AAA (computer games)

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An AAA game (pronounced as "Triple A", from English: "Triple A") is an informal classification or rating in the video game industry. Video games with this rating usually have the highest development budget and the most spending on advertising and other promotional services. Games in this category also represent a high risk for the developer and publisher , as the sale of the game has to generate high sales figures in order to cover the expenses and to operate profitably.

The term AAA + game was used more in mid-2010. This rating is given to games that continue to generate sales after the software has actually been sold. Similar to MMOs , the software as a service principle is used, for example the sale of season passes or extensions .

The term can be equated with the word " blockbuster " used in the film industry .

History of the term

The term "AAA" first appeared in the late 1990s. Some of the developers used the expression on various video game events ( ger .: Convention ) in the US.

In the late 2000s, AAA games for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 typically cost between $ 15 million and $ 20 million per new game to be developed. Some games reached much higher budgets - for example, Halo 3 , which received a development budget of about $ 30 million and a marketing budget of about $ 40 million. According to a white paper by Electronic Arts ( EA DICE ), the seventh generation of video game consoles (including the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) caused a decline in the number of game developers with so-called AAA titles. Out of an estimated 125 developer studios, only about 25 remained. At the same time, the need for staff to develop new games increased.

During this time, AAA titles received similar promotions and marketing campaigns as blockbuster titles in the film industry. Advertisements were placed on billboards, on television or in newspapers. At the same time, several successor titles , so-called reboots (German: "Neustart") and similar series were launched in order to minimize the risk of new developments. With the end of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, video game developments hit a new high of several hundred million dollars. Grand Theft Auto V is estimated to cost about $ 265 million.

During the transition from the seventh generation of video game consoles to the eighth generation, the high cost of developing computer games posed a threat to the stability of the computer game industry. Some major development studios reported only single-digit percentage gains; A studio could go bankrupt with a single failure of a single game that didn't cover production costs . During the eighth generation of video game consoles ( PlayStation 4 , Xbox One and Wii U ), staff costs continued to increase. In Ubisoft's AAA game development were between 400 and 600 people in various countries in developing -world games Open involved.

The need for profitability forced publishers to design or use other revenue models that would encourage the player or customer to generate revenue even after the game was released. This was mainly achieved through the incorporation of premium models with certain benefits, paid DLCs (downloadable content), online passes for playing in multiplayer or other forms of recurring payment. In the mid-2010s, publishers began releasing games that included a long series of recurring payments, similar to what was common with MMO games. This model was pursued , for example, with Destiny , Battlefield or parts of the Call-of-Duty series. Other publishers pursued the goal of continuing to generate revenue through paid items (mostly purely cosmetic) in the game even after the software was sold, as is the case with Overwatch . This model is also used in free-to-play games, whereas the game itself can be played for free (e.g. League of Legends ). Games with the ability to continue generating revenue after the software is sold are referred to as "AAA +" titles.

Workplace aspects

The development of AAA games has been identified as an environment for developers in which so-called “crunch times” and high work pressure prevail, which have a negative effect on employees. "Crunch Times" is the English term for a developer or a team of developers when a game is about to be released or certain milestones have to be reached. The developer or the team usually have to work harder and longer in this phase and are therefore exposed to increased stress. These effects are particularly pronounced and frequently encountered when developing such titles.

Similar terms

AAA +

The term "AAA +" was used by the Publisher CD Projekt to bring new content to the market that is of very high quality. In addition, this term is used to describe certain AAA titles that, in addition to the actual sale, can continue to generate sales through various payment models.

In general, "AAA +" titles can be the subset of AAA games that have the highest sales revenue or the highest production costs.

Triple-I / "Independent AAA"

Triple-I (or Triple-i ) was used for independently financed games (so-called " indie games ") that have similarly high production costs or are of similar quality. The development studio Ninja Theory usedthe term “Independent AAA game”, which has a similar meaning, for their 2017 game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Steinberg, Scott: The definitive guide: Videogame marketing and PR , First. Edition, iUniverse, Inc, USA 2007, ISBN 978-0-595-43371-1 .
  2. ^ Rusel Demaria, John Wilson: High Score !: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games , First. Edition, McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, USA 2002, ISBN 0-07-222428-2 .
  3. ^ Peter Zackariasson, Timothy L. Wilson: The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future . Routledge, 2012, p. 4.
  4. ↑ Andy Robinson: Triple-A console studios 'declined by 80% this gen', says EA exec . In: www.computerandvideogames.com . July 4, 2013. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  5. ↑ Why video games are so expensive to develop . In: www.economist.com . September 24, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  6. ^ A b William Usher: AAA Games Could Lead To Mainstream Crash . In: www.cinemablend.com . 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ a b c The State of Games: State of AAA . In: www.polygon.com . June 2, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  8. ^ William Usher: Radical Entertainment Goes Bust, Prototype Franchise Is No More . In: www.cinemablend.com . 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  9. ↑ Rachel Weber: On Reflections: First interview with the Ubisoft studio's new MD . In: www.gamesindustry.biz . February 28, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ a b Rob Fahey: Weak AAA launches are a precursor to industry transition . In: www.gamesindustry.biz . November 25, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  11. ↑ Chris Kerr: AAA game dev lifestyle is 'unwinnable,' says veteran game designer Amy Hennig . In: www.gamasutra.com . October 7, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  12. ↑ Derek Strickland: Ex-Ubisoft dev reveals the grim reality of AAA games development . In: www.tweaktown.com . January 22, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  13. ↑ Robin Purchese: Witcher dev making two "AAA +" games for 2014/15 . In: www.eurogamer.net . November 18, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ Bengt Lemme: The Triple-I Revolution . In: www.gamereactor.eu . January 23, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ Morgan Jaffit: Indipocalypse, or the birth of Triple-I? . In: medium.com . August 30, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  16. ↑ Dominic Matthews: Hellblade Revealed for PS4, Developed by Ninja Theory. In: blog.us.playstation.com. August 12, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 (American English).
  17. ^ Dominic Matthews: The Indipendent AAA Proposition. In: hellblade.com. August 10, 2017, accessed September 20, 2017 .