It’s no secret that the gaming industry is going through a dramatic shift. Budgets are out of control, news of layoffs seemingly come out daily, studios are shutting down and indie developers struggle for funding. If AAA games don’t sell 10 million copies at the minimum they are seen as a failure. This is all bad news, but what about the middle class of gaming development, what about the AA space?
Today it came out that AA developer Ascendant Studios, the developer behind Immortals Of Aveum was furloughing the majority of their staff. The game reportedly ended up costing close to 125 million dollars and was sadly considered a flop. Now there’s been a lot of chatter about why the game flopped, mainly that it came out at a poor time, but regardless of the reasons 125 million for a game of this scope is crazy. 5-10 years ago that kind of money would be for the highest end AAA games, and yet now it’s normal for any AA game to cost 50M or more. And its not just Immortals Of Aveum. 2022’s Saints Row reboot was reportedly 100+ million to produce.
It’s gotten to the point where most AA games need to sell a few million copies in order to be viable which again,5-10 years ago a AA game selling a few million copies would be seen as a smash hit.
It’s a shame because I am a huge proponent of the middle class. Anyone that follows me knows that the majority of games I push are these AA games. Everyone plays the big AAA games, and while the indie space is tough those games tend to be $10-20 and people are more likely to take a chance on them. The middle class game,that say $40-60 game has always been in a tough spot. It’s no longer cheap enough that people are willing to take a flyer on them, and not quite filled with the same polish to push the Uncharted’s and Assassin’s Creeds of the world and therefore their arent as many people willing to take a chance on them.
And its a shame because a lot of these games are incredible. Games like Banishers, A Plague Tale and Hellblade are fantastic experiences that everyone should play. A game like Outcast: A New Beginning has quite literally one of the most beautifully crafted worlds I’ve seen in years. But if they are going to continue to cost absurd amounts of money in order to keep up, then the fear is this space is going to continue to die off.
In the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 generation they came out almost weekly and wern’t under as much pressure to perform. Even the Playstation 4 & Xbox One generation was stock full of them and could thrive and survive. So far this generation it doesn’t feel like thats the case.
But what can be done to prevent this? I think it is safe to say it starts with budgets. Much like the AAA space budgets need to be brought under control. How studio’s did that is not my forte, but it’s the simplest answer. The other answer is for hopefully more gamers to give these games a chance. I know money is tight for everyone, but if you can afford it take a chance on 1 or 2 of these middle sized games. I promise you that you will find some hidden gems that you will fall in love with.
Can the industry fix things and get back to where all games can thrive regardless of size and scope? I can only hope.
