Studios responsible for AAA games are struggling to roll out cutting-edge graphics, fueled by two years of mass layoffs and several technologically advanced AAA games that failed financially. This was reported by the New York Times, whose journalists spoke with several developers and industry figures.
Realistic graphics have become too expensive, but only appeal to a narrow audience. Even projects operating under the GaaS (Game as a service) model are now considered dangerous investments, which, if successful, turn out to be cash cows – an extremely greedy business model that can turn away players. “It’s clear that high-end graphics are only moving forward for the noisy cohort of gamers in their 40s and 50s. What does my seven year old son play? In Minecraft. Roblox. Fortnite,” said former Square Enix executive Jacob Navok. This position somewhat simplifies the actual situation, but there is some truth in it: the most popular games often run on mid-range and entry-level devices, and not just on high-end PCs.
The genre of single-player action games today has narrowed mainly to the Soulslike and Gacha genres in the style of Genshin Impact. Soulslike games usually look good, but typically don’t have the massive budgets of AAA titles and are strictly capped at 60 frames per second. Gacha games can be played on phones; Their ports are sufficient for budget PCs and especially the latest generation consoles. Most gamers, even if they purchase high-end equipment, do without upgrading it to advanced performance. The service games Concord from Sony and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League from Warner Bros. turned out to be failures. Discovery: Major studios are not always willing to listen to audiences, and these mistakes cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Not all gaming industry workers are optimistic about generative artificial intelligence, which is being actively introduced into development – there is still no clarity on how it works and where it gets its data. Finally, we must not forget about financial difficulties: labor costs are decreasing, more money is needed, as a result of which the industry produces shorter games with more modest graphics. If players are willing to accept such products, then the industry will survive for some time.