I feel like most people at least consider it decent, so I have a question

I feel like most people at least consider it decent, so I have a question.
How can a decent, playable, fun, finished game be made for less than a million when AAA studios, who regularly reuse assets and engines and everything like that, cost hundreds of millions to make? Where does all the bloat go?

Too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the soup, or however that goes

Marketing
Getting celebrity voice actors
Detailed graphics

Most money for AAA titles actually goes towards marketing.

Plus
animation
engine code
more graphics
effects, sound design, tech art
even more graphics

Read the typical man month. You can throw all sorts of money and time but that doesn't equate to a well made game. Poor management or miscommunication with producers probably make up a good chunk of money thrown away.

AAA publishers only understand the world in regard to monetary value. Since you cannot get an MSRP on "fun", it is an unknown phenomenon. Perhaps more microtransactions will help us figure it out

I forgot to mention expensive directors, producers, managers...

>why does my pedo shovelware cost less money to make

Shoo cretin

Yes, because AAA studios are incompotent, and that's how they became big in the first place.

I've always felt that AAA games are pushing for graphics too much. How realistic can this shit get. A hat in time has simple graphics and still looks fucking amazing.

Sorry, read "developers" when it said "publishers"...

A lot of players want photorealism, and that's expensive.

It seems to me it's the players who push for graphics too much.

What about hellblade.

I guess people who only play CoD online and buy another fucking assassin's creed game every year are the majority. AAA games won't get better, they'll only get worse.

I think it also has to do with diminishing returns when it comes to pumping money into a game. Like it costs an extra $1000 to make a 7 into an 8, but an extra $100,000 to make an 9.0 into a 9.1. Numbers are purely arbitrary for an example obviously.

Most of the money on AAA games goes towards marketing, i remember the marketing cost of mw2 being over twice the amount that the development costed

I hate this even though its true. Ill take BOTW or Odyessy over HD Skyrim anyday.

bloated developer studios + marketing accounts for like 60% of a game's budget now

like look at Telltale Games, how the hell does a developer that just makes Visual Novels require 250 employees? Japanese VN devs do that with like 25 people tops.

Same, I really like the simple art style that you see in Nintendo games.

As someone who dwells among normies I can say this is true. I know people who will not touch games that arent realistic looking. I also know someone who will not go near games which are fantasy themed in any capacity. These people exist. This is where most sales come from, these people, the kind of person who buys a new game at full price then goes back to playing Fifa and never touches that game again, then buys another game at full price preorder and does the same thing.

I always see I hate anime

This game is overrated as fuck desu. A solid 7/10 but nothing more, Odyssey was better.

As we've seen time and time again, budget is hardly a factor concerning game quality

Too much money can actually be detrimental like with its better than nothing 9

I don't think cost and overall quality of a game correlate directly, and I don't know if that can even be said for graphics. One thing to note, though, is that creating a visually acceptable AAA game today is A LOT more expensive than 15 years ago because the upper limit (and thus expectations) has moved more than the efficiency with which assets can be created, and worlds can be propped.

Yeah, I think the Triple A obsession with super detailed graphics takes a huge toll on budget.

I want more stylized games, not perfect photo-realistic replicas of some high-budget Hollywood cast.

One of my best friends at work (an environment artist) shares thst preference. I disagree, but that doesn't make it invalid; if he wants to rule out all games with cartoony, minimalist, or artistic styles and throw money at AAA then that's his prerogative.

>One thing to note, though, is that creating a visually acceptable AAA game today is A LOT more expensive than 15 years ago because the upper limit (and thus expectations) has moved more than the efficiency with which assets can be created, and worlds can be propped.
Thats kind of what I mean though. Everyone is pumping so much money into making such a small difference in the game, instead of focusing on having a good game from the start which you dont need a big budget for.

>These people exist
I wonder why, it must be insecurity and a desire to project a certain image of themselves into others which is dependant on the media they consume

Pretty sad the normalfag life

When graphics are more important for devs/publishers than gameplay then you get most AAA games relased recently. If they made a game that had good gameplay and subpar graphics people would complain about that. Lowered scores either way. That's why it's been maybe 4-5 years since i bought anything AAA.

God I miss Swery.

Slow down, Im not sayings hes wrong, I dont talk him down and scoff at what he does I was explaining that not everyone who buys games even cares about them. Alot of people on Sup Forums seem to be under the impression that people who buy games eat shit and breath them, and hunt high and low for different games, when most just buy whatever is infront of them and forget they bought them a week later.

This is why there is so much money poured into ad campaigns, it really does work. You can make a good game but if noones heard of it odds are its not going to sell well at all, just because these people arent going to buy it.

Because a lot of nugamers these days care about REEL GRAPHIX, and that kind of movie quality production cost $$$.

And don't forget the overpaid voice actors, overpaid CEOs who do literally nothing but stick their hands in the cookie jar.

>Japanese VN devs do that with like 25 people tops.

I thought most VNs were made by atleast 10 or less people. Or a One Man Army.

>this thread

This is reminding me of the PS3/Xbox360/Wii years. I'm cringing just thinking about it.

>pedobait
No but seriously this looks kinda fun. Is there any plans for a physical release?

Look at most of the higher profile indie games released this year. OP, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, Darkwood. They're all relatively highly polished games with solid mechanics and appealing aesthetics for a much lower price than AAA titles. Video games aren't *as* expensive to make as AAA would have you believe. They're pretty costly, sure, especially when you're making something technically ambitious that requires a very large staff, but when publishers say that video games are getting more expensive to make, what they really mean is that video games are getting more expensive to market because they are constantly trying to extend their market presence. They spend tons on market research to find more ways to appeal to a broader audience. Spectacular cinematics, better graphics, more celebrities, ugly cosmetics. All shit that really doesn't matter but appeals to a large amount of people who just want to come home from work or school and unwind with something mindless. I'm not entirely convinced this is a bad thing but it doesn't seem to appeal to the group of people who are more familiar with the medium, as gay as that sounds.

It just got a console port but I haven't heard of whether or not they'd have a physical release.

This game made me remember the feeling of joy i used to have when i was little

Same. It felt nostalgic without totally banking on that nostalgia alone.

This, and it managed to be its own game as well unlike Yooka-Failee