Thousands of games are released to suit any taste and budget. There are those that are growing in popularity and sales, and some are not as popular as their developers and publishers would like. AAA games have a separate place in the industry pushing mobile gaming aside. Millions of dollars are spent on AAA game development to hit the big milestone in terms of sales and ratings. For example, Grand Theft Auto IV is estimated at the total cost of approximately $265 million (including development and marketing costs) that makes it the most expensive video game ever created. You might ask, “Why are AAA games so expensive?”
There are certain reasons that are causing budgets to skyrocket, above all, high demands from players. They strive for impressive 3D graphics, gameplay and game mechanics, realistic characters, and high-quality design of other game assets. The whole development process covers many aspects that may contribute to the final resounding success.
Let’s dive deeper into AAA game development and find out why developers make AAA games at all. Why do you need to spend hundreds of millions on AAA projects?
What Is a AAA Video Game? – In a Few Words…
So what does triple-A game mean? AAA is the criterion by which games are classified as technically complex and highly interactive products with top-quality graphics, video, and music. All this leads to high development costs along with high marketing costs to reach a huge audience and generate substantial profits.
What makes a game AAA? Best AAA games are designed like blockbusters – large production budget is set to address well-known production studios and hire top experts who will be able to offer innovative solutions and great graphics quality. This is not the finish line – along with high-quality work and original ideas, expensive advertising campaigns will guarantee you high sales.
Just for comparison – the global box office in 2019 was $42.2 billion and the worldwide gaming market was estimated at $152 billion!
What is an AAA game in terms of the creator? Typically, triple-A games are developed by large game publishers, such as Nintendo, Sony, or Electronic Arts. They set aside huge budgets for both development and marketing to promote a million copies around the world.
Are Triple-A Games Guaranteed to Be of High Quality?
Triple-A game is almost always expected and discussed long before release thanks to large-scale advertising campaigns, if the developers, for their own reasons, did not decide to keep it secret. Players have high hopes and expectations for these games. The biggest fear of a developer is not living up to these expectations. After all, colossal finances, efforts and time have been invested in the game. Therefore, for their part, AAA game developers will do everything possible to ensure that the game is well received by people and brings income.
However, there are nuances here as well.
Some triple-A games flop despite all attempts by the developers to tailor them to the tastes of the players. This can be for example provoked by too much emphasis on graphics to the detriment of the plot and game mechanics. Or by the developer’s desire to make a release on all platforms, without having enough understanding and skill in adapting games to, say, consoles, which have their specifics.
But in spite of everything, triple-A games continue to be an extremely attractive niche for those who can afford to develop them. It turns out that AAA games are still worth making for many reasons.
Reasons to Develop AAA Games
It’s funny that despite the fact that even many players do not know what is a triple-A game, these games continue to delight millions of players globally. That is, ignorance of triple-A game meaning will not save anyone from the inevitability of becoming an AAA fan. That is life.
While the video game industry is typically associated with teenagers, the audience of AAA games has continued to grow in recent years. Released in 2017, Fortnite has since become a global phenomenon, with 350 million players worldwide as of May 2020. Most gamers find video games one of the best ways to relax and relieve stress. This became especially true during the Coronavirus lockdown, when people are forced to spend more time at their leisure in front of the screen, rather than going to the cinema, clubs or bars.
AAA games expand gaming experience and market share exponentially New innovative hardware features, high performance, amazing graphics, and modern technologies (like AR/VR, facial recognition, gesture control) allow users to enjoy video games to the fullest. The ability to improve the gameplay through impressive design, game mechanics makes the players more passionate about the game. More and more players are joining a community of dedicated players, which provides an increase in market share for AAA games.
AAA games excite millions of players globally Due to high user engagement, successful promotion, AAA games earn record-breaking billions of dollars. If we return to the most expensive game ever developed, Grand Theft Auto V, we’ll see that the game earned over $800 million in the first 24 hours worldwide after its release. After three days, global sales reached $1 billion.
AAA games innovate technologies in the gaming industry AAA titles lead the entire industry to innovate in technology and platforms. We are all witnessing the transition from the seventh to the eighth generation of game consoles with faster speed, more advanced computer graphics, improved storage capacity, etc. Upgraded hardware with new technologies shapes the perception of gaming.
How Many Developers Usually Work on a Triple-A Game?
First of all, you need to understand how to make an AAA game. Obviously, by putting together the right team. Usually distributors have a separate team for each project. Thus, in one period, they can develop several games at the same time.
The team working on a specific game, in turn, is divided into subgroups, dealing with their tasks. It is assumed that each team working on a game includes from 50 to 200 or more specialists, about 20% of whom are programmers.
What Do AAA Game Publishers Get Eventually?
