What is Visual Development in Video Games?

When you play a video game, the first thing you notice is the visuals - humans are visual creatures after all! Think about the first time you played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or The Last of Us. Long before the gameplay mattered, you experienced the look of the world and how it made you feel.

Yet most players never stop to think about who designed the characters, environments, or props before they ever reached the 3D stage. This early stage of development is largely invisible, but it shapes everything you see - both directly and indirectly.

This phase is called visual development, and it helps transform ideas into believable games and worlds that captivate players.

In this article, we explore what visual development in games is, why it matters, and how it quietly defines the visual storytelling behind the games we love.

What is Visual Development?

You may have heard the term visual development - which is **often shortened to *vis dev -* used most commonly in animation. While it has long been associated with that industry, visual development has become increasingly important in video game production.

There can be some confusion around where visual development ends and concept art begins, especially since concept artists often handle both. However, visual development focuses on exploring the look and feel of a game, from high-level art direction to the world itself.

Importantly, visual development isn’t just about loose sketches. It produces essential art pieces that guide the entire art team throughout development, such as:

• Style guides
• Mood paintings
• Color scripts
• Shape language explorations
• Material and lighting studies
• World-building sketches
• Visual rules and art direction (what fits vs what doesn’t)

These paintings form the foundation of the project, to make sure throughout development the visuals stay consistent and intentional.

Visual Development in Video Games

Visual development is a core part of game pre-production art. The work is typically fast and iterative, rather than polished like illustrations or marketing assets might be. Early in a project, teams move from ideation and reference gathering into visual development, before narrowing ideas down through concept art. From there, 3D production begins, followed closely by lighting and VFX.

At the start of a project, visual development is essential for answering key questions. Does the art direction support the game’s tone and gameplay? Is it achievable within the team’s technical constraints and budget? Visual development acts as a filter, helping teams discard weak ideas early before they become costly problems later.

Because this stage is all about speed and exploration, ideas need to be quick and flexible. If something doesn’t work, you need to move onto the next idea as soon as possible. Environments, characters, props, and even lighting styles can all be explored at this stage.

Some of the goals when doing visual development include:

• Establish a cohesive art direction
• Support gameplay and narrative
• Set technical boundaries early on
• Align the entire team around a shared vision
• Reduce costly rework later

Why Visual Development Is Often Invisible

By nature, visual development is about testing ideas, many of which never make it into the final game. Early designs often look dramatically different from the finished result. A horror creature, for example, may go through dozens of iterations before arriving at its final form.

Much of this process happens through feedback and discussion between game directors, art directors, narrative designers, level designers, and producers. These conversations shape the final outcome, but they remain unseen by players.

In some cases, studios choose to archive unused ideas for future projects rather than release them publicly. Additionally, visual development work is often too rough or exploratory for marketing purposes.

While some studios release art books or share development work after launch, this material tends to reach artists more than the general player base. As a result, much of the visual development behind a game goes unnoticed.

Visual Development vs Concept Art

A helpful way we have seen the difference described is this: visual development is the forest, while concept art is the trees and animals within it.

Visual development looks at the project from a wider perspective, defining style, mood, and visual language. Concept art, on the other hand, focuses on refining specific elements such as characters, environments, or props.

In the games industry, these roles often overlap. Concept artists are visual problem-solvers, and visual development simply requires them to think at a higher, more exploratory level before narrowing in on final designs.

Examples

A great example is the work that we did for our 2025 Halloween artwork, this featured a terrifying creature that had made it’s nest in a sci-fi corridor. After gathering references, and ideas we used visual development to explore the look and feel of the creature.

Initial sketches are often rough, so that we can quickly explore ideas and discard any that don’t work. We don’t waste time at this stage going into detail - silhouette and shape language matter most.

After those first sketches, we are able to focus in more on certain ideas and refine them. Here, we are beginning to get a bit more into the details of the creature.

We do a round of exploration for the head and face of the monster too - as it is important that this makes an impact on the player. It should be terrifying, but still maintain the direction of the bug-like influences that it originally had.

Here is the final turnaround sheet of the monster - from the first loose sketches to now you can see that there were iterations between, and changes made. This is what visual development is - it is the answering of questions and the design that happens with it.

You can watch the full video of the process here:

Why Visual Development Matters More Than Ever

With the rise of generative AI, some teams may be tempted to use it for visual development due to its speed and low cost. However, while AI can generate images quickly, it lacks intentional design and an understanding of gameplay needs.

AI-generated art often struggles with consistency, making it difficult to establish a clear and unified art direction for a team to follow. Visual development, by contrast, is a problem-solving process guided by humans who have an understanding of the project, future gameplay and maintain consistency.

Skipping this stage can lead to:

• Inconsistent art styles
• Confused worldbuilding
• Assets that don’t fit together
• Wasted production time
• Last-minute art direction changes

Final Thoughts

Visual development in games may be largely invisible to players, but its impact is felt everywhere from the mood of a world to the clarity and guidance it can provide to the entire team. It is the foundation that allows great games to look cohesive, intentional, and memorable.

Are you looking to define the art direction and look of your game? Explore our visual development and concept art services.