The Reason Why 3A Game Development Cycles Are Prolonging and Its Impact
TapTechNews June 30th news. In recent years, the development cycle of large-scale 3A games has been getting longer and longer, which makes many players dissatisfied. Recently, Mark Darrah, who has participated in the development of well-known games such as Baldur's Gate 2, explained this.
Darrah said that the increasing demand for high fidelity in game graphics from players is a major factor that leads to the elongation of the development time. In order to meet the expectations of fans for the "hyper-realistic graphics", developers often need several years to complete the production of a 3A game.
In contrast, indie games and AA-level games don't bear such a heavy burden on the graphics. This allows them to focus more on creative gameplay rather than pursuing a staggering visual effect.
Darrah has rich experience in the game industry and has participated in the development of well-known works such as Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Recently, he made a video to deeply explore the issue of the overly long development cycle of 3A games.
In the video, Darrah pointed out that many current 3A game developers are pursuing "hyper-realistic art style, ultra high fidelity and super-personalized" graphic performance, and he called this phenomenon "graphics supremacy".
To achieve these goals, the game development is bound to take more time than in the past. For example, Darrah mentioned that nowadays developers will carefully consider details such as the dynamic effect of hair strands. In the past, developers might use simpler methods, such as putting on a pre-designed "hair model" for the character to save time.
Mark Darrah said, "These details will not make the game a 'timeless' classic, but it greatly increases the development time."
Darrah also talked about another issue: players' resistance to the use of the same materials in sequels. If every sequel needs to completely re-create all materials, the development cycle will be further extended.
In recent years, the industry has expressed similar concerns more than once. Both the ever-expanding game volume and the high development budget have cast a shadow over the future direction of 3A games.
TapTechNews noticed that highly anticipated blockbusters such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield have development times approaching ten years. Even Nintendo, which has never been too focused on visual performance, took nearly 7 years to launch the widely praised The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.