big budget.
i'm sure that's also how most developers see it. i read that a few times that developers said aaa = big budget. even a game with a metascore of 50 would be an aaa game if it would have cost 50 million and would get 100 million for marketing.
a game which cost "only" 5 million to make but would get a metascore of 98 is not an aaa game. it's maybe a masterpiece 







