Not going to post the entire article, just the opening. Click the link to read the rest.

I enjoyed reading it and I am sure many of you will as well. It is a Jim Sterling piece.

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Game developer Cliff Bleszinski has never been a fan of the used game market, and he's made his feelings on the Xbox One and PS4 policies quite clear -- he supports Microsoft's decision to "redefine" the concept of videogame ownership, in a bid to protect the way videogames are currently made.

"You cannot have game and marketing budgets this high while also having used and rental games existing," he said. "The numbers do NOT work people ... The visual fidelity and feature sets we expect from games now come with sky high costs. Assassins Creed games are made by thousands of devs."

Clifford's stance is fairly clear -- games are too expensive, and so the customers must be the ones to compromise. This is presented as our responsibility, our fault even. We "expect" good looking games with high marketing budgets, and publishers are forced to comply. 

Except ... that's really not true...

http://www.destructoid.com/used-games-and-aaa-games-are-incompatible-good--256227.phtml

Lol... Isn't the new gen more easy to develop for?
And really... a thousand devs? looks like a waste for me.
pretty good read:
http://warhorsestudios.cz/index.php?page=blog&entry=blog_007

Is he saying that they should outsource all the triple AAA titles to 3rd world countries where the working conditions are horrible?

A "bid to protect the way game are made" ?

Games have been made this way for many years. Maybe whats wrong is the way the production values skyrocketed.

I claim a "bid to protect my wallet from greedy bastards". Actually look at Nintendo games! Despite all criticism they sell like hotcakes and dont cost nearly the same do develop? Maybe theres another way? The focus on graphics is the problem. We could also enjoy games before this graphics technology came along. Its not exactly required to make a good and fun game.

Read it again and love it even more. This guy is so fucking on point. It's incredible that people don't see the obvious, especially those in the industry.

Some choice quotes.

"I utterly defy you to convince me Resident Evil 6 nearly selling six million copies yet still failing to meet expectations could be blamed upon the used game market. When you're selling that much, and still failing to make investors happy, something is fundamentally wrong with the process of videogame production itself, not the imaginary dragons of used games and game rentals that are conjured up as quick and easy scapegoats. "

"What really infuriates me about the used game debate is that, when people bring up the stratospheric development and marketing costs, it's treated as though they are noble endeavors, too sacred to be compromised. Rather than ask the question, "Do games need to be this expensive to make?" the question instead becomes, "How can we squeeze more money to keep making very expensive games?"

"It's not our fault games have gotten so expensive, and I resent the implication that it is. The fact this industry seems utterly fucking incapable of taking some damn responsibility for itself continues to disgust me, and I refuse to shoulder the blame for companies that cannot demonstrate one iota of self-reflection. If something you're doing is not working, change what you're doing!"

A very very very very Good Read ty OP

"Thousands of devs work on assassin's creed"

And yet, 8 months after release AC3 is still plagued with bugs.

HAHAHA soo true its really sad

Glad he mentioned Resident Evil 6, as that symbolizes one of the worst aspects of the industry, at least in my opinion...the obsession with "hollywoodyzing" games, and that comes with huge, bloated budgets that end up blowing in the publishers' faces, even if it sells million of copies.

It might get to a point where games are either the 'AAA Hollywood like game' or indie games...where are the mid-tier games?..disappearing.

Jim Sterling has been brilliant for the last Month.

I used to think he was just a cock end, but after following him on Twitter, reading some of his writeups and watching the Jimquisition... He's won me over.

The man is brilliant. This is brilliant.

"Even outside of more basic looking games and older engines, we have evidence of smaller teams producing utterly gorgeous games without breaking the bank. I point you to the drop-dead beautiful Metro: Last Light, a game now famous for stunning visuals and an impeccable production value. 4A Games is a humble developer from Kiev, and produced a game that looked as amazing as it did without needing to sell five million copies to survive. "

"And that's where we come round to the biggest issues facing mainstream game development -- used games and rentals have absolutely bloody nothing to do with the fact that game development is possessed of such total excess that you can't even succeed with millions upon millions of sales under your belt. "