2024 and AAA - Game Developers Network

89% of Devcom speakers believe AAA games don't need additional purchases

GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 19, 2024

As the Devcom developer conference kicks off in Cologne today, the organisers have shared the results of this year's speaker survey, with almost 90% of respondents stating they believe AAA games can succeed without additional purchases.

AAA

AAA Games Development

Our favourite indie games from the 2024 summer games showcases

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 14, 2024

Across the week, there were dozens if not hundreds of titles from smaller or solo developers bringing original and innovative ideas to the table, or telling stories from underrepresented cultures, or simply tapping into a sense of fun and imagination that few AAA titles manage with their push for realism or intense action. Read more

Indy

Indy AAA Games Dev

Epic Games Release 500+ Free AAA Quality Game Animations

Game From Scratch

JUNE 12, 2024

GameFromScratch.com Epic Games Release 500+ Free AAA Quality Game Animations Epic Games are the kings of free stuff, from their monthly giveaways to today’s announcement, 500+ game ready motion matched game engines for Unreal Engine 5.4.

AAA

AAA Animation Animation Games

Respawn veteran Stig Asmussen forms Giant Skull to build AAA single player games

GamesIndustry.biz

MARCH 12, 2024

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Experienced veterans from EA's Respawn studio have formed a new AAA team called Giant Skull. The developer is led by Stig Asmussen, who is best known as the game director for 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

AAA

AAA Build Studios Games

How a surprise launch and fortunate timing helped Gray Zone Warfare top Steam

GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 18, 2024

2024 has been the year of surprising indie titles topping the Steam charts. Palworld, Balatro, Manor Lords and many more have all sold incredible amounts and outshone many big AAA releases on the platform, becoming some of the most successful launches of the year so far.

AAA

AAA Indy Platformer Games

Wizards of the Coast: "There are lots of ways to express Dungeons & Dragons beyond RPGs"

GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 22, 2024

We do have AAA games that are in development," he says. We've announced some of the partnerships that we have with the likes of Starbreeze and Gameloft to build D&D games. I'll leave it to your imagination where they might take that.

AAA

AAA Build Studios Development

Shawn Layden's advice on making games faster and cheaper

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 18, 2024

Speaking as part of Gamelab Live, Layden said the current rising cost of AAA game development was become unsustainable, and that when the industry moves to the PS5 and Xbox Series X generation (which was due to take place later that year), the industry might struggle to grow.

AAA

AAA Game Developer Game Development Games

Staying Strong in the Game with Jordan Smith

Game Dev Unchained

JANUARY 16, 2025

Introduction Ive been in the game industry for years now, and 2024 has easily been one of the toughest years Ive seen. Mass Layoffs: A Brutal Year for Developers One of the biggest topics on our minds was the wave of layoffs that hit the industry in 2024. Every single AAA studio is trying to copy that model. AI is fast.

AI

AI Games Technology AAA

Airship Interactive takes centre stage as the Headline Sponsor for Women in Games Awards 2024.

Game Development News

AUGUST 14, 2024

The MCV/Develop Women in Games Awards has announced that Airship Interactive is the headline sponsor for the 2024 event. Airship offer full end-to-end games art and implementation services to leading international game developers and AAA studios.

AAA

AAA Art Studios Games

AWS for Games debuts Guide to Generative AI for Game Developers, and more at GDC 2024

AWS Games

MARCH 27, 2024

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, a seismic shift that was certainly felt at the 2024 Game Developer Conference (GDC) held last week in San Francisco at the Moscone Convention Center. Check it out , and follow the recap below for a full rundown of AWS for Games activities at GDC 2024.

AI

AI Game Developer Game Development NPC

Techland: Shorter standalones like Dying Light: The Beast are "the future of games"

GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 23, 2024

Techland's Tymon Smektała, franchise director for the hit Dying Light series, expects more developers to focus on shorter, standalone games instead — or at least in between — hundred-hour AAA blockbusters in future.

AAA

AAA Games Studios Development

Solo dev Evan Polekoff of Critter Crossfire “Motivation is a limited resource”

PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 8, 2024

With the game now announced for a 2024-release, the part time solo dev is motivated to finish the game. In AAA, the roles are typically very specialized and each individual doesn’t have much room to experiment outside of their responsibilities. Although he admits that motivation alone isn’t enough.

