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Game development has become more expensive than ever, with many modern AAA titles reportedly costing hundreds of millions of dollars to make. At the same time, the industry has been hit by wave after wave of layoffs, as studios struggle with rising development costs and increasingly longer production cycles. Shawn Layden, formerly of Sony, suggests the industry needs to stop focusing so much on making games as long as possible.
During a recent interview, Layden was asked about the growing cost of AAA development. The discussion centered around reports that the average AAA game now costs around $300 million to produce, with rising salaries being one of the biggest reasons behind those massive budgets. Epic Games cut over 1,000 jobs earlier this year, and studio closures are worryingly common.
Studios should return to shorter development cycles
According to Layden, around 95% of game development costs come from salaries, which is why budgets have continued to climb over the years. Instead of focusing on relocation or layoffs to save costs, Layden believes studios should tackle something they can actually control: development time. “Laying someone off solves the immediate problem, not the problem of tomorrow,” he says.
“We need to come back to basics and stop obsessing over game length. When we were young, we had time but not money. We wanted games that lasted a very long time. But with age, we may not have become rich, but we certainly have less time to dedicate to video games. It’s difficult for anyone to spend 90 hours on Red Dead Redemption II. That’s where creativity needs to re-emerge, to streamline development time.”
Shawn Layden, former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, via playstationinside.fr [translated]
He argued that when a game spends six, seven, or even eight years in development, studios have to pay large teams throughout that entire period. Those extended production cycles dramatically increase costs and put more financial pressure on publishers, heightening the chance of layoffs. The question of whether more studios could move outside North America to reduce costs was also floated.
Layden explained that relocating an existing studio isn’t a realistic solution. Moving hundreds of employees to another country is extremely difficult, even if opening new studios elsewhere is becoming more common. He also pointed out that much of today’s game development already relies on outsourcing, with artists, animators, and other developers from countries around the world contributing to major projects.
Layden believes returning to development cycles of around three to four years, supported by smaller teams, would be a much healthier approach for the industry. He pointed to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as an example that shorter development with a smaller team can still produce an impressive game. Clair Obscur famously swept The Game Awards last year.
Developers and players need to rethink what they expect from modern games, as, according to Layden, they have become too focused on game length. He points to age, which is a valid factor as the average age of a gamer continues to rise compared to decades past, though there will always be a younger audience with more free time to sink into a particular game.