| Random_Matt said: there are probably very few developers who are given complete freedom aside from Sony ones. |
The only time a dev can have complete freedom is if they are completely self-funded, and they just partner with someone for distribution. The only big example I can think of this recently is CDPR with TW3. Anybody that invests money in a game is going to get some say in that project. That's how it works everywhere, including Sony. And, even with CDPR, they are ultimately controlled by someone, or a small group of major investors. That person(s) control the purse strings, so they decide what game will get made, and they certainly apply some amount of oversight to make sure the game is developing into something likely to be profitable.
This stuff is big business. In AAA, AA, and even A level game development, there is a profit motive driving everything. These things are products, not art projects.
