Hire a Dedicated Game Development Team | Nine Pixels
Dedicated Teams

Your Own Game Studio Without the Overhead

A fully managed, cross-functional game development team working exclusively on your project: engineers, artists, QA, and a team lead. You own the product; we handle everything else.

YOUR DEDICATED SQUAD
🎓
Team Lead
Your single point of contact
⚙️
UNITY DEV
🎨
2D ARTIST
📐
UI/UX
🧪
QA
Sprint 8: Week 2/2
⬤ Active
18 of 24 story points complete
72hr
To first candidate
1
Point of contact
2wk
Sprint cadence
What Is a Dedicated Team?

A Full Studio Working Exclusively for You

A dedicated team is a group of pre-vetted developers, artists, and QA specialists assembled specifically for your project: with a Team Lead managing day-to-day operations. You set the product direction; the team executes it.

Unlike staff augmentation where you manage individual contractors, a dedicated team operates as a self-managing unit with sprint planning, standups, and weekly demo delivery: giving you studio-level output without the hiring, HR, and management overhead of building an internal team.

🎓
Team Lead Included
Every dedicated team has a Team Lead who manages sprints, coordinates the team, and serves as your single point of contact. You get studio-level delivery without managing individual people.
⚙️
Agile Sprint Delivery
Two-week sprints with playable builds and live demos at every cycle. Full transparency into what’s being built, what’s blocked, and what’s coming next.
👥
Cross-Functional by Design
Engineering, art, and QA in one team: no handoff delays between vendors, no finger-pointing, no coordination overhead. One accountable team, one set of sprint goals.
📈
Scale Flexibly
Add a specialist for a milestone, release a role after a phase completes, or grow the team as your game scales. Two weeks’ notice for any adjustment.
Team Composition

Roles We Assemble For You

Every dedicated team is composed to match your project’s specific needs, not a fixed template.

🎓
Team Lead

Sprint planning, daily standups, client reporting, and team coordination. Your single point of contact and accountability.

🎮
Game Engineers

Unity, Unreal, or mobile developers building gameplay, systems, and integrations. 1–6 engineers depending on scope.

🎨
2D / 3D Artists

Character artists, environment artists, animators, and UI/UX designers: matched to your art style and pipeline.

☁️
Backend Engineer

Server, API, and live ops infrastructure where required: optional based on whether your game needs a backend.

🧪
QA Engineer

Integrated QA within the team, writing test cases alongside development and executing them at every sprint milestone.

🔌
DevOps / Pipeline

CI/CD setup, build automation, and deployment pipeline: optional for teams that need infrastructure support.

How It Works

From Brief to Building in Weeks

A straightforward onboarding process that gets your team building fast.

📝1
Brief & Scope

Tell us what you’re building, your tech stack, timeline, and the roles you need. We scope the team composition and confirm within 24 hours.

👥2
Team Assembly

We select and present candidate profiles for each role. You approve the team composition before anyone is contracted.

⚙️3
Onboarding Sprint

Environment setup, codebase access, sprint planning, and first backlog grooming. The team is oriented and productive within one week.

🚀4
Build & Deliver

Two-week sprints with playable builds every cycle. Weekly check-in with you; full transparency via shared project management tools.

Team Packages

Choose Your Team Size

Typical team configurations, all customisable to your specific project needs.

STARTER
Indie Squad
3–5 people, ideal for MVP and early-stage games
  • 1 Team Lead / Senior Developer
  • 1–2 Game Engineers
  • 1 Artist (2D or 3D)
  • Part-time QA
  • Weekly sprint demo
GROWTH
Production Team
6–10 people, full production for funded studios
  • 1 Team Lead
  • 2–4 Game Engineers
  • 2 Artists (2D + 3D or UI)
  • 1 Backend Engineer (optional)
  • 1 Dedicated QA Engineer
  • Bi-weekly stakeholder review
SCALE
Full Studio
10–20 people, for ambitious multi-platform titles
  • 1 Team Lead + 1 Art Director
  • 4–8 Engineers (specialised)
  • 3–5 Artists across disciplines
  • Backend + DevOps engineers
  • Dedicated QA team (2–3)
  • Weekly executive reporting

All team sizes are custom. Contact us based on your project scope and budget.

Why Dedicated Teams

Why Studios Choose Dedicated Teams

The advantages of a dedicated team over hiring individually or building in-house.

Faster Than Hiring

Building an internal team takes 3–6 months of recruiting, onboarding, and tooling. A dedicated team is assembled and building in 2–3 weeks.

