Will Gamers wait that long??? Matt Booty (Head of XGS)- The days of 2-3 yr Dev time for Big Budget games are over. It’s more like 4-6yrs

[Leasy]

Stole this from the other place but its pretty interesting to say the least. I don't think people can wait 4 to 6 years for new titles and sequels like that is almost a console life cycle. Do you think we will see more console games releasing like titles on Steam which is in development but still playable?

Axios Gaming

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Longer game development cycles for big-budget games are here to stay, Xbox game studios chief Matt Booty tells Axios.

Why it matters: Top development teams that once put out a few games a decade may soon be lucky to put out more than one.

That’s been catching people inside and around gaming by surprise, Booty says.
What they’re saying: “I think that the industry and the fans were a little behind the curve on sort of a reset to understand that games aren't two or three years anymore,” he said, specifically referring to development cycles for high-end, big-budget games such as the ones Xbox mainly publishes.

“They're four and five and six years.”
The broader context for his comments was the slowdown of releases from many of Xbox's studios, including some fallow periods in recent years and belated game reveals from teams the company purchased as many as five years ago.
Between the lines: Booty says the longer creation process is due to the increased complexity of modern games plus the need to reach higher technical marks with 4K-compatible graphics and advanced lighting.

“There are higher expectations. The level of fidelity that we're able to deliver just goes up."
Yes, but: Some games will still be made quickly. Booty believes smaller teams working on indie projects may still be able to make great games in as little as a year, in some cases.

Be smart: The extra time needed to make top games isn’t a temporary phenomenon that can be written off as a short-term fluke from the pandemic.

Says Booty: “Games continue to get more ambitious as an art form.”

 

[Legal]

They can, and they absolutely will, because a lot of the other circumstances around games is going to change.

First off, as the scope of so called AAA games expands, the scope of lesser games does as well. This is an extreme example, but something like Sonic 3 was a AAA, shut everything down type of game back in the day, and these days, it's a downloadable game. I think a lot of the mid-tier third party games, and AA games are going to look a lot like what AAA games USED to be, and fill in a lot more of the release schedule.

Additionally, we're probably going to move away from every single game NEEDING to be part of a massive series that's a trilogy at minimum within a long running series. And even if it is, we're going to see a lot more cases of series being passed off between multiple lead studios, since we're seeing more cases of studios not wanting to devote 10-20 years working on the same thing.

We're in that whiny period where people are trying to have their cake and eat it too in regards to complaining about not seeing their favorite series churned out every other year like clockwork or something, but over time, people will be fine.

 

[Animal House]

That’s fine nothing we can do about it plus for me I always have something to play while I wait for major releases

 

[King Sun]

4 years was always the norm or used to be for AAA games.

 

[Regular_P]

Development times would be shorter if every major game wasn't targeting 25-80+ hours of content.

Miles Morales sold millions of copies and it's an eight hour game. Yes, it's Spider-Man but there's a MASSIVE void of games in the 6-12 hour range. Not every game needs to be an endless time sink.

Tight, focused experiences are still appreciated and desired.

 

[gurf]

For the most part, Its going to be what we’re currently seeing

Less sequels, more dlc/season pass based games.

 

[ALonelyDad]

my backlog is so big, I don't care but I am fine with smaller releases like Miles Morales

 

[TripleAgent]

Development times would be shorter if every major game wasn't targeting 25-80+ hours of content.

Miles Morales sold millions of copies and it's an eight hour game. Yes, it's Spider-Man but there's a MASSIVE void of games in the 6-12 hour range. Not every game needs to be an endless time sink.

Tight, focused experiences are still appreciated and desired.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Funny how spider-man wasn’t selling millions of copies under Activision though

 

[Canon]

MS and Sony can afford to keep that shyt in rotation

I don't wanna hear it

 

[Kingshango]

I play more indies and mid tier games so it’s whatever with AAA games.

 

[FromStLouis]

This is why I appreciate what xbox is trying to do and release one AAA game per quarter.

 

[Rekkapryde]

Finally someone being truthful unlike Phil
Or worse Greenberg ( how does Greenberg still have a job???)

 

[Rekkapryde]

Development times would be shorter if every major game wasn't targeting 25-80+ hours of content.

Miles Morales sold millions of copies and it's an eight hour game. Yes, it's Spider-Man but there's a MASSIVE void of games in the 6-12 hour range. Not every game needs to be an endless time sink.

Tight, focused experiences are still appreciated and desired.

This. shyt was a sweet spot especially for cats with families and jobs and not a lot of time

 

[CarltonJunior]

The 2-3 year timeframe is acceptable for AA games but the media and fans are shytting on AA games at an alarming rate