The Rise Of Double-A Video Games
8. They Don't Take 5-10 Years To Develop
One of the biggest hurdles facing the AAA realm right now is the sheer length of time it takes to produce a single blockbuster game - now easily upwards of 5 years from scratch.
Due to the higher graphical fidelity and greater complexity of modern AAA games, they require enormous amounts of man-power and money to bring to the finish line, often leaving players frustrated that they have to wait so many years between sequels.
But the AA production pipeline is simply better-equipped to ensure a steady stream of franchise releases without developers toiling for a half-decade or longer on each individual game.
Take A Plague Tale: Requiem, which released roughly three years after the original game, or Yakuza/Like a Dragon, which keeps up a mind-boggling release clip by re-using environmental assets, freeing up development resources for story and gameplay enhancements.
While some AA games do of course have lengthy gaps between releases, this isn't usually because the developers have spent the entire interim period crunching away.
Simply, if a AA game performs well, there's a strong chance you won't be left waiting an agonising amount of time for a follow-up.
In an era where the AAA model is often deemed "unsustainable," that seems like a much healthier and, yes, sustainable way to produce video games.