The Rise Of Double-A Video Games
1. AA Can Help Modest Single-Player Experiences Survive
Single-player games at the AAA level are in something of a perilous spot right now - we all remember the outrage over The Order: 1886 lasting a mere five hours despite Sony expecting players to fork out a full-fat AAA price tag.
And so, single-player AAA games have typically become increasingly bloated out with Things To Do, excessive cinematic "spectacle," tacked-on multiplayer, live service nonsense, or grotesque microtransaction integration - if not all of the above.
It's all in the pursuit of risk and cost mitigation, to ensure the publisher's exposure is as small as possible when sending a mega-budget AAA behemoth out into the world.
But for those who miss the days where 10-hour single-player games dominated the industry, AA has become their new home.
Few are going to turn their nose up at a £30 game that can be beaten in under a dozen hours, and so, this is the venue where the straight-laced single-player game can thrive.
Consider if The Callisto Protocol scaled back its admittedly first-rate visuals and went the AA route instead.
Many would've been decidedly less-miffed about its mere 8-hour length, and given the popularity of AA horror, it probably would've been a solid success.