Dev

Dev Playtesting AAA Indy

GI Sprint kicks off tomorrow, full speaker line-up details

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 17, 2024

We kick off tomorrow with a keynote interview featuring games veteran and former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden , who speaks about the unsustainability of AAA video games and why it needs rethinking. This special will run until Friday, July 5. Read more

AAA

AAA Studios Feature Development

Gamescom Latam's plan to double in size for year two

GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 15, 2024

More than 100,000 visitors from over 70 countries came to the São Paulo Expo centre during the final week of June to play everything from locally-developed indie curios, to AAA blockbusters and first-party smash hits.

AAA

AAA Indy Localization Studios

Rare and Dlala to discuss leadership through times of change at the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit

GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 15, 2024

With Rare sharing insight from within a major Microsoft-owned AAA studio, and Dlala discussing their experiences on the indie side, the discussion will centre on the role of leadership in helping their employees navigate change, and will offer actionable advice and tips for leaders and HR professionals.

AAA

AAA Indy Studios Development

Thoughts on the Bioware restructuration/lay-offs?

Ask a Game Dev

JANUARY 31, 2025

I've long said that any AAA game studio, no matter how strong, is always 2-3 flops in a row away from closure. One factor was that 2024 was the first full year since 2012 that Bioware didn't have SWTOR on their books anymore - SWTOR went over to Broadsword in late 2023.

Dev

Dev Studios AAA Build

Untold Stories of ex-Activision Blizzard King’s Founders

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

The average check size for Early-stage VC-backed gaming studios has fluctuated notably between 2020 and 2024. In 2024 YTD, a slight rebound indicates cautious optimism but continued conservatism in investment size. In 2024 YTD, ten deals totaled $49m in disclosed funding. over 38 rounds during the same period.

Mobile

Mobile Mobile Studios Mobile Gaming

Are most of the people laid off this year going to be able to find other work in the industry (within, like, a year or two), or do you think the industry is going to be smaller for a while?

Ask a Game Dev

MAY 13, 2024

I still get plenty of cold call recruiter emails from both independent and well-known AAA studios, so I think there are still openings for people. are still larger today than they were was in 2020 even after factoring in all of the layoffs from 2023 and 2024 (so far).

AAA

AAA Dev Studios Indy

The Three Game Industry Trends to Watch in 2024

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 13, 2024

Most AAA simply cannot afford the team sizes of today. The bull case : AI will supercharge indie developers allowing them to challenge large AAA by removing production constraints. This is a signal of future adaptation that is further enhances with adaptation of AI. At the same time, I believe that AI will lead to even more job losses.

AI

AI Games AAA Media

How 10 Chambers is using Lurkit as a force for creator engagement

GamesIndustry.biz

APRIL 16, 2024

The developer added aspects you'd only see in AAA titles. Fast forward to 2024, the game studio has over 100 people. GTFO was always meant to belong in the big leagues, a reflection of the ambitious vision held by 10 Chambers during its creation. Ulf is still around," Calle says jokingly. Read more

Platformer

Platformer FPS Studios AAA

Harmony Games Deploys a Fully Custom Game Backend Utilizing AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)

AWS Games

AUGUST 13, 2024

About Harmony Games Harmony Games was founded by AAA industry veterans Volkan Ediz, James Koh, and Joseph Kubiak. Their first game, Domino Adventures, is set for global release in 2025, with a beta launch targeted for Q3 2024.

Tile

Tile Development Cross platform Games

From the game developer’s perspective, would gamers boycotting upcoming BioWare title “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf” due to the studio’s poor treatment of its workers e.g. with regards to severance pay, help or hinder the developers who were laid off and the developers who remain at the company?

Ask a Game Dev

OCTOBER 9, 2023

The developers were laid off in August, and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf won't launch at earliest until April of 2024. It's helpful to remember the [ 80-20-5 rule ] - things that the really hard core fans know about are utterly foreign to the majority of a game's community, especially AAA games with literal millions of players.

Development

Development AAA Dev Games

5 Tactics for the Volatile PC/Console Market

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 26, 2024

Recently, I had the privilege of discussing the latest market insights with Devan Brennan, Senior Consultant at Newzoo, dissecting their August 2024 market forecasts. This evolving landscape presents opportunities for agile developers to thrive, even as AAA studios grapple with extended development cycles and rising costs.

