The publishing director of Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't think “big budget = crap” in video games, but suggested the “public company model is broken” in the entertainment industry.
Responding to a recent interview with Dan Houser, in which the GTA author suggested The gaming industry is 'overly focused on making money' – which, in turn, was commented Duke Nukem 3D co-creator George Broussard – Michael Dawes went on to say that the problem lies with “the people in the traditional 'product pipeline' rather than the budgets themselves, and that audiences are 'easier than ever' to find.”
“Welcome to 2006,” Broussard wrote in tweetadding Hauser's quote. “Once games (360 era) started costing $30 million versus $3-5 million in the 2000s era, and then jumped to $100-250 million, it was all over for originality and risk-taking. Publishers can't afford to take risks with that kind of money.
“This is why you see AAA sequels coming out every two years in the top 20-25 IPs, and why you see so few new games. Nobody can afford to take risks anymore.
“But this is not news,” he added. “This has been the case for 20 years. Today the situation is definitely WORSE, given the huge costs of a AAA game. [people] refuse to continue buying sequels or adapt in any way. AAA tried service games/GaaS games but mostly failed and failed.”
“I don’t think it’s true that big budget = crap,” Dawes. replied. “It’s just that literally everyone involved is supposed to be on the same mission, and 9 out of 10 times that’s not the case. Finding an audience (even necessarily a large one) is easier than ever, but the problem lies with the people in the traditional “product pipeline.”
“They either don’t understand it, see it as a risk to their business model, or investors fail to understand it,” Daus added. “The public company model in entertainment is broken at a time when connecting audiences with creators should be easier than ever. Half of it is short-term self-preservation, and the other half is a real lack of vision and leadership (or institutional stupidity).”
Houser's words come as the Rockstar Games co-founder and Absurd Ventures founder broke ranks with many of his industry peers, admitting that while he and his team are “dabbing” with artificial intelligence, “it's not as useful as some companies would have you believe”“
