BioWare: Developing Triple-A Titles Is Pointless
Unless developers have a huge bank account, developing AAA titles is apparently pointless.
Is big-budget game development getting out of hand? Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare, recently said that for most development houses, working on triple-A console projects would be pointless. While it seems that big money resides in creating big-name console titles, apparently only the top ten companies can actually accomplish the feat and walk away with a little pocket change.
"It's more competitive than it's ever been, it's more dangerous than it's ever been," Zeschuk told attendees of the Develop Conference in Brighton. "Right now it's precisely the wrong thing to chase."
Zeschuk added that better opportunities are developing such as providing gamers with content directly rather than go through the traditional "brick and mortar" avenue. This helps make up for the losses stemming from boxed games sales on the traditional retail front, as these are seeing a slow year-on-year decline.
"Retail still works but it's not a panacea," he said. "The risk-taking is disappearing on the publisher side. There's exceptions but it costs a lot of money and you've got to set the right goals."
He also gave a thumbs up to "elder developers" breaking up into smaller teams rather than tackling blockbuster development as a whole. He said these smaller units are able to build a tight business with a positive working culture.
Current;y BioWare is branching out and experimenting with new platforms as seen with its iPhone and Facebook projects.
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The only AAA titles I'm interested in are any upcoming HL games. other than that i prefer indie games.
For some people, AAA titles are the only reason they game. These are games that look, sound and feel incredible, and give an amazing sense of immersion. For me, it is primarily these titles that make the PC stand out above consoles as the best gaming medium.
Bioware in particular has got some fantastic AAA titles, such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and it would be a travesty if such titles were to stop appearing for the PC.
I personally always buy these games retail, as I believe that the makers deserve the money for producing such quality products. I am also happy to pay extra for DLC. I would urge developers to continue to make fantastic blockbuster games, as there are many fans out there like myself who are willing to pay for these products (even if there are also a load of pirates out there who dont pay for the products). I think that ensuring people pay by having a good amount of DLC is a good way to go.
These high-powered games also help hardware progress by fueling the hardware market, because you can get a much better experience by having better hardware (particularly graphics cards). Without better games, having higher hardware requirements (or ceilings), there would be little point in technology progress for a gaming machine. Progress is a good thing.
It is sad that Zeschuk is talking against the production of AAA titles. I only hope that, despite this, the developers continue to produce these products of amazing production and quality.
If AAA titles reduced their budget and time on effects by say 10%, then we'd have much better gameplay and stories around.
Not to mention better graphics
I have always bought the games I liked, even if to start with I had a "free trial" full copy.
You want more of what you like - then Buy it, simple