10 Gaming Industry Secrets You Didn't Know
2. Performance Capture Work Can Continue Until Just Before Release
Development of AAA games can easily take upwards of three years depending on the nature of the project, and so most players would be forgiven for assuming that elements such as the story, voiceover, and performance capture would all be recorded and locked in place relatively early in development.
After all, this would allow the team to focus on tightening gameplay and graphics and possibly laying in additional systems which have little-to-no impact on character or story, but in actual fact, that's not always the case.
Naughty Dog makes for an interesting example, because though performance capture on The Last of Us Part II wrapped well over a year before the game's release, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was still shooting new footage just three months before it finally hit stores.
Given the enormous complexity involved in even basic performance capture, that's pretty shocking to consider, and proof that despite how long the "polishing" stage might seem, often significant alterations can be made in the final months ahead of release.