Back when the Xbox 360 launched, Microsoft pushed the big budget game as a differentiator. Following all the recent layoffs, it’s clear this strategy has run its course.
So me warning about big budgets in 2015 was in the hope that the next cycle of games would be scaled back into something more rational and sustainable. Obviously, that didn’t happen and now we are left with a sparsely populated game development wasteland. It’s been a long road to get to this point though and, according to The Verge, the head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty has beenThis is a big change of approach and the correct one to take. Admittedly, this should have happened a decade ago and before half the games industry was gutted, but I suppose it’s better late than never.I am not saying there will be no more big budget games in the future, but they will be a welcome rarity.
The whole big budget setup killed that and also corralled disparate game development talent into massive studios. So not only did it alienate most people from gaming, as their varying tastes were not being catered to, but put many of the best developers in a precarious position by being part of a massive machine that could be culled at any point.