People throw around indie, AA, and AAA all the time, but they’re not quality grades. Nobody’s giving games a school report card. These labels mostly point to budget and team size. Small teams = indie. Mid-sized = AA. Hundreds of people and millions of dollars? That’s AAA.
Of course, it’s not always clean-cut. A slick indie game can look like a blockbuster, and a big-budget release can flop hard. Still, the categories help set expectations. Let’s try…
Understanding Game Development Categories
Indie: small but bold
Indie literally means independent. Usually it’s a handful of developers, sometimes just one person, working with whatever budget they can scrape together. No giant publisher calling the shots.
Because money is tight, indies lean on creativity. They go for bold art styles, weird mechanics, or stories that would never make it past a AAA boardroom. Undertale, Stardew Valley, Celeste — they didn’t need photorealistic graphics to hit players hard.
And the rough edges? Often part of the charm. These games feel personal in a way blockbusters don’t.
AA: the middle child
AA games are harder to pin down. Think “not tiny, not massive.” Teams are bigger, budgets are healthier, but they still don’t have the resources to compete with the Ubisofts of the world.
Because of that, AA games usually pick their battles. They’ll polish the story, focus on a tight experience, maybe push one mechanic really far. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a great example — cinematic, emotional, impressive, but made by a much smaller team than most AAA titles.
AA is where ambition meets limits. And sometimes, that’s where the most interesting ideas live.
AAA: blockbuster territory
AAA is the big leagues. We’re talking giant teams, years of production, marketing campaigns the size of small countries. Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, The Witcher 3. Games built to sell millions.
With that much money on the line, studios tend to play it safe. Proven formulas, familiar mechanics, sequels that come out like clockwork. But AAA also pushes technical boundaries — graphics, animation, and scope keep getting bigger.
So you get polished, massive worlds… just not always the quirkiest ones.
Do the categories still matter?
Kinda. The lines blur more every year. Some indie games look like AAA, some AAA projects launch smaller side games that feel indie.
But the labels still tell you something. Indie = creativity first. AA = ambition with limits. AAA = scale and polish. They’re not a ranking system, just different ways of making games — and all three are worth paying attention to.
The Vital Features That Set Apart Indie, AA, and AAA Games
| Indie Games | AA Games | AAA Games |
| 1. Small Teams Typically, a small group of people or even a single developer creates independent games. This small team size allows for a more personal touch and creative control; | 1. Medium-Sized Studios Mid-sized game development studios create AA games that have more resources than Indie teams but are still smaller than AAA studios; | 1. Large Studios Major studios develop AAA games with hundreds or even thousands of employees. These studios or publishers have extensive infrastructure and resources; |
| 2. Limited Budget Indie developers often work with limited budgets, relying on their savings, crowdfunding, or early access sales. This constraint can foster innovation and resourcefulness; | 2. Moderate Budgets These games often have moderate budgets, enabling them to deliver polished graphics, gameplay, and narrative experiences without the astronomical costs of AAA production; | 2. High Budgets The production budgets for AAA games are massive, often exceeding tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. It allows for top-tier graphics, voice acting, and marketing campaigns; |
| 3. Artistic Freedom Indie games prioritize artistic vision and unique gameplay mechanics over mass-market appeal. They often explore unconventional themes and genres; | 3. Balanced Creativity and Commercial Appeal AA games balance creative freedom and the need for commercial viability. They aim to appeal to a broader audience while maintaining some unique features; | 3. Broad Appeal AAA games aim for mass-market appeal and target a global audience. They often incorporate tried-and-true gameplay mechanics and genres; |
| 4. Diverse Genres Indie games span various genres, from narrative-driven adventures to experimental puzzle games and everything in between; | 4. Varied Genres AA games cover various genres, including action-adventure, RPG, and simulation games. They can compete with AAA titles in specific niches; | 4. Blockbuster Titles AAA games are often blockbuster titles with cinematic storytelling, breathtaking visuals, and intricate game mechanics. They’re typically associated with major franchises; |
| 5. Digital Distribution Indie games are commonly distributed through digital platforms like Steam, Twitch, or mobile app stores. They are short of a marketing budget and, therefore, can’t afford substantial marketing efforts and promotional events. | 5. Digital and Limited Physical Distribution AA games are primarily distributed digitally, but some may receive limited physical releases, especially for collector’s editions. | 5. Extensive Marketing AAA games receive substantial marketing efforts, including trailers, teasers, and promotional events. They often generate significant hype before release and use quite impressive marketing budgets for these purposes; |
| 6. Global Distribution AAA games receive global distribution across multiple platforms, including physical releases and digital distribution. |
The Evolution and Future Trends in Gaming
The history of video games is no less exciting than the latest edition of The Legend of Zelda. If you remember the games you played as a kid, they are probably a light distance away from modern ones. And if we look back to the dawn of gaming, the evolution is even more striking.
