Answer

Best Game Productions

Best Game Productions is one of the renowned companies proficient in developing video games that suit consumers’ needs. However, several challenges have hindered the development of quality games. In this respect, this essay will explain how a software bug within the gaming program has been a hindering factor for the release of a new and highly anticipated game to the consumer market. This essay will also feature the bug’s apparent effects on both the internal and external stakeholders, including their perceptions, motivations, and needs.

Scenario

Being a company that deals with dynamic technology, experiencing problems in its operating system is relatively high. Despite being a large video game producing company, Best Game Productions has been affected by bugs within its new video game that is about to be premiered in the next two weeks.

The presence of bugs within a program makes the entire software behave abnormally in the sense that an anticipated action freezes, hence disrupting an operation’s fluidity. Bugs are usually caused by poor programming, which create errors in the coded program or typing error. Before releasing the new open-world video game, Best Game Productions had already notified its stakeholders what to expect already arranged for the venue where all interested parties will have the privilege of criticizing the game and its developers (Berger, 2017). Nevertheless, the prevalence of a bug that the game developers never anticipated seems to be stalling the whole process of unveiling the new game. According to the previous plans, the dilemma in this scenario is that if the game is released, Best Game Productions risks tarnishing its reputation due to poor quality. In this respect, gamers, who are the customers, will quickly lose their trust in the company owing to miscommunication between the two parties regarding the apparent issue. As a result, potential customers will consider other options, and the company will incur significant losses.

Internal and External Stakeholders

Best Game Productions internal stakeholders constitute the people directly committed to server the company, such as managers and investors. On the other hand, its external stakeholders are affected by the operations supported by the internal stakeholders.

The suggested scenario at Best Game Productions would affect both the internal and external stakeholders. In contrast, external stakeholders will have bad experiences with the company’s decisions or products. In this case, the internal stakeholders will be public relations, marketers, quality control, and game developers (in other words, all its employees), and the external stakeholders would be the customers (Berger, 2017). The program is set to be released as a game-changer in the gaming market; hence, it should prioritize its development. Focusing on the impact of the game on customers will determine the company’s future in the industry. The costs (time and finances) associated with rectifying the issue might be extraneous to Best Game Productions. Still, it will eventually pay dividends in that customers will be satisfied and become loyal to the company. In this situation, the company will gain significant profits hence rival its top competitors in terms of market share.

Marketing

The marketing department is confident that a delay on the release date will affect the company’s sales since gamers will resort to other options from competitor companies. To save the situation, the department will have to edit the marketing strategies for the new game (Unger, 2019). Changing these strategies would need the company to cater to the extra costs, but the company will eventually realize the returns. Gamers may consider other games from different companies, but after Best Game Productions releases its new game, their anticipation will be rekindled hence switching their preferences to its product.

Public Relations

The public relations personnel will have to liaise with the marketing department in promoting the Best Game Productions’ new game. This department will be responsible for informing customers of the new release date (Unger, 2019). Gamers will be disappointed, but then the game with no bugs will be released, the department will have to explain to them the problems that led to the delay. This affirmation will convince customers that Best Game Productions is more concerned with satisfying their needs. The department could even suggest a discount for the first 100 customers who would purchase the game. This action will attract more customers who had initially considered other options.

Quality Control

This department is tasked to ensure that the quality of developed games is high since it determines consumers’ level of preference. In line with the new game, the department confirms that it does not meet the required standards, and if it were to be released, the team in this department would be deemed ineffective (Unger, 2019). To establish public accountability, the department will have to convince the management to rectify the error, even if it means that the release date is to be changed.

Finance

The finance department will be strained in balancing the accounting books considering that a change on the release date will require them to disburse more funds to rectify the apparent problem (Unger, 2019). The department could raise the cost of other games to cover for the cossets used to correct the present situation, or the management could convince investors to fund the project with an assurance of good returns.

Game Developers

The department that manages the game developers must ensure that the game works effectively upon its release to the market. Due to the bug, this department is tasked to work extraneously to beat the management’s deadline. Before embarking on this mission, the company’s game developers must conceptualize the essence of quality and quantity in consumer products (Unger, 2019). Releasing the game with bugs to beat the deadline suggests that the company is focused on the amount, which would raise speculations on its interests. To increase efficiency in removing the bug, the company could outsource qualified personnel who will not only control the situation but also motivate the game developers of the company to embrace quality over quantity.

Effects of the Bug to the Internal and External Stakeholders

As the company’s consultant, this problem is a real threat to the company’s progress. Therefore, effective decisions have to be made, considering what every department feels about the issue. As a renowned company devoted to meet its customers’ needs, it would be unethical to instill doubt in the customers (El-Nasr, Drachen & Canossa, 2016). In the gaming industry, customers are the essential stakeholders. A decline in this market share will suggest that a gaming company like Best Game Productions will cease its operations. The company should consider altering the release date since releasing a bug game will ruin a gamer’s experience due to poor quality.

Changing the release date would affect the sales of the company’s products, but a good gaming company has to be empathetic to its customers. To get a vivid picture of this situation, the management of Best Game Productions could assume the customer’s role and reminisce on the apparent social, emotional, or physical harm they would experience. Defiantly, customers would feel betrayed for investing in an inept program (Huntemann & Aslinger, 2016). Best Game Productions should also concentrate on efficiency as it promoted and established a good customer base. In most cases, gamers associate with a gaming company whose products or services is of high quality. This form of relationship attracts more potential clients through referrals.  However, the expected repo-effect will hardly occur if Best Game Productions releases an inefficient game. With this, the company should consider regrouping to suggest and enact possible solutions to curb the problem effectively.

In like manner, Best Game Productions should be problem solvers, by default, as it confirms that they are efficient. The company must solve the issue before gamers identify the apparent mishaps. By virtue that the company has spotted bugs’ problems before releasing the game, it would be imperative to employ an adept task force ready to solve it before the game reaches the customers (El-Nasr, Drachen & Canossa, 2016). Similarly, the company has to pay more attention to its trademark products since it describes its strengths and opportunities to enhance customer experience. Gamers tend to develop affiliations to companies whose gaming products are not only cheap but also run smoothly.

Lastly, Best Game Productions should uphold loyalty at all times. Companies that are loyal to their customers are always keen to produce and offer quality products and services. As a result, this aptitude helps to retain and attract more customers. The company needs to consider how gamers have trusted the company’s products by purchasing different games. By virtue that new customers are joining the market base and the old ones are still anticipating a new game, Best Game Productions should be sure that these individuals trust their product (Huntemann & Aslinger, 2016). Therefore, the company must return the favor. But if customers realize that Best Game Productions’ new product has a bug, they will immediately doubt all products linked to the company. This action would be a blow to the company irrespective of whether its management would be able to mitigate the issue in the future. Accepting to undergo financial strains because of fixing the bug would be insignificant to the customers’ harm once they buy a game that only registers errors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a bug’s apparent problem will mean that the company has to change the release date of the game so that they could fix the issue first. All internal stakeholders have agreed that releasing a game with bugs will not only ruin the company’s reputation. Collectively, Best Game Productions has to measure the advantages and disadvantages of changing the release date to fix its current problem. Regardless, the company’s management will have to factor in all concerns from each department as it will guarantee mutual benefit to all stakeholders.