AAA games are announced early for fear of being cancelled, developer reveals

Making video games is a multifaceted endeavor that requires a lot of money and, above all, time. This is especially true for developers. AAA titleswhose development processes are becoming more and more complex and expensive. That said, why are companies announcing a project that clearly still has many years left in the oven? A prominent member of the industry revealed some very interesting reasons.

We’ve seen plenty of titles that were announced with great fanfare, but still seem far off: from Beyond Good and Evil 2 until Star Wars Eclipse. One of the best known cases is The Elder Scrolls VIwhich made an appearance at that distant E3 in 2018. Even Bethesda’s Todd Howard regrets the premature reveal.

Another game that for a long time remained in the shadows is Metroid Prime 4which finally reappeared in the latest Nintendo Direct. With this in mind, it’s impossible not to wonder why companies announce a game when production is barely in its infancy. early stages. It is clear that each case is unique, but one developer shed some light on this typical one.

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Why are AAA games announced so soon? Dev surprises with his response

Mark Darrahcreator of the saga Dragon Age and current consultant of the new delivery Dragon Age: The Veilguard, has a personal channel on YouTube where he gives his opinion on various topics. In his most recent video, he talked about why AAA video games take so long to reach the stores.

The creative indicates that there are several reasons why it is important for a developer or publisher studio for the audience to know about a video game, even though the launch is clearly still a long way off. One of the reasons is for fear that the project is canceled and never see the light of day.

“It may be because the publisher’s release list is a little loose and he wants the public to remember that he still has big games under his belt. It could also be because the studio wants the game to be announced because they are worried that the publisher cancels it“Mark Darrah explained in his 25-minute-plus video.

As explained by the creator of Dragon AgeIt is also common for development to not have fully started yet and for only a small part of the team to be working on the project, even though the game was announced with a lot of fanfare surrounding it.

“Studies can be a little misleading on this front, because they would say things like ‘we started working on The Elder Scrolls VI‘, or they could even share a trailer for the game despite the current size of the team [que trabaja en él] It is less than 10 people,” commented the creative.

Of course, the developer highlights that there are other factors that influence the long development processes: from the size of the project to the focus of the studio. Likewise, problems can always arise that delay the work. In his opinion, a premature reveal is far from the best strategy to generate enthusiasm for a project.

“So they give the impression that it is a parallel development and that the team is working on the game, when in reality it is just a few people who have some meetings and not much is done“, said Mark Darrah.

But tell us, what do you think of these statements? Let us read you in the comments.

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