- High revenues (if the game is definitely valuable for an end-user);
- Global brand recognition on the market and beyond;
- Loyal customers around the world eager for game updates;
- The powerful impact on the game industry
Examples of Triple-A Games
Let’s take a look at some examples of the best AAA games 2022, categorizing them according to the most popular genres.
Third and First-Person Shooter
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, this third-person shooter is a new addition to PlayStation 5 exclusives and a breath of fresh air during the gaming lull in early summer. The game is a sequel to Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus 2013. Rift Apart was unveiled on June 11, 2020 at the PlayStation 5 launch and released on June 11, 2021. The game tells the story of the titular heroes who travel to different worlds in multiple realities to stop their enemy, Dr. Nefarius, who took advantage of the sudden catastrophic collapse of dimensions to finally fulfill his dream of completely destroying organic life in the universe.
Action-Adventure
It Takes Two
AAA action-adventure with local co-op and not from Nintendo, does that still happen? It turns out, yes. The new project from Yousef Fares, developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Originals program, looks like a fun children’s adventure, but don’t rush to judge the book by the cover, it’s not so simple. The game requires a second player who can connect over the network. Players control a quarreling couple of Cody and May, who have been turned into dolls by a spell. To make peace and return to the real world, they have to work together, in which they are helped by the character of the magic book, Dr. Hakim. The game features a variety of game mechanics from games of different genres.
Fighting
Mortal Kombat 11
2021 is not a very generous year for fighting games. Therefore, our today’s subject of consideration in this genre is the well-known Mortal Kombat 11, released on April 23, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows, and November 17, 2020 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Mortal Kombat 11 is a sequel to Mortal Kombat X and the eleventh game in the main Mortal Kombat series. Just like its predecessor, Mortal Kombat 11 is a 2.5D fighting game. Along with the returning finishing moves, Fatality and Brutality, new moves such as Fatal Blow and Krushing Blow have appeared in the gameplay. Fatal Blow is a special technique that deals great damage to the enemy, but becomes available only when the player’s health is 30% or below. Fatal Blow is a replacement for the X-Ray move and can only be performed once per match. Krushing Blow is a special cinematic variation of this special move, triggered when certain requirements are met.
Action Role-Playing
Biomutant
It is an open-world action RPG PC game developed by Swedish AAA gaming company Experiment 101 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was published by THQ Nordic and released on May 25, 2021. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world; the developers describe it with the words “kung fu fairy tale”. The main character is a creature that resembles a bipedal raccoon. The player can change the abilities and appearance of the character through mutations, biomechanical prostheses and weapons, and also master “psi-mutations” like telekinesis or levitation. During the game, the character can master different styles of wushu, learning from different masters.
Survival Horror
Resident Evil Village
Speaking of this genre, it’s impossible not to mention one of the top 2021 releases, Capcom’s Resident Evil Village. The game was announced on June 11, 2020 as part of the PlayStation 5 presentation, and was released on May 7, 2021 for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S platforms. The protagonist of the game is once again Ethan Winters, the protagonist of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, who, as a result of unnamed events, finds himself in a mysterious snow-covered village – the scene of the game.
How Are AAA Video Games Made: Ins and Outs
The development of triple-A games, like the rest of the gaming industry, can be a mystery to consumers. The whole process lies on the shoulders of game developers and publishers. Apart from a huge amount of money, it also takes hard work and precious time. What does it include?
- Concept creation. Like any game, it is supposed to be based on a high concept and many other concepts in art and design. This is a key aspect of game design to establish a central idea even before creating a Game Design Document (often abbreviated as GDD). Don’t store all possible details in your mind, create a GDD. This is a common practice that will help you shape the final scope for your AAA project as it is large enough to get lost in your own ideas.
- Full game design. This is an unavoidable part to fully prepare your game for publication. Design elements aren’t just about visual effects. This stage is focused on making strategic decisions regarding the gameplay – levels, rules, mechanics, characters, settings, storylines, etc. Each component is captured in storyboards and layouts and stored in the GDD (as previously recommended). It is vital to maintain consistency within the overall development process. So it’s up to game designers to provide the foundation for the entire game. In triple-A games, the design team is divided into many sub-teams like level designers, content design, UI/UX design, etc.
- Art production. After all pre-production stages, it is required to develop an artistic vision in practice based on the desired art style – cartoon, realistic, sci-fi, or any others. At this stage, the art team headed by an art director creates characters, environments, props, animations, special visual effects. Artworks of AAA quality require scrupulous work and attention to each technical aspect of art creation. For that reason, it is better to hire technical artists. Their main focus is on integrating artistic assets into the game without compromising the artistic vision or going beyond the technical capabilities of the platform.
