Your External Outsourcing Team
Many dev teams don't have the experience, or the cost-efficient resources, to build and manage 3rd-party art outsourcing processes well. XDEV Central is your external ExDev team that does it for you - on-demand, without adding headcount. We can advise, we can set it up, or we can handle it - depends on your needs.
or book a meeting with us direct →OUTSOURCE THE OUTSOURCING
We insert an experienced production layer between studio and vendor - Art Leads, Art QA and Producers who build the pipeline, write the briefs, run the reviews and make sure every asset meets spec before it touches your repository. We work with any vendor you choose, as your first line of support.
Pains We Are Solving
STUDIO PAINS
- -No experience building art outsourcing processes or managing external teams - no playbook for how to do it
- -Assessing vendor skill, capacity and true throughput
- -No visibility over progress, risk and issue management
- -No dedicated team to run outsourcing day to day
- -Reviews, briefs and Art QA nobody has time for
- -Security setup delays and pipeline mismatches
VENDOR PAINS
- -Unclear task descriptions and shifting requirements
- -Delayed and subjective feedback, endless review rounds
- -Unstable review teams giving conflicting direction
- -Missing documentation and onboarding
- -Unrealistic deadlines, language and culture gaps
- -Limited client-side understanding of outsourcing team dynamics and workflows
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our job is to minimize these problems - for developers and vendors alike - which also cuts cost, raises quality, and improves satisfaction for everyone involved.
Why We Think We Can Help?
Our core team has spent 20+ years in art outsourcing, working on both sides of the table - as studios and as vendors. We've seen the problems firsthand, and we know how to solve them. Our focus is building efficient art production pipelines that keep your process running smoothly, at scale.
Where We Fit In
Every studio's outsourcing setup is different. Some teams are just starting to work with external vendors; others already run a mature outsourcing department of their own. Either way, the pain points are specific to you - below are the ones we see most often, but if yours isn't on this list, we're still the right team to talk to.
Pipelines
Establish, optimize and maintain production pipelines using your JIRA setup, ours, or any other tool you use.
Technical Art QA
Independent technical checks and consistency across every asset a vendor delivers.
Artistic Art QA
Artistic feedback on the majority of assets so your leads only handle edge cases.
Integration
Asset integration support for Unreal, Unity and proprietary engines.
Briefs & Docs
Vendor-friendly briefs, reference gathering and living project documentation.
Vendor Training
Onboarding and training external teams to your project standards, backed by FAQs and a knowledge base.
Temporary Capacity Extension
Already have your own outsourcing team? We step in as extra bandwidth during production spikes - a milestone crunch, a new project ramping up - for a few weeks to a few months, no long-term commitment.
Statistics & Risk
JIRA pipelines wired to Looker Studio dashboards exposing risks and bottlenecks.
Communication
Streamlined vendor channels and multilingual handling.
Vendor Evaluation
Helping assess outsourcing partners against real project requirements.
Anonymization
Protecting project confidentiality through asset and data anonymization.
Secured Gateway
All vendor submissions reviewed and committed by trusted XDEV staff in our EU office.
Legal & Contracts
Help with structuring contracts and agreements for clear, protective partnerships.
Niche Vendor Sourcing
Sourcing and vetting specialized vendors for niche skillsets your internal network doesn't cover - VFX, hair/groom, concept art and more.
Timezone & Onsite Coordination
Managing communication cadence and coverage across time zones, including on-site liaison when needed.
Budget & Invoice Oversight
Tracking vendor spend against scope and flagging overruns before they become a problem.
...and any other area where you might need support.
How It Works
Every studio's situation is different, so we don't start with a price list - we start with a conversation.
Free evaluation call
We talk through your current setup, pain points, and what 'outsourcing' actually needs to solve for you.
On-site deep dive
One of our specialists meets your team (in person or remote) to map the real workflow and build a concrete plan.
A model that fits
Depending on scope, we propose either a dedicated retainer team or a percentage-based engagement.
Because our production runs out of a lower-cost location (Estonia), studios typically save 50-70% versus building and running the same capability in-house - without the overhead of hiring, pipeline setup, and vendor management headaches.
Pipeline Compatibility
STUDIO
- Your tools
- Your processes
XDEV CENTRAL
VENDOR
- Vendor tools
- Vendor processes
Make Your Art Outsourcing Really Work.
Remove the hassle from your team, improve performance, cost and quality. Outsourcing can be outsourced - and we're here to help.
or book a meeting with us direct →