A recent tweet from Jason Schreier, a famous journalist, and author, has sparked a healthy debate on Twitter. He initially suggested that the gaming development cycle has been prolonged. He gave the example of the PlayStation and how we might see a game like Elder Scrolls skip 2 generations. Whether it was sarcastic or not from him, but looking at the current development cycles of the AAA games, this might not be that sarcastic from Jason.
Fun fact: Video game production cycles have gotten so long that if a big-budget game studio started working on a brand new project today, it would likely be for the PlayStation 6
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 2, 2023
Elder Scrolls will probably skip two
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 2, 2023
The above tweet can result in infinite theories that may or may not benefit gamers. One might say that in the good old days, when the development cycle was not big, and we got our favorite games very easily, now the wait is very hard for gamers. On the other hand, we can also sympathize with the game developers because the audience demands a lot from them, and if they do not give them a polished product, then the short development cycle, for example, of a game like The Callisto Protocol, will result in disappointment for them.
In a Nutshell
- Famous Journalist and Author of acclaimed books Jason Schreier tweeted about long game cycles of video games.
- It has resulted in a debate under his tweet, where Jason himself suggested Elder Scroll might skip 2 generations.
- There was praise for Hideo Kojima, who seemed to deliver in a short development cycle.
Video game development is not easy. The time it takes to develop a game requires a lot of complex mechanics and features. As the games have become big and the developers’ ambitions are no longer smaller while the audience, on the other hand, expects a lot from them, the urge and the expectations to outdo themselves puts a lot of pressure on the developers, which results in years of development.
Small indie games might be easy to develop, and in a matter of months, we can get games from them. I think the games don’t need to be highly ambitious, and simple, innovative indie games might be as good as some of the AAA Titles.
One Twitter user under Jason’s tweet seems very displeased with The Callisto Protocol. The game has been very disappointing and had major issues which could have been avoided had the developers worked on the game a little more.
Tell that to @sd_studios. The Callisto Protocol was a three year Dev Cycle.
— derweisewolf (@derweisewolf1) January 2, 2023
One tweet that caught our attention was from the user @2brangen, who praised Hideo Kojima for building a new studio in 4 years while delivering a unique game in Death Stranding in only 4 years. This was worth talking about because Kojima is known for his attention to detail and dedication. If he can do it in such a short time, why not the other developers?
Meanwhile, Hideo Kojima build a new studio from the ground up and delivered a brand new tripple A videogame with unique gameplay and high quality presentation with limited resources ALL in just under 4 Years😤 pic.twitter.com/b8QLQIaWwy
— Zack Brangen 2 (@2Brangen) January 2, 2023
This is an interesting debate, which, as we said, can result in many different opinions. But we only wish that the gaming community and the developers benefit and the industry grows. That is all; we hope to know your opinion on this matter.
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