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Ocean View Games
Ocean View
Games
Why choose Ocean View Games

Why choose Ocean View Games

An honest comparison against the four real alternatives: freelancer, offshore agency, in-house hire, or junior-led studio. We will tell you when we are the right call, and when we are not.

Comparing studios in general? Read our buyer's guide to choosing a game development studio. This page is about us specifically.

A small senior core, scaled around the project

Ocean View Games is built around a small senior engineering core. David, our Principal Unity Engineer, was a Technical Developer on RuneScape Mobile at Jagex (2017 to 2019). Adam, our Lead Unity Engineer, has 14 years in Unity gameplay and AI. They stay close to the technical work, while trusted contractors and specialists can be brought in when a project needs additional capacity or disciplines.

  • Small senior core

    Two permanent senior Unity engineers own the architecture and the technical direction on every engagement. There is no junior layer inside the core team.

  • Direct technical access

    You talk to the engineers responsible for your project, not to an account layer relaying decisions. Fewer people between you and the code, and fewer places for detail to get lost.

  • Scales around the project

    Extra engineering, backend, art, UI/UX, audio or QA capacity comes from a trusted contractor network we have shipped with before. The core team stays accountable for the technical direction throughout.

That structure has trade-offs. We are not the cheapest option, and we are not the right choice if you need a large team immediately. But for projects that benefit from senior technical ownership and a team that can scale around the work, OVG offers a useful middle ground between an individual freelancer and a large agency. Here is how we compare to your other options.

At a glance

UK-indicative figures. Day rates exclude VAT. We do not name specific competitor companies, only categories.

Ocean View Games compared with a freelancer, an offshore agency, an in-house hire, and a junior-led studio, across eight dimensions.

Day rate (UK indicative)

OVG£600 delivery, £750 audit

Freelancer
£250 to £700
Offshore agency
£150 to £300
In-house hire
£400 to £550 fully-loaded
Junior-led studio
£300 to £450

Time to start

OVG1 to 3 weeks

Freelancer
Days
Offshore agency
2 to 6 weeks
In-house hire
2 to 6 months
Junior-led studio
1 to 3 weeks

Senior engineers on the project

OVGSenior technical leadership throughout

Freelancer
Depends on the individual
Offshore agency
Team composition and senior access vary
In-house hire
Yes once hired
Junior-led studio
Senior oversight, junior delivery

Time zone overlap (UK)

OVGFull

Freelancer
Variable
Offshore agency
Often 0 to 3 hours
In-house hire
Full
Junior-led studio
Variable

Communication channel

OVGDirect to the engineers

Freelancer
Direct
Offshore agency
Usually via an account or project manager
In-house hire
Direct
Junior-led studio
Usually via a project manager

IP handover

OVGClean, contract-defined

Freelancer
Risk depends on contract
Offshore agency
Variable
In-house hire
N/A (your IP)
Junior-led studio
Variable

Scaling the delivery team

OVGTrusted contractor and specialist network, added deliberately rather than instantly

Freelancer
Limited
Offshore agency
Large pools of capacity
In-house hire
Slow (hiring)
Junior-led studio
Larger standing team

Organisational layers

OVGFew. You talk to the senior core

Freelancer
None
Offshore agency
More layers between you and the code
In-house hire
Your own structure
Junior-led studio
Management layer above the delivery team

Best for

OVGSenior-led delivery on complex projects, scaled to fit

Freelancer
Tightly-scoped piecework
Offshore agency
Volume production where time zone and seniority are negotiable
In-house hire
Long-term core team
Junior-led studio
Larger junior-friendly scopes

Where each option wins

OVG vs hiring a freelancer

When a freelancer is the right answer:

  • You have a tightly-scoped, well-defined task (a specific bug, a specific feature)
  • You can manage the engagement yourself and don't need a peer reviewer
  • The work doesn't depend on architectural decisions that affect the wider codebase
  • You're comfortable with single-person risk (illness, holiday, disappearance)
  • Budget is the dominant constraint

When OVG is better:

  • The work needs architectural judgement, not just execution
  • You want senior engineers cross-reviewing each other's code
  • You need someone to push back when a brief is wrong
  • Project continuity matters across multiple months
  • IP and contract structure need to survive due diligence

OVG vs offshore agency

When an offshore agency is the right answer:

