So I'm not sure if this was posted before but I just saw a quote from CliffyB suggesting that next generation blockbuster AAA games that last up to 8 hours might be a thing of the past. He suggests up to four or so AAA blockbuster games will likely come next generation and that those titles will come from established brands.

“The six-to-eight hour triple-A game might be going away, maybe there’s only three or four that come out a year, and those are the established brands,”- CliffyB

Do you think this will happen?

Personally I don't think blockbuster big budget games are going anywhere. Fact is as we get towards the end of this generation the risks of releasing such titles are growing but so is the pay out. If you release a 8-hour blockbuster big budget game you could lose everything, true. But you could also have the next big hit the next 6-8 million selling IP or title. That kind of pay off is just to great for developers and publishers to ignore.

People point to the failure of big titles like Resistence 3 as being proof big budget AAA games are going to die. But then I'd have to point to THQ, Majesco, Atari and all the other lower budget publishers/developers. Some of the biggest struggling publishers are those not making big budget hits. Really is a failed low budget SpongeBob game really a better bet then a big budget game?

Also their will always be a market for big budget games, a large enough market that 4 games is just far to few to keep that market satisfied. As long as the market exists developers and publishers will continue to support them.

In fact I expect more risks to be taken next generation. Struggling publishers like THQ are realizing that low budget games based on licenses cannot save the company. There are really two options for publishers. Go low budget by changing markets to dlc, social,mobile games or going as large as possible on console. Lets face it most of the low budget games on consoles fail to generate an income comparable with a bigger budget release.

So do you think CliffyB is onto something? Or will big budget games be here for a long time?

**skips Joel's text like always**
Yes, because Western games will eclipse Japan games even further.

Very interesting wall of text, I'll analyze it thoroughly.

Since you asked, yeah it was - gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=137296