AAA (video game industry)
In the
History
The term "AAA" began to be used in the late 1990s by game retailers attempting to gauge interest in upcoming titles,
One of the first video games to be produced at a
By the
Triple-A titles produced during the late 1990s and early 2000s brought a shift towards more narrative-driven games that mixed storytelling elements with gameplay. The earlier widespread adoption of
During the seventh generation, AAA (or "blockbuster") games had marketing at a similar level to high-profile films, with television, billboard and newspaper advertising; a corresponding increasing reliance on sequels, reboots, and similarly franchised IP was also seen, in order to minimize risk. Costs at the end of the generation had risen as high as the hundreds of millions of dollars – the estimated cost of Grand Theft Auto V was approximately $265m. The same conditions also drove the growth of the indie game scene at the other end of the development spectrum, where lower costs enabled innovation and risk-taking.[16]
At around the period of transition from seventh to eighth generation of consoles, the cost of AAA development was considered by some to be a threat to the stability of the industry.
The limited risk-taking in the AAA arena and stagnation of new gameplay concepts led to the rise of indie games in the early 2010s, which were seen as more experimental. This also led to the creation of the "AA" market in the industry, larger studios that were not at the scale of AAA developers but had more experience, funding, and other factors to make them distinct from the smaller teams usually associated with indie studios.[22]
AAA game development has been identified as one environment where crunch time and other working pressures that negatively affect employees are particularly evident.[24][25]
In a 2023 report by the UK
Related terms
AAA+
In general use, the term "AAA+" (Triple-A-Plus) may refer to a subset of AAA games that are the highest selling or have the highest production values. However, there are at least two more specific meanings.
The first describes AAA games with additional methods of revenue generation, generally through purchases in addition to the cost of the base game.
AA (Double-A)
"AA" or Double-A games are mid-market video games that typically have some type of professional development though typically outside of the large first-party studios of the major developers; these may be from larger teams of indie developers in addition to larger non-indie studios. Double-A studios tend to range from 50 to 100 people in size.[29] A double-A development studio will typically be backed by a publisher but not fundamentally part of that publisher, and thus have somewhat more freedom to innovate and experiment compared to triple-A studios, though will still be constrained by specific risk-limiting targets and goals from their funding source. Double-A games generally tend to be priced lower compared to triple-A games. Examples of games considered to be double-A titles include PUBG: Battlegrounds and DayZ.[30]
As of 2022 game publishers and studios that are currently considered to be AA include Devolver Digital, Warhorse Studios, Obsidian Entertainment, Hazelight Studios, and PlatinumGames.[31]
III
"III" (Triple-I) has been used to refer to independently funded ("indie") games that meet an analogous quality level in their field; i.e., indie games that have relatively high budget, scope, and ambition;[32] often the development team includes staff who have experience working on full AAA titles.[33]
Examples of III games include Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and The Witness.[33]
AAAA
Starting in 2020 leading up to the launch of the
Other terms
The console video game industry lacks the equivalent of a
See also
- Nintendo Seal of Quality
References
- ISBN 978-0-59543-371-1.
- ^ Creighton, Ryan (May 1, 2009). "Where Did the Term "Triple-A" Come From?". Untold Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2009-08-24. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "Infogrames Entertainment Acquires Paradigm Entertainment". June 29, 2000. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- .
- ^ Parkin, Simon (11 April 2020). "Final Fantasy VII Remake – a triumphant return for Cloud Strife". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- 1UP.com. Archived from the originalon July 21, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ a b "Final Fantasy 7: An oral history". Polygon. Jan 9, 2017. Retrieved Feb 2, 2018.
- ^ Park, Gene (4 April 2020). "Perfecting Final Fantasy 7's legacy, as told by its creators". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-271-08315-5.
- ^ Stanton, Rich (June 2, 2013). "Final Fantasy 7 retrospective". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ Diver, Mike (2 May 2015). "Shenmue – discovering the Sega classic 14 years too late". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ Zackariasson, Peter; Wilson, Timothy L., eds. (2012). The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future. Routledge. p. 4.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (4 July 2013), "Triple-A console studios 'declined by 80% this gen', says EA exec", ComputerAndVideoGames.com, archived from the original on 8 July 2013
- Gamasutra. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ MacGregor, Jody (September 20, 2020). "22 years later, Half-Life's influence is still being felt". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
- ^ "Why video games are so expensive to develop", The Economist, 24 September 2014
- ^ a b c "The State of Games: State of AAA", Polygon.com, 2 July 2012
- ^ Weber, Rachel (28 February 2013), "On Reflections: First interview with the Ubisoft studio's new MD", GamesIndustry.biz
- ^ Usher, William (2012), "AAA Games Could Lead to Mainstream Crash", CinemaBlend.com
- ^ Usher, William (2012), "Radical Entertainment Goes Bust; Prototype Franchise Is No More", CinemaBlend.com
- Escapist Magazine. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Pearce, Dan (July 2, 2021). "Opinion: 'Indie' Has Lost Its Meaning". IGN. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (8 March 2012), "Pursuit of AAA is a 'cancerous growth' – AC3 Dev", GameSpot, archived from the original on 9 March 2012
- Gamasutra
- ^ Strickland, Derek (22 January 2016), "Ex-Ubisoft dev reveals the grim reality of AAA games development", TweakTown.com
- ^ Zollner, Amelia (2023-04-28). "Major Publishers Report AAA Games Can Cost Over a Billion to Make". IGN. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ a b Fahey, Rob (25 November 2016), "Weak AAA launches are a precursor to industry transition", GamesIndustry.biz
- ^ Fahey, Rob (9 December 2016), "Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian: The Last of their Kind", GamesIndustry.biz
- S2CID 236633168.
- ^ Hawley, Jake (June 24, 2021). "Crossplay will be the key to the $42B double-A market". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
- ^ "The Best (mid-tier) AA games you can play in 2022". 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ^ Lemme, Bengt (23 January 2016), "The Triple-I Revolution", GameReactor.eu
- ^ GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Grubb, Jeff (August 26, 2020). "The Initiative's first game — What's the so-called 'AAAA' studio making?". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- ^ a b Harris, Olivia (September 9, 2020). "Ubisoft Insists On Calling Beyond Good And Evil 2, Skull & Bones 'AAAA' Games". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- ^ Wallace, Chris (5 August 2020). "Why indies are struggling to be seen on the Switch eShop". MCV.
- ^ Kohler, Chris (5 March 2008). "Opinion: Why Wii Shovelware Is a Good Thing". Wired. Retrieved 7 July 2014.