AAA game development can be 'soul-crushing,' says Warren Spector

The process of making big-budget, AAA games can be a challenging endeavor that breaks a person's spirits. That's according to Deus Ex and Epic Mickey designer Warren Spector, who told Games Industry International that developing such projects comes with many burdens.

"As cool as triple-A games are, the time and money that go into them now is just soul-crushing, at least for me," Spector said. "There are so many voices you have to listen to, so many legitimate stakeholders; it's just a lot less fun than making games should be."

Spector is recently jobless, after Disney shuttered Junction Point Studios at the end of January. The industry veteran does not know what he plans to do next.

According to Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios creative director Stefan Ljungqvist, big-budget games are here to stay, though they may decrease in number.

"I don't think big-budget games are going away," Ljungqvist said this week. "There's going to be less of them. But that's a good thing, because maybe we don't need 40 first-person shooters. I don't want to play them all [laughs], but maybe we need one, two or three."

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Stonecutters908

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I would be all for less AAA games. Not that i want everything to be indie, but I would gladly take more variety and more AA games than the same old derivative crap that the AAA world is pumping out in droves. A game I would describe as AA that was great would like Shadows of the Damned. Good production values, short, unique, and satisfying.

Upvote • 11 years ago

barrybarryk

488

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Then just stop!
Have people not already demonstrated that they will buy good games even if they have a lower budget? There's no need to keep making every game with 300 people over 3 years, spending so much on it that it has to be watered down to make sure it appeals to everyone

2 • 11 years ago

NeoMortiny

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I want Warren to work on an Indie title (I mean smaller budget).

vicsrealms

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Yep, paying $60 dollars for a so-called AAA game and it turning out to be a load of stuff can be soul crushing.

cornbredx

1879

Reviews: 20

I agree with the final comment. Less big budget games may be a good thing in the long run. I'm not sure I agree they'll go away, but they might the way industry is going.

It's a shame that epic mickey didnt meet its full potential.

7 • 11 years ago

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