within 5% deviance, which is very good for mobile development. I've never met a company who are 100% correct in their estimations. They understand what they do in terms of estimation and they're reasonable.

I'm amazed how quickly they can scale. Sometimes, they hire people within weeks of what we need, which is amazing. They have lots of resources and they know those resources very well. 

I would praise their design of the games and understanding of how design works.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The better you write what they need to do, the better they'll understand it, and the better it will be for you as a customer. If you're vague or you don't know what you're doing, it's going to be more difficult for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Chess.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

#1 online chess platform and community!

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Fgfactory to accomplish?

• Build mobile games

SOLUTION

How did you find Fgfactory?

Online Search

Why did you select Fgfactory over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Fgfactory were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Build several mobile games related to chess (but not our core app) including ChessKid Adventure, Checkmate or Die, and Champion Chess.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Build quality apps

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They did a great job despite some changing scope throughout

What was your primary form of communication with Fgfactory?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They offered very good client service.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Fgfactory could have done differently?

Nope

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of SAS BATTLE LEGENDE

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Editeur de jeux vidéo mobile

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Fgfactory to accomplish?

• Create mobile Game
• Many updates

SOLUTION

How did you find Fgfactory?

Online Search

Why did you select Fgfactory over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Fgfactory were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Creation and launch of a mobile video game on GooglePLAY and AppStore

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Excellent work provided and great involvement

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They gave their best throughout the project and this is the most respectable I recommend

What was your primary form of communication with Fgfactory?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The implication

Are there any areas for improvement or something Fgfactory could have done differently?

no, they must continue to improve by providing their best regardless of the various situations encountered

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a CTO of Software development, outsourcing and outstaffing company specialising in billing system development. We are currently based in Germany with serving the European Union countries

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Fgfactory?

We have engaged FGFactory to assist us with the development of a new sophisticated gaming project for banking system that helps our clients to manage their savings and payments. FG Factory were responsible for both back end and front end development 2) we wanted to build a minimum viable product to test the market and analyse customer behavior to increase our margin

What were your goals for this project?

Analyse customer behavior to increase our margin

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of my ex colleagues has recommended FGFactory and provided really good feedback. After several meetings including in person face to face meeting, decision was made to engage their team 2) we have developed complete scope of works in house and delivered to FGFactory for their evaluation; not only their team managed to provide valuable suggestions and recommendations but also they have improved the flow of our concept by introducing gamification and enrichments in customer journey. Once scope was finalised and estimate was provided, we have commenced development with their team. 3) we have decided to utilise as many resources as possible; Alex was able to allocate 1 x iOS , 1x back end and 1xQA engineer to work full time on our project

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our application was successfully presented to investors in Mainland China who showed some deep interest in it. Immediately once the deal was signed, we have aligned all our resources to make a version compatible with their market. 2) project management was easy as SoftwareStation provided project coordinator who was ensuring the project is smooth and seamless 3) the way they tackle the challenges: brainstorming, thinking and analysing comes first, followed by deep scoping. 4) no major issues detected yet I would suggest to spend more time on QA

What was the team composition?

PM, 3 backend developers, 3 frontend developers and 2 QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their impact was very positive.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Arrangements were very effective and efficient

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The agility and the speed of reaction on the changing requirements

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not something to mention