Matthew Karch, head of Saber Interactive, recently shared his perspective on the future of the gaming industry, predicting the decline of the high-budget AAA game model. Karch, whose company developed Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2, stated: "I think the era of $200, $300, $400 million AAA games is coming to an end. I don't think it's necessary. And I don't think it's appropriate...I think if anything has contributed to job losses [mass layoffs in the game industry] more than anything else, it's a budget of a few hundred million dollars [for games].”
The relevance of the "AAA" designation is increasingly questioned within the industry. Once signifying high budgets, superior quality, and low risk, it's now perceived as prioritizing profit over quality and innovation.
Revolution Studios co-founder, Charles Cecil, echoed this sentiment, calling the term "silly and meaningless." He attributed the shift to substantial publisher investments, arguing that this change hasn't been beneficial for the industry. He further emphasized that the term is a relic of a period of negative transformation. Ubisoft's Skull and Bones, marketed as a "AAAA" title, serves as a prime example of this trend.
