AAA Game Development Budgets Can Exceed $100 Million, Says Take Two Exec

Modern AAA game development is freakishly expensive- that’s the reason for the abusive and exploitative monetization policies we see in so many games, that’s the reason for the homogeneity of the AAA market, the reason that so many developers have gone bankrupt, and the reason that there are so few new IPs any more.

If you wanted proof of the fact that AAA development can get expensive, Michael Worosz, head of corporate development and independent publishing at Take-Two Interactive, has confirmed how crazy expensive AAA game development can get.

“With the investment risk for video games now easily eclipsing $100 million in development spend, it’s really hard to break new IP,” he told GamesIndustry. “You’re taking a new risk every time you try to bring IP to the market, and that’s a big cheque to write for something that is as yet unproven.”

I feel like this is the reason that AAA game development, and the drive towards ever more resource intensive hardware, is unsustainable- and in the end, it will be necessary for indie games, AA games, Japanese games, first party games, and the rise of hardware like the Switch, to normalize the excessively top heavy trends that we are seeing in the industry.