The graphics arms race is a small part of the equation- we can churn out high fidelity assets fast these days thanks to huge advancements in tools and techniques we didn't have at the start of the arms race. In my experience it is usually highly paid management doing mismanagement. - ThreadSky

delaneyking.bsky.social • 160 days ago

The graphics arms race is a small part of the equation- we can churn out high fidelity assets fast these days thanks to huge advancements in tools and techniques we didn't have at the start of the arms race.

In my experience it is usually highly paid management doing mismanagement.

Reposted from Jason Schreier

Why do video games cost so much to make these days? A recent NYT article pinned bloated budgets on the graphical arms race, but that's only a small part of the equation. The real problem? Rampant mismanagement.

This week's column is a spicy one: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Comments

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

Anyone who has worked AAA has had an experience where some idiot up high has made a decree that absolutely demolishes the production.

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

With the mass exodus of experienced people leaving the industry after these two hell years- the cost of making games is only going to get worse as untrained and inexperienced people run around like decapitated chickens trying to patch up the project- creating even more tech debt as they go.

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

A large graphics spend on a lot of games I can see these days can usually be boiled down to creating pointless assets that do not add to the game experience- and that is, itself, a management issue.

Ramping up production early...

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

...creates a beast you need to feed. Like, shit, I have five modellers and ten animators twiddling their thumbs whilst game design sort their shit out, so we have to givr them *SOMETHING* to make.

Regardless of if we have to redo or dump it all later.

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

And you can have the strongest vision, perfect documentation, concept art and asset lists ready to go, but one exec then says "we must change this project to appease (insert wanker here] and boom- teams waiting on new vision and documentation. Thumb twiddling commences and voila- your budget grows

delaneyking.bsky.social•160 days ago

But actually making graphic assets? We have things like substances, smart materials, autodecimators, cloth sim sculpting, non destructive mesh generation, remeshing and so forth- all these have resulted in a faster turnaround per asset.

corbin.dev•160 days ago

I imagine the absolutely monstrous marketing budgets don't help either. I am convinced at this point that 80% of all marketing is a placebo effect, and that upper management is just burning huge piles of money because of groupthink that says legacy marketing models are the key to success.

anyngai.bsky.social•160 days ago

A-MEN. Also, armies of middle managers who end up making problems instead of solving real ones or smoothing the production. Some management is needed, but it can easily become excessive and create frustration and miscommunication

nickfrdesigns.bsky.social•160 days ago

I think you also hit the nail on the head with the rest of your points. Why even hire artists if the main GDD game loop isn't even done yet? 😂

nickfrdesigns.bsky.social•160 days ago

Lots of devs start their own studio with no leadership experience or experience in a similar field. It's like opening a restaurant without even knowing how to cook, bus tables etc

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply