The Rise Of Double-A Video Games 

The rise of AA is mainly due to the fall in AAA. Big companies prioritise money over everything. This means that, creatively, they play it safe and dont take risks with any new ideas and trend chasing whatever is popular (for example battle royale). Couple that with oncreased prices, a million mtx per game to funnel even more out of people, pushing those mtx as close to the border of pay to play as they can. And for the icing on the cake, releasing them completely unfinished and telling people theyll fix it later (if its worth it to them). And people are over it...

AA games now are basically AAA games that once we know back in the ps1-ps2 era of gaming, where creativity and experimentation are the core of the experience, the sheer amount of variety of games back then by big publishers are outstanding, it almost had everything for everyone, the 2 example was game like a way out and it takes two bring back the good old splitscreen multiplayer when today AAA is everything online-only fill with microtransactions

There’s also the “it’ll be ready when it’s ready” aspect to consider. I can usually feel pretty confident a AA is going to work when I buy it. When is the last time a AAA didn’t feel rushed out the door by the needs of marketing. When is the last time anyone felt good about a AAA pre-order.

AA just seems like they put more passion in creating the games vs aaa companies for sure

There needs to be more AA games. I don't need a huge epic, just make something fun.

I think it's funny that game studios are pushing for AAAA games, and gamers are going for AA more and more.

Not discussed is the relationship between AAA Developer studios and Publishers in regards to meeting Invester standards. Most of these games require large funding in the form of loans or corporate investors, and must adhere to company policies in order to get funding. Policies which don't always reflect the intent of the studios. Whether this be monetization practices, paywalling, witholding content for DLC, or even Social Quotas, this is all contributing to the soullessness of modern day games, or cut corners in development to meet release windows for Investors. This wasn't as big of an issue when these game companies weren't so massive and didn't need to leverage debt to make their games.

AA games give me the same awesome feeling I had back in the 16 but era. Even when everything switched to disc, games were still fun back than. Not too many fun AAA games nowadays.

The fact that we got helldivers 2, palworld and last epoch, all in the same timespan, is mind-blowing. The AA space is flexing its muscles this year.

I just have a feeling the reason budgets are ballooning is poor management and no firm hand on the rudder, the phrase time is money and the amount of games where i heard stories of so much time being waster where a 6 year plus development time when less than half of that was productive -

Time and developer size and budget seem to be the defining factors here. It's easy to align "Indies" as what we used to play as 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit gaming. "Double-A" are what we used to play as PS2/Xbox and PS3/360 games.

I honestly cant think of the last AAA game I've been excited for. Every one I can think of is probably categorized as AA.

The small experiences that some AA and indie games give is just so much more convenient and pleasant for adult gamers who also have to deal with stuff like jobs and don't always have the time to put into a 100+ hour sandbox game. It's nice being able to start a game and actually _finish_ it in less than 2 or 3 months.

AAA gaming is an out of idea and under performing cash grab

I love it, AA games were some of my favourite games back in the PS2 era, glad they are making a comeback!

Can't wait for Outer Worlds 2 to compare with Starfield.

Really like these videos that are still “lists” but the commentary is more like a full essay/conversation. Whoever is writing scripts, keep up that good work!

When Hi-Fi Rush dropped unannounced on Gamepass last year, I was intrigued. Downloaded, started playing and blew through it. Was such great fun. It's unbelievable that there are still people out there who focus so much on amazing graphics and photo realism that they're missing out on so many games with amazing mechanics. Even the 'indie' sides of big