  • Volume production where seniority of every engineer doesn't matter
  • Art, animation, level design, asset production where the work is well-specified
  • Price is a dominant constraint and time zone is genuinely workable for you
  • The team you're hiring has a strong track record in your specific genre

When OVG is better:

  • The project needs UK or EU time zone overlap
  • You want the engineers who'll write the code to be in the same conversations as the buyers
  • Architecture, performance, or platform compliance are critical
  • Communication overhead has cost you time on previous outsourced engagements
  • You're shipping for a UK or EU audience and cultural fit matters

OVG vs in-house hire

When in-house is the right answer:

  • You're building a long-term studio, not a project
  • You want institutional knowledge that compounds over years
  • You have the runway to wait 2 to 6 months for the right hire and 6+ months for them to be productive
  • You have engineering management capacity to support the role
  • The work is core to your business and you want to own it deeply

When OVG is better:

  • You need to start now, not in three months
  • You're not sure yet whether you need a permanent role
  • You want senior judgement on the project without senior management overhead
  • The work has a clear endpoint and doesn't justify permanent headcount
  • You want to test what "good" looks like before defining the in-house role

OVG vs junior-led studio

When a junior-led studio is the right answer:

  • The work is well-scoped and doesn't need senior architectural decisions
  • Price is a major constraint and you have project management capacity to fill the seniority gap
  • You're comfortable managing risk yourself

When OVG is better:

  • The project is genuinely complex
  • You don't have the engineering management capacity to oversee juniors
  • The cost of getting it wrong (delayed launch, missed certification, technical debt) exceeds the rate difference
  • You want direct conversations with the engineers making the decisions

When not to hire us

We’d rather lose a deal than take on work we can’t deliver well. Here’s when to look elsewhere.

  • You need a large team standing by from day one. We scale through a trusted contractor network, which takes planning rather than a phone call. A top-tier work-for-hire studio can staff faster.

  • You need an art-led studio. We're engineering-led. Bring your own art direction or work with a partner who specialises.

  • Price is the dominant constraint. An offshore agency or a junior team will beat our rate. We won't compete on price.

  • You want a long-term in-house team. Hire one. We can bridge while you recruit, but we're not the destination.

  • The project involves NSFW, real-money gambling, or social casino. Hard no.

  • Equity-only deals. Cash terms only.

  • You need someone to nod along with a brief that's obviously flawed. We will push back honestly, and that's a feature, not a bug.

Frequently asked questions

If the work is well-scoped and execution-only, a senior freelancer is often the right call. Pick OVG when the work needs architectural judgement, when continuity across multiple months matters, or when you want a second pair of senior eyes cross-reviewing the code. Our senior core reviews each other's work; a solo freelancer reviews their own.
Yes. We have a small senior core team and can scale delivery through a trusted network of contractors and specialists we have already worked with on real projects. Depending on the engagement, additional engineering, backend, art, UI/UX, audio or QA expertise can be brought in while we retain technical leadership and accountability. Ramping takes planning rather than a phone call, and we will never silently swap in someone you have not been introduced to.
Standard delivery rate is £600 per day per engineer (excluding VAT), based on a 7-hour billable day. Audit and advisory work is £750 per day. Offshore agencies typically charge £150 to £300 per day. The honest trade you make for the lower rate is some combination of seniority on your project, time-zone overlap, and direct access to the people writing the code. For some projects that trade is worth it; for others it is not.
Yes. We are engineering-led, so the technical people responsible for your project stay involved in discovery, scoping, technical decisions and delivery. As the company grows, production or commercial support may be involved where useful, but important technical conversations stay close to the engineers doing the work.
We offer both, plus monthly retainers for LiveOps. Which one fits depends on how well-scoped the work is. The full breakdown lives in How we work; we will not restate it here.
We will tell you why, in plain terms, and where possible point you to a category of partner that fits better (a larger work-for-hire studio, an art-led team, an offshore production house). We'd rather lose a deal than take work we can't deliver well, so the no is the same answer you would want from any partner you trust.

Still think we are the right call?

Tell us what you are building. You will be on the discovery call with the engineers who would lead the work, and we will tell you whether we are the right fit before we quote.

Talk to us

Not sure yet? Read our buyer's guide to choosing a studio.