Are big budgets killing games? Baldur's Gate 3 publisher has a surprising theory

According to the publisher of Baldur’s Gate 3, big game budgets are not a problem. However, he couldn't say the same about the lack of vision from AAA game developers.

Criticism of high-budget titles is nothing new. Ever since Steam and easy access to tech made it possible for indie games to be created and released, people have been debating whether these indies are better than the big-budget mainstream titles that cost publishers millions. This has led some gaming fans to consider a large budget as a flaw—or a source of problems in modern gaming.

Big budgets are too risky for publishers

Michael Douse, the publishing director at Larian Studios, seems to have a different opinion on that. He joined the discussion surrounding a recent statement by Dan Houser.

The founder of Rockstar Games not only pointed out the sources of success but also stated that video games could "either go somewhere really interesting or somewhere that gets overly focused on making money." Houser noted that this is a typical issue for any "commercial art," and in his opinion, both approaches will have their successes.

George Broussard, one of the co-founders of Apogee Software and the guy behind the Duke Nukem series, chimed in on the news about that statement. He pointed out the obvious issue: the increase in game development costs since the seventh generation of consoles (via GamesRadar).

As he put it, at the beginning of the 21st century, publishers had to invest 3-5 million dollars in a game. During the "360 era," this amount increased to 25-30 million dollars, and later, the most expensive titles could cost even 100-250 million dollars. And these aren't extreme cases. You could say Call of Duty fits the bill, since the latest games in the series had budgets way over half a billion dollars. And GTA 6 might even turn out to be the first game for which the publisher spends a full billion (or even two) – which sounds absurd, but we are talking about potentially the biggest release of this decade.

Broussard echoed what other creators have already mentioned: with such amounts at stake, publishers simply cannot afford to take risks. Even if the company could handle a $100 million experiment flop better than a smaller team losing "just" a few million or even a few hundred thousand dollars, it would still be a pricey disaster for them. Especially since apparently creating "just" a good game isn't enough today.

Even though the "issue" of big budgets isn't exactly new, Broussard thinks that with today's AAA (or even AAAA) games, things are way worse than they were 20 years ago, and it's not going to end well for the industry:

Shared mission and issues with investors

Douse is not at all sure about this "fact." In response to Broussard's post, he stated that a large budget doesn't necessarily mean poor performance, as long as "everyone involved shares the same mission," which usually isn't the case due to those responsible for the "traditional" production chain.

The creator says these people either don't get the idea, see it as a threat to the company's "business model," or just can't sell it to investors. That's why Douse writes, "the public company model is broken in entertainment at a time where it should be easier than ever to connect audiences to creators."

Even though Douse kind of pushed back against the criticism of expensive game development, he basically echoed the usual complaints critics have about AAA titles and big companies. Even creators who themselves introduced controversial microtransactions lamented the "maturity" of the gaming industry, which has resulted in higher development costs and the need to generate profits over a long period (for instance, to keep the game alive).

Other devs spoke about the lack of interest in "boring" hits and pointed to indie games as the future of the gaming industry. There was also some criticism about following trends, with some people online linking it to publishers trying to please investors and chasing after money. Meanwhile, players are reluctant to accept the rising prices of games, which is, of course, related to increasing development costs.

• gaming industry
• AAA games
• gaming budgets