While the particulars vary wildly based on differences in types of titles, platforms, size of project, etc., all game projects go through the same stages in one form or another. The bigger the project, the more pronounced these stages usually become. 

More and more games are created as services that are expanded and updated over a long period of time. Yet when viewed from a project point of view, even those go through similar stages before initial launch. And in fact, post-launch updates follow the same structure, each stage just might take hours or days instead of weeks and months. 

In my previous post I talked about the 5 key success factors for a game studio. You can read it here.

When working with clients, I try to understand how they're addressing these key factors. Every studio I've ever worked for or with has had room for improvement in at least one of these areas.