Console

Console PC AAA Cross platform

In a previous post you mentioned that “the cost of development for AAA fidelity games is mostly too high now to be profitable on their own”. And we have heard that it’s more expensive now to make games than ever before. But we also hear that profits from games are higher than ever before as well. How do those two statements go together? If profits from making games have gone up (with a bigger market, what I presume is DLC bringing in extra money) why are game prices still rising from 60 to 70 USD, for example?

Ask a Game Dev

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

This is the main reason why we've had a record-setting number of layoffs in the game industry in 2023, only to be topped by a new record-setting number of layoffs in 2024, with a whole three months left to go. When profits are expected to rise, shareholders want companies to hire and increase production.

Dev

Dev Games AAA Build

Oscar Salandin, developer of BOTSU Ridicuous Robots: “Solo dev can be lonely”

PreMortem.Games

JULY 29, 2024

Oscar Salandin , known as Peculiar Pixels, received a major validation for his debut game, BOTSU Ridiculous Robots , by being named the Overall Winner at the Develop Indie Showcase Awards 2024. Some had worked on AAA games I’d played, released indie games, or previously ran companies in games.

Dev

Dev Development Sandbox Indy

Omeda Studios swaps out ‘Predecessor’ backend in less than five months using Amazon GameLift and Pragma

AWS Games

MAY 14, 2024

The game’s new backend debuted on March 5, 2024. On March 28, 2024, “Predecessor” released as free-to-play (F2P) with global cross-platform play support for Epic Games Store, Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, enabled by Amazon GameLift and Pragma.

Studios

Studios Cross platform Code Build

Blockbuster Games Failed to Grow the Market - What Next?

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 11, 2024

The problem is that at the end of 2024, the market is still noticeably smaller than it was three years ago in 2021. 2024 will be a lean year for gaming companies Executives, according to Newzoo, are expecting there to be even more releases this year than there were last year. Yet I don’t believe that will happen in 2024.

Console

Console Content Games PC

App Store’s NFT Guidelines: Imminent peril or entry ticket for blockchain games?

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

billion by 2030 - mobile is the fastest growing segment Newzoo predicts VR games revenue will double by 2024 ? year-on-year Newzoo forecasts game market will shrink 4.3% to $184.4B percent Subscription-based gaming to reach $24.1

Mobile

Mobile Mobile Games Mobile Gaming

Game Developers Network

89% of Devcom speakers believe AAA games don't need additional purchases

Our favourite indie games from the 2024 summer games showcases

Trending Sources

Epic Games Release 500+ Free AAA Quality Game Animations

Respawn veteran Stig Asmussen forms Giant Skull to build AAA single player games

How a surprise launch and fortunate timing helped Gray Zone Warfare top Steam

Wizards of the Coast: "There are lots of ways to express Dungeons & Dragons beyond RPGs"

Shawn Layden's advice on making games faster and cheaper

Staying Strong in the Game with Jordan Smith

Airship Interactive takes centre stage as the Headline Sponsor for Women in Games Awards 2024.

AWS for Games debuts Guide to Generative AI for Game Developers, and more at GDC 2024

Techland: Shorter standalones like Dying Light: The Beast are "the future of games"

Solo dev Evan Polekoff of Critter Crossfire “Motivation is a limited resource”

GI Sprint kicks off tomorrow, full speaker line-up details

Gamescom Latam's plan to double in size for year two

Rare and Dlala to discuss leadership through times of change at the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit

Thoughts on the Bioware restructuration/lay-offs?

Untold Stories of ex-Activision Blizzard King’s Founders

Are most of the people laid off this year going to be able to find other work in the industry (within, like, a year or two), or do you think the industry is going to be smaller for a while?

The Three Game Industry Trends to Watch in 2024

How 10 Chambers is using Lurkit as a force for creator engagement

Harmony Games Deploys a Fully Custom Game Backend Utilizing AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)

From the game developer’s perspective, would gamers boycotting upcoming BioWare title “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf” due to the studio’s poor treatment of its workers e.g. with regards to severance pay, help or hinder the developers who were laid off and the developers who remain at the company?

5 Tactics for the Volatile PC/Console Market

Oscar Salandin, developer of BOTSU Ridicuous Robots: “Solo dev can be lonely”

Omeda Studios swaps out ‘Predecessor’ backend in less than five months using Amazon GameLift and Pragma

Blockbuster Games Failed to Grow the Market - What Next?

App Store’s NFT Guidelines: Imminent peril or entry ticket for blockchain games?

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