Big-budget $70 AAA games aren’t sustainable

Big-budget AAA $70 games from well-known developers isn’t the way forward in the industry, as it simply isn’t sustainable. More or less, the Saber Interactive exec is alleging this is a fad that will “go the way of the dodo” as game development costs rise further and other cost-cutting measures start becoming more viable.

In an interview with IGN, Saber CEO Matthew Karch touched on the AAA game development space and the unique position the studio is in — describing itself as a “middle market” publisher, using Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios as its chief example. He used this interview to also discuss the sustainability of the new $70 standard peddled out by AAA game developers like Ubisoft, EA, PlayStation, and more.

As a way to prove his point, Karch talked about the disastrous launch of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. In general, he fears the habit of putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous with game development and slapping a $70 price tag on it comes with expectations that it may fail to meet. It’s a fair worry, as many games from big developers have fallen far short of capturing an audience.

While our very own Brandon enjoyed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League just enough for it to miss getting a failing grade, games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Skull and Bones, and — somehow — the remastered Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection all failed to reach expectations and while the last of the trio there didn’t sell for $70, it’s still a testament to how game developers are content releasing less-than-ideal games to the public.

It’s worth noting that Saber is releasing its next game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, is getting that $70 treatment, but he promises us that the game will be worth that price tag.

“I think that as games become more expensive to make, the $70 title is going to go the way of the dodo [bird]. I do. I just don’t think it’s sustainable…Look, you remember the hype for Cyberpunk, which I think actually ultimately performed okay, but when the expectations are so high and so much money is put into one title, it’s hugely risky for the company that’s doing it. What if it fails? You remember what happened when Ubisoft a couple of years ago, all their titles slipped out of the year, and then all of a sudden they were in an entirely different place? It’s hard to recover from that. I think the market is going to shift to development which is not necessarily lower quality, but there’s going to be an emphasis on trying to find ways to reduce costs.”