Space Marine 2 developer studio boss prophesies the death of AAA games

Recently, Saber Interactive's head, Matthew Karch, shared his perspective on the future of gaming, predicting the decline of the high-budget AAA model. He stated, "I think the era of $200, $300, $400 million AAA games is coming to an end. I don't think it's necessary. And I don't think it's appropriate...I think if anything has contributed to job losses [mass layoffs in the game industry] more than anything else, it's a budget of a few hundred million dollars [for games].”

Karch, whose company developed Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, believes these massive budgets are unsustainable and detrimental. The term "AAA," once synonymous with high quality and low risk, is now, according to developers, irrelevant. It's become associated with profit-driven competition that often sacrifices quality and innovation.

Revolution Studios co-founder, Charles Cecil, echoed this sentiment, calling the term "silly and meaningless." He attributed the shift to major publishers' substantial investments in video games, arguing this change hasn't been beneficial to the industry. He elaborated, "It's a meaningless and silly term. It's a holdover from a period when things were changing, but not in a positive way." Ubisoft's Skull and Bones, marketed as a "AAAA" game, serves as a prime example of this trend.