Cliff Bleszinski: “AAA is a nearly unsustainable model”

[daze23]

Bleszinski: “AAA is a nearly unsustainable model”

The AAA model in increasingly developing into a market in which only the biggest companies can survive - and even then the design of these titles will become more stagnant.

That's according to Boss Key Productions founder and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski. Speaking to attendees at Reboot Develop today, the veteran games developer discussed the "really, really weird spot" blockbuster games have found themselves in, and pondered potential solutions.

"AAA is starting to feel like the American restaurant scene," he said, referring to how increasing globalisation means every major city usually has the exact same chains and franchises when you're looking for a place to eat. "They're not bad, they're not great, they're just there."

It's the same with AAA, which he says has become a "category of eight games that are getting repeated over and over again". He brought up a slide depicting best-sellers such as Uncharted 4 and the Call of Duty games, stressing that these are "great games" but cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce and market.

He added that it doesn't help most consumers view many blockbuster franchises as "the name you know" and are "too scared to take the risk on new IP".

"$60 is still a lot of money to ask people for," he said. "And to ask them to make that bet multiple times per year? Gamers are picky, they're smart.

"This is a nearly unsustainable model, unless you're an Activision, 2K or a Sony."

His advice to developers still looking to make their mark is to aim for what he referred to as "Double A", which he considers to be "games that look and play great but pick their battles in terms of budget and marketing". Examples he offered included Warframe, Rocket League and Rust, with Bleszinski noting that most successful 'Double A' games are digital and/or free-to-play.

In terms of finding funding for such games, he pointed out that "there's a lot of money in Asia" - his own studio, Boss Key Productions, has partnered with Nexon for its debut game, LawBreakers. This title is also designed to be 'Double A', and won't have a full $60 price tag.

Bleszinski also warned that developers only have one shot to make a new IP, referring to the team at Raven Software: "They made a great game in Singularity, but it ultimately didn't do well because of the marketing, even though the ratings were great. And now they're one of the multi-headed hydras behind the Call of Duty series."

He recognised that the collaborative model used to create titles like Call of Duty and many Ubisoft games, combining the efforts of teams from around the world, is effective but not one he'd ever want to be a part of.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Examples he offered included Warframe, Rocket League and Rust

Keep that

not playing a game without a dev budget of $50 million+

 

[marcuz]

they would sell more games if they lowered the price to 30-40 dollars. plus, these AAA titles waste half their budget on marketing. a good game is going to sell regardless, imo

 

[Grand Conde]

the would sell more games if they lowered the price to 30-40 dollars.

...and they would make a lot less profit, if they made anything at all.

Btw Dishonored 2 was a really good game released last year that didn't sell well. Deus Ex as well.

 

[Leasy]

I agree shyt has ruin gaming. We had multiple titles of the same genre back in the day from sports to shooters. What we have now is one major title or maybe two or three shyt has become disgusting.

 

[Return of the Jedi]

He's 100% spot on. The cost, and TIME it takes to develop a major title has spun out of control and the price tag remains at $60. This course is not sustainable.

 

[PS5 Pro]

the would sell more games if they lowered the price to 30-40 dollars. plus, these AAA titles waste half their budget on marketing. a good game is going to sell regardless, imo

If you believe that then you missed out on the best games overall. Didn't Driveclub sell more than Mario?

Spoiler

Driveclub and Killzone did good at the box office

He's 100% spot on. The cost, and TIME it takes to develop a major title has spun out of control and the price tag remains at $60. This course is not sustainable.

Shut your broke ass up Brokey

What you ended with is a joke imo. People are corrupt these days, they lying about budgets. When Scorpio drops, all my games become 4k. They can even add upgrades,improvements. They trying to rape you by selling you a portion of a game for $60 then force you to pay up to $50 for a season pass if you want to unlock the rest of the data that is already on the disc you bought

We've also gone digital so they save on not having to create cartridges or CD, bluray etc. More gamers than ever, more sales than ever. 2k look like the same game since dreamcast, the math sounds Republican to me

 

[Grand Conde]

Where exactly does Nier Automata come into all of this? Two and a half years production, sold very well on only two platforms and a sequel an almost certainly?

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

I've been saying this for what,5 years on this forum?

Nobody wants to hear it though.

 

[Maximus Rex]

I've been saying this for what,5 years on this forum?

Nobody wants to hear it though.

and yet here we are 5 years later where AAA games and it's devs are still doing fine

 

[Rekkapryde]

the amount of indie and AA titles have increased though, so it's not unsustainable.....you just better put out a good product if you do make a AAA game.

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

and yet here we are 5 years later where AAA games and it's devs are still doing fine

If by doing fine you mean studios are closing left and right and everyone is in danger of closing because of 1 flop,yeah,sure.


I know it takes more brain power than your capable of to actually assess a situation instead of gobbling down what's shoved down your throat.

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

People trying to use 1 game as proof of something sound like republicans claiming climate change doesn't exist because it snowed that day.

Some people can't admit there is a fire until they're already engulfed.

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

the amount of indie and AA titles have increased though, so it's not unsustainable.....you just better put out a good product if you do make a AAA game.

...the indie scene is alive and well. Low risk,high rewards.


AAA gaming in its current model is not sustainable.

 

[PikaDaDon]

That's why I'm saying 'thank god for Nintendo'. The Switch has mostly indie games on there:



Nintendo fans aren't obsessed with bleeding edge graphics and 60 frames per second bullshyt.