What Should a Game Studio Choose: In-House Art or Outsourcing? Here’s How to Make the Right Call
By the time most studios hit us up, they’re already in the weeds.
They’ve tried to build everything in-house. They’ve juggled hiring, pipelines, revisions, crunch. And somewhere between the third round of re-topology and the broken Blender rig, someone finally says: “Okay, maybe we need help.”
We see this a lot.
At Asterman, we work with dev teams all over the world and we’ve learned that trying to do all the art production solo is a fast lane to burnout and busted milestones.
So here’s a real talk from folks who’ve been through it:
The In-House Dream (And Why It Often Breaks)
Sure, having an internal art team sounds like a dream. Total control, tighter collaboration, everyone on the same Slack.
And yeah it works if:
- You’re building a long-term IP and want a rock-solid visual identity
- You’ve got budget, time, and space to grow a team from scratch
- You love team management and recruiting
- You’re okay with overhead (licenses, gear, HR, payroll, etc.)
But here’s where the dream usually crashes:
- Senior talent is booked (or pricey)
- Hiring takes forever
- Suddenly you’re not making games — you’re running a production studio
- You hit a slow period… and still pay full burn rate
We’ve seen teams spend 3–6 months staffing up and still not ship art on time.
Why Game Art Outsourcing Just... Works
Outsourcing isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about staying sane. It’s how smart teams scale without losing focus or sleep.
You need firepower, fast
You’ve got characters, props, VFX, UI and 4 artists. That math ain’t mathing.
We drop in, get the brief, and start delivering. No drama.
You want specialists
Need someone who’s rigged 200+ characters in Unity?
Want stylized 2D that actually feels fresh?
We’ve got that without you needing to post on ArtStation Jobs.
You need budget to stretch
Good art ain’t cheap. But working with the right team gets you AAA-level quality at rates that won’t nuke your runway. It’s not "cheap work" — it’s smart scaling.
You want your core team doing core work
Your devs should be prototyping systems, not tweaking UVs at 2am.
Let them focus on what moves the game forward, we’ll take care of the pixel grind.
What Kind of Art Can You Outsource?
(Short answer: pretty much all of it.)
- Stylized or realistic characters
- Modular environments & props
- Concept art & keyframes
- UI/UX design
- 3D
- VFX & animation passes
- Full asset packs for Unity / Unreal
Best part? You can start small, then scale up fast.
Many studios go hybrid: internal team sets the tone, external team (like Asterman) helps bringing it to life.
Common Outsourcing Fails (and How to Dodge Them)
We’ve seen where it goes sideways and how to keep it tight.
Don’t do this:
- Vague briefs or zero references (“we want it to look... cool?”)
- Picking the cheapest team with no process
- No signed contracts or NDAs
- Assuming things will magically sync without check-ins
Instead, do this:
- Share your visual direction (even if it’s just a messy moodboard)
- Start with a test task to check fit
- Set up milestones & weekly syncs
- Protect your IP (always!)
Bonus tip: Communication is everything.
A 10-minute call early saves 10 hours later.
Why Global Teams Bring the Magic
The best thing about working with artists worldwide?
Fresh perspective. Different design languages. Unexpected solutions.
We’ve had clients say, “We didn’t even think of doing it that way” and that turned out to be their best visual moment. Outsourcing isn’t just about filling gaps. It’s about adding flavor.
Quick Gut Check: Should You Be Outsourcing?
If you’re nodding to any of this, it’s probably time:
- Deadlines creeping up
- Too many assets, not enough hands
- Need to explore different art styles
- Budget’s tight but quality still matters
- Team’s showing signs of burnout
- You’re spending more time in spreadsheets than in-game
Game art outsourcing doesn’t mean giving up control, it means buying back focus.
We’ll Handle the Art, So Your Team Can Breathe Again
We’re Asterman, and we plug into game teams like yours to make art production not a nightmare.
We’ve built characters, props, UI, cinematics — you name it — for indie hits and big productions alike.We move fast, hit style, and respect your deadlines like they’re sacred.
Head over to our website for the complete guide on how to choose between in-house and outsourcing.
Or contact us and we’ll show you how we work! Let’s build something cool (without melting your team).
You make the game. We’ll make it look amazing.