From Pong to VR Headsets
Gaming didn’t start with giant open worlds and cinematic cutscenes. It started with a dot on a screen — Pong in the ’70s. Simple, clunky, kind of ridiculous, but it was the spark.
After that came the hits: Super Mario jumping onto living room TVs, the first awkward-but-magical 3D games on the Nintendo 64, and eventually the endless nights people lost to World of Warcraft.
Fast forward a few decades. Those blocky pixels? They’ve been swapped out for visuals that sometimes look more like film than games. It’s wild to think the same medium that gave us Pong now gives us near-photo realism.
The Present: Everyone’s Playing
Gaming isn’t a niche hobby anymore — it’s global. Kids, adults, grandparents, everyone. A few trends stand out right now:
- Mobile gaming – Your phone is a console in your pocket. From quick puzzles to big RPGs, the mobile market is massive.
- Esports – not just a nerd hobby anymore, now Esports are as popular as other kinds of sports. It’s a billion-dollar industry with pro players, teams, and stadium-sized tournaments.
- VR and AR – these genres have evolved from awkward simulations to full-scale games, and it happened faster than we could imagine some years ago.
- Cross-platform play – PC, console, mobile — they’re finally talking to each other. Players can connect no matter what device they’re on, and it opens new horizons for gaming industry in unexpected ways.
The Future: What’s Next?
When AR and VR can’t be labeled as novelty… What’s the next thing? Here are some of them:
- Cloud gaming – when games can be streamed just like movies, no expensive hardware needed. This is revolutionary as it gives access to games for many people who couldn’t afford newest gaming gadgets.
- Graphics – games already look no less real than movies, but with ray tracing and 8K on the table, visuals will only get sharper.
- Metaverse – Not just a buzzword. Shared virtual spaces are already being built, where games, socializing, and work collide.
- Neurogaming – Imagine controlling a game with your thoughts. Early experiments are already happening.
Indie, AA, and AAA studios will all approach these trends differently — some with giant budgets, others with scrappy experimentation. But one thing’s clear: the next generation of games will push immersion in ways we haven’t seen before.
Kevuru Games Expertise in AAA and AA Game Development
At Kevuru Games, we work across the spectrum. Our team has experience with both AAA production values and AA flexibility, which means we can support large publishers as well as mid-sized studios. Artists, designers, programmers, project managers — everyone here shares one goal: delivering polished, playable worlds.
Kevuru Games offers full-cycle game dev services to meet the diverse needs of their clients. We have a big team with wide range of expertise, enough to adapt to projects of any complexity. Your requirements define how much does it cost to make a triple a game.
Our expertise spans multiple genres, including MMOG, adventure, strategy, puzzles, educational games, board games, and role-playing games. Our mission is to provide game publishers with full-cycle game development production and give our clients player-centric advice on in-game investments. You are always welcome to examine our AAA art portfolio.
We offer a full range of game development services, including:
- Fully executed development;
- Concept art and design;
- Quality assurance and testing;
- Game monetization consultations;
- Post-release support.
