@ me when GTA6 releases at 70 cause they look at the sales of other games tanking as people can't afford the game in the numbers they want for the MTX on GTA online and they figure the more people in the better the GTA online money. A lot a people are looking at CO E33 and going, yep, that's a way to boost our sales. Doesn't matter about the terminology used, AAA alot AA, it matters about the price point. 59,99 used to be AAA pricing, now it's AA pricing. Indies are going for 39,99 ... are they now AA. The price point is what matter and a lot are gonna follow thst 49,99 or 54,99 of the Oblivion remake and as in the comment before this, Mafia the Old country. Too many are already gonna flip at 79,99, the smart people will follow that pricing if there is even a whiff that they could fail. 

An AA game, Mario Kart World, is about to be one of the best selling games of the year.

Not a chance will it surpass MH Wilds final numbers by year end. 

Meant to type "one of the best", my hands and head went separate ways lmao. Although MH has an extra four months so not really an apples to apples comparison; lifetime I expect Mario Kart will sell much more.

It's starting. Big winners, big loosers and the rise of the AA game again to correct the industry. They may seem like a bad thing but it needs to happen. Borderlands 4 will be another mess, half of what B3 done or less and with a 300m budget. People's wallets are getting tight and securely fastened, no impulse buying or grabbing games just cause they are new, consumers will research their purchases with a magnifying glass so they better make the damn best game they can if they want these 79,99 games selling.

What does AAA mean anyway? Probably the only thing one can learn from that moniker is the size of the money bag that was thrown at it. It doesn't say anything about how fun or innovative a game is.

It's also a typical 'western' thing. I never hear companies like Capcom or Nintendo use language like that.

Yes AAA always meant budget, it is literally a term from finance. Why that was adopted into broader meaning is unclear to me. Nobody used that to group movies.

People do this to group movies. It's called blockbusters, and the industry is heavily geared towards them

Well, different meaning and history: it started out meaning successful or the better word would be impactful (like Blockbuster munition, which the name derives from). But I guess the meaning changed to describe movies that get big budget to target to become a blockbuster. In gaming AAA meant from the beginning the big budget.