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Forums - Gaming Discussion - The 'AAA blockbuster' business model not being sustainable...when will it finally crumble?

I wouldn't mind if it changed, I like the older non AAA games.



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Maybe they should both stick with lower development cost platforms going into next gen til they can get back on their feet. VIta, 3DS and Wii U will all be significantly cheaper to develop for than X1 or PS4. Maybe they should grow their fan base on those platforms to fund the cost od X1PS4 development



kitler53 said:
it already is crumbleing. THQ was just the begining.


I thought uDraw was the one that killed them?



HoloDust said:
Just like in movie business, there will be few big players left standing, and they will be making all the profit. AAA will not crash, certain publishers will.

Considering developers are trying to emulate hollywood on their style of games, I guess it makes sense that they would want to copy their flawed business models too..



kitler53 said:
it already is crumbleing. THQ was just the begining.

AAA isn't what killed THQ per se. Infact, focusing on them might have been better for them.

It should be noted THQ also put a lot of money in games that never released. Such as an Avengers game and I believe a MMO.



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Many companies will go out from making AAA games. Despite having a negative effect this will be good for the industry. Because

1. Companies will efficiently manage their resources. So the development cycle will be shorter. Long development cycles like duke nukem forever or final fantasy vs xiii or final fantasy xv will cease.
2. Companies wont spent a fortune in advertising. There will be a balance.
3. Mobile/ handheld gaming market will see many quality games.

But I fear this will have these negative effects.

1. Innovative new IPs will reduce more. None will be willing to create a new IP because the risk is too high.
2. There will be a ton of mobile / handheld games but most of those will fail because few will manage to gain attention.
3. More and more developers will go for kickstarter ultimately breaking the kickstarter.



Worst case scenario, we'll see less AAA games.

A company like Capcom is struggling primarily because they have been putting bad games on the market. Perhaps they'll do better financially when Dead Rising 3 and Monster Hunter 4 hit the market. Lets hope Resident Evil 7 isn't a disaster.



Recently Completed
River City: Rival Showdown
for 3DS (3/5) - River City: Tokyo Rumble for 3DS (4/5) - Zelda: BotW for Wii U (5/5) - Zelda: BotW for Switch (5/5) - Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch (4/5) - Rage 2 for X1X (4/5) - Rage for 360 (3/5) - Streets of Rage 4 for X1/PC (4/5) - Gears 5 for X1X (5/5) - Mortal Kombat 11 for X1X (5/5) - Doom 64 for N64 (emulator) (3/5) - Crackdown 3 for X1S/X1X (4/5) - Infinity Blade III - for iPad 4 (3/5) - Infinity Blade II - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Infinity Blade - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Origins for X1 (3/5) - Uncharted: Lost Legacy for PS4 (4/5) - EA UFC 3 for X1 (4/5) - Doom for X1 (4/5) - Titanfall 2 for X1 (4/5) - Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (4/5) - South Park: The Stick of Truth for X1 BC (4/5) - Call of Duty: WWII for X1 (4/5) -Wolfenstein II for X1 - (4/5) - Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS (4/5) - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for X1 (3/5) - Halo Wars 2 for X1/PC (4/5) - Halo Wars: DE for X1 (4/5) - Tekken 7 for X1 (4/5) - Injustice 2 for X1 (4/5) - Yakuza 5 for PS3 (3/5) - Battlefield 1 (Campaign) for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: MW Remastered for X1 (4/5) - Donkey Kong Country Returns for 3DS (4/5) - Forza Horizon 3 for X1 (5/5)

This generation is going to bring a big change, I think. Only a few huge publishers will survive, while indie devs will rise up and fill the empty space with their greater creativity and more profitable model. In almost every industry, the publisher is becoming more and more unnecessary.



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Bloodbath Paddy Wagon Ultra 9

Wait what AAA cinematic blockbusters did Capcom make? I thought the just rehashed the same game over and over again this gen while charging ludicrous amounts of money for stuff that used to be free...

 

Also FF series should have been made for Nintendo systems would have sold a lot better I'm sure...



Talal said:
I will permaban myself if the game releases in 2014.

in reference to KH3 release date

JGarret said:

Some people have been saying for years the industry´s obsession with chasing 'AAA cinematic blockbuster' games will eventually lead to disaster.

Recent stories vary from SE not being happy about some of their games not selling unrealistic numbers, to Capcom not doing great at all (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-10-capcom-looks-towards-big-changes-after-difficult-fy13)...from the article:' its performance throughout this generation has rarely been more than solid, leaving it in a difficult position for the challenges ahead. At presentCapcom has just over $152 million in cash, which isn't much for a company attempting to navigate the costly transition to a new hardware generation and the company-wide implementation of a service-based infrastructure.'

Anyway, if this model is truly not sustainable, when will it collapse as a whole?...does anyone risk a date?...sometime during this next generation, perhaps?


There are a lot of simularities between the first gaming crash and the coming generation:

-Over-abundance of a popular genre (FPS whereas it was fighting games before)

-Little gameplay evolution 

-Far more console launches than usual (Ouya, Gamestick, NV Shield)

Who knows what will happen...