What are some companies that manufacture video games?

The companies that mass produce the discs are "first-party" companies: Sony (for PlayStation consoles or handhelds), Microsoft (Xbox), and Nintendo (Wii). For PC titles, it's usually the publisher's responsibility for mass-producing the actual discs. Example publishers are listed in Geoff's answer above.

Whether or not these companies outsource the actual manufacturing or whether they have an in-house division, I'm not sure. When I worked at EA making console games, we would finish the game on our side and then submit it to the first-party (Sony, Microsoft, and/or Nintendo) for verification. Once it passes first-party certification, it goes on to manufacturing. We would usually receive a sample disc, usually called a "silver", to play through and test to make sure it works okay. Once we verify it works, we let the first-party know and they go make all the discs.

Hi Luke,

Thanks for clarifying...I know even less about the actual disc manufacturing...but you piqued my interest and was able to come across the following links that I thought you might find useful.

http://kotaku.com/5669236/the-making-of-a-video-game-disc

http://www.1up.com/features/how-retail-games-are-made

In terms of actual companies that produce the discs, I learned about the two below:

Avarto (http://www.arvato.com/en.html)

and

Duplium (http://www.duplium.com/)

Hope that helps!

Geoff

Hi Luke,

I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but I've played quite a few video games in my day and know about the following video game developers...

Activision Blizzard
Bungie Studios
Electronic Arts
Epic Games
n-Space
Rockstar Games
Take-Two Interactive
Ubisoft

Hope this helps...good luck with your project!

Thanks,

Geoff