7 ms·

Why are so many people trying to make triple A games? It just seems like there is too much supply and not enough demand. Don't even most hardcore gamers only pl

Why are so many people trying to make triple A games? It just seems like there is too much supply and not enough demand. Don't even most hardcore gamers only play a select few triple A games? And aren't triple A games unpopular with almost all casual and sports gamers? And most importantly - isn't there the LEAST growth in the hardcore gaming segment?

password321 5y ago
There is an extreme demand. Many franchises like Pokemon are still breaking sales records along with consoles. https://gamerant.com/pokemon-legends-arceus-sales-records/ https://gamerant.com/pokemon-legends-arceus-sales-records/
- klohto 5y ago
  Pokemon isn’t AAA
  - kbelder 5y ago
    What, there's a AAAA category now?
    - sk0g 5y ago
      The good thing about arbitrary labels is you can apply any one you want :)
  - sk0g 5y ago
    Not sure what definition you are using to exclude Pokemon, but Wikipedia's [0] definition certainly would classify it as AAA [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_publisher#Major_publishers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_publisher#Major_pub...
    - onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
      I think AAA is more about budget. I thought the budget for AAA games was higher, and I thought the budget for Pokemon (handheld games) would be lower. But turns out Pokemon Sword and Shield cost >$20M to make, and AAA is low 10s of millions. Definitely AAA by every measure.
      - Jensson 5y ago
        I don't think many would say that $20M would be AAA today, games are much bigger and more expensive today than 20 years ago. $20M budget means you would break even on less than a million sales, I doubt anyone would call that level of budget AAA. Pokémon does however have an AAA level marketing budget even if it doesn't have AAA level development budget.
  - Jensson 5y ago
    AAA is more of an investment term, how much money and how reliably is this project expected to return? Pokémon very reliably produces a ton of sales and revenue, so is AAA even if their development budget/quality doesn't look AAA at all. Normally you need a high budget to ship games that will reliably sell, but Pokémon managed to get there via branding instead.
Brave-Steak 5y ago

password321 5y ago

There is an extreme demand. Many franchises like Pokemon are still breaking sales records along with consoles. https://gamerant.com/pokemon-legends-arceus-sales-records/ https://gamerant.com/pokemon-legends-arceus-sales-records/

klohto 5y ago
Pokemon isn’t AAA
- kbelder 5y ago
  What, there's a AAAA category now?
  - sk0g 5y ago
    The good thing about arbitrary labels is you can apply any one you want :)
- sk0g 5y ago
  Not sure what definition you are using to exclude Pokemon, but Wikipedia's [0] definition certainly would classify it as AAA [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_publisher#Major_publishers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_publisher#Major_pub...
  - onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
    I think AAA is more about budget. I thought the budget for AAA games was higher, and I thought the budget for Pokemon (handheld games) would be lower. But turns out Pokemon Sword and Shield cost >$20M to make, and AAA is low 10s of millions. Definitely AAA by every measure.
    - Jensson 5y ago
      I don't think many would say that $20M would be AAA today, games are much bigger and more expensive today than 20 years ago. $20M budget means you would break even on less than a million sales, I doubt anyone would call that level of budget AAA. Pokémon does however have an AAA level marketing budget even if it doesn't have AAA level development budget.
- Jensson 5y ago
  AAA is more of an investment term, how much money and how reliably is this project expected to return? Pokémon very reliably produces a ton of sales and revenue, so is AAA even if their development budget/quality doesn't look AAA at all. Normally you need a high budget to ship games that will reliably sell, but Pokémon managed to get there via branding instead.

Brave-Steak 5y ago