- Programming. Immediately after the design is ready, programmers take on coding a game based on all the requirements. They work closely with producers, designers, and other departments to transform the full vision of the AAA project into a fully functional, playable game. These are specialists who set the speed at which characters run and how high they jump, how many enemies appear and when, and how they react to an attack if we’re speaking about shooter games. Game developers implement all features, functions, events, interactions that will take place in the game. Successful completion of this phase requires deep knowledge of programming languages and experience with engines such as Unreal or Unity.
- Testing. It’s time to be in the players’ shoes but from the perspective of the quality assurance specialists who are responsible for detecting software defects prior to release. Their job is to ensure the proper quality of gameplay and to avoid bugs that affect the gaming experience. There are two versions – alpha (playable but incomplete) and beta (complete and final) – that allow them to perform game testing services and bug fixing. Beta testing provides final game balancing to improve the players’ perception and experience.
- Release and post-release support. After development and testing, the game is finally ready to be presented to the world. Usually, large publishers have their own official online platforms on which they announce the release of their new or updated products (however, they don’t neglect to connect many other communication channels). As an independent developer, you can make use of many available options – Steam, Itch.io, Kongregate. But at this point, you still need expert help – the release can’t go wrong! Otherwise, you risk your reputation among AAA game publishers. All your risk-averse efforts should be directed towards high production and memorable release.
We know the AAA video game industry from the inside out thanks to our active participation in many projects implemented by Epic Games, FoxNext, Electronic Arts, etc.
How Much Does It Cost to Make AAA Games?
When it comes to AAA titles, it is not only about playing full-featured games, but also about spending money, sometimes, big money. Let’s look at the budgets of world famous triple-A games and draw up your own budget plans below!
Budgets of Top AAA Games
| Game | Genre | Publisher/s | Release Date | Budget/Adjusted for Inflation* |
| Grand Theft Auto V | Action-adventure | Rockstar Games | 2013 | $265/291 million |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | First-person shooter | Activision | 2009 | $250/298 million |
| Star Wars: The Old Republic | Multiplayer online role-playing | Electronic Arts, LucasArts | 2011 | $200+/227+ million |
| Red Dead Redemption | Action-adventure | Rockstar Games | 2010 | $80-100/94-117 million |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Action role-playing | CD Projekt | 2015 | $81/87 million |
* Usually no official data about costs is revealed to the public, so the numbers are based on analyst estimates and taken from the authoritative resource – Wikipedia: List of most expensive video games to develop
It is not your task to surpass AAA game budgets and stick to large budgets (however, this is the predominant condition to afford AAA game development). Keep in mind that you need to hire different teams of qualified experts to cover all the vital stages of the process. One team will create art and audio, work on game design, narrative, another will program and optimize the game for the desired platform, others will test it, and so on. You can expect to spend at least $60 million to develop and launch an AAA game on the market.
Top 3 Factors That Determine the Final Cost of AAA Games
Now that you know approximately how much does it cost to make a triple-A game, it’s time to calculate the investment required from you. It is better to calculate costs individually as there are many factors. Get familiar with the most relevant factors that will influence the final AAA game development cost!
Factor #1. What Studio to Choose for a Game of AAA-Quality and Where?
Today there are many competencies available to you globally. Just visit websites of millions of game development outsourcing companies and find the best option for your own business. You aren’t limited to local teams of game designers and developers. If you live in the USA or UK but find their hourly rates high, you can outsource AAA character art portfolio to countries like Ukraine, Belarus or Poland and get affordable AAA game development services at every stage.
Factor #2. What Is the Size of the Development Team?
We remember the answer to the question what makes a game triple-A. One of the indicators is a huge team of developers. AAA game development process requires an average of 100 professionals if the work is done from scratch. But if you need additional services or want to speed up and release the game as soon as possible before the sensational projects hit the market, take care of the team members – increase the team of AAA game developers so that you can succeed in this endeavor. At the same time, plan the budget accordingly!
Factor #3. What Are the Timeframes of AAA Game Development?
Certainly, the final cost will depend on how much needs to be done to complete the project and in what timeframe. You may have a well-designed concept and 3D models, and the only thing you need is to implement a full-fledged project and releases it in half of a year. When deadlines are shortened, more triple-A game developers are required to complete a project on time. Consequently, the budget is increased.
Final Words…
So, we’ve discussed AA vs AA games meaning and managed to consider several examples with stunning budgets. And even if triple-A games are expensive to develop, big-budget games like Fortnite or GTA delight most gamers, making the video game industry the most lucrative entertainment in the world. Without any doubt, there are high risks not to satisfy the end user. But remember that when you’re creating something valuable for yourself and work with true professionals, you have more chances to enjoy success.
Our team is working with TOP 10 world game publishers and ready to fulfill your needs due to our extensive AAA art portfolio – from art production to game release and continued support.