🎓
Managed for You

The Team Lead handles standups, sprint planning, blockers, and team coordination. You focus on product decisions: not people management.

📈
Scale Without Risk

Scale the team up for a major milestone, down after a phase completes. Two weeks’ notice for any change: no redundancy costs, no long-term headcount commitment.

🔒
You Own Everything

All IP, code, and assets belong to you from day one. Every team member signs a work-for-hire agreement before starting. No lock-in, no IP risk.

Client Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

Trusted by studios, publishers & brands across the UK, Europe, and beyond.

Mobile Game

Nine Pixels delivered our mobile game on time and on budget. Their Unity team was exceptional, they anticipated problems before they became blockers and the quality of the final product exceeded everything we had scoped. We’re already in talks for our next title.

RH
Rob Hartley
CEO, Ironforge Studios · London, UK
Hyper Casual

We brought Nine Pixels in to build our hyper casual title. Best call we made on that project. The team knew exactly what they were doing and we shipped two months ahead of schedule.

KO
Karen O'Brien
Head of Production, Apex Interactive · Manchester
Dedicated Team

The dedicated team model was perfect for us. Nine Pixels assigned us developers, a 3D artist, and a QA lead, they felt like an extension of our own studio from day one. Our game hit 500K downloads in the first week of launch.

AK
Ahmed Khan
Founder, NovaByte Games · Dubai, UAE
WebGL

Nine Pixels built our WebGL game from the ground up, browser optimisation, game economy, cross-platform support, everything. Their expertise across both Unity and web deployment is rare. Huge commercial success and we’re building a sequel together.

TN
Tom Nakamura
Co-founder, PlayForge Labs · Singapore
Co-development

What sets Nine Pixels apart is that they think like game developers, not contractors. They pushed back when our design decisions would have hurt the player experience: and they were right every time. Our retention metrics are the best we’ve ever seen across 12 titles.

LF
Luca Ferrara
VP Product, Stormgate Entertainment · Milan
Staff Augmentation

We needed senior Unity developers urgently mid-project. Nine Pixels had them onboarded and contributing within 72 hours. Their talent pool is genuinely impressive and the communication was flawless throughout. We’ll use them again without hesitation.

CD
Claire Dubois
CTO, PixelPulse Studios · Toronto, Canada
FAQ

Dedicated Teams : FAQs

Common questions about building a dedicated game team through Nine Pixels.

How quickly can a dedicated team start?+
Most dedicated teams can be assembled and onboarded within 2–3 weeks of engagement confirmation. The first week involves team selection and briefing; the second week involves environment setup, codebase access, and first sprint planning. By week three, the team is in active development.
Can we choose the team members?+
Yes. We present candidate profiles for each role and you have full approval over who joins the team. We don’t impose team composition, if you want to interview each member individually, we arrange that. If you prefer to trust our matching, we can assemble the team and present them as a unit.
Who manages the team day to day?+
Your dedicated team has a Team Lead who manages daily standups, sprint planning, and inter-team coordination. The Team Lead is your primary point of contact: you don’t need to manage individual developers. For technical decisions, you remain the product owner and direct the roadmap.
What does a dedicated team cost compared to hiring individually?+
A dedicated team is typically more cost-effective than hiring equivalent headcount individually when you factor in recruitment, onboarding, HR, equipment, and benefits overhead. We charge a transparent monthly rate per team member plus a team lead coordination fee. Contact us for a custom quote based on team size and composition.
Can we scale the team up or down?+
Yes. Team size can be adjusted with two weeks’ notice, add a developer for a specific milestone, release one after a feature is complete, or bring in a specialist for a short engagement within the team structure. The Team Lead manages the transition so it doesn’t disrupt sprint continuity.
What happens to our IP?+
All work produced by the dedicated team is owned by you. Every team member signs a work-for-hire agreement before starting. Source code, assets, and all deliverables are yours from day one: not contingent on final payment or project completion.
Do dedicated teams work in our time zone?+
We match team composition to your time zone requirements. For studios requiring significant real-time collaboration, we prioritise candidates with at least 4 hours of working overlap with your core team. Fully asynchronous teams are also possible if your workflow supports it.
Can a dedicated team take on a project already in progress?+
Yes. Teams can join mid-project. We conduct a codebase and design review in the first week to get the team up to speed before sprint work begins. If you have existing internal developers, the dedicated team integrates alongside them under your existing process.
Build Your Team

Ready to Build Your Dedicated Team?

Tell us about your project and we’ll propose a team composition and get back within 24 hours.

Build Your Team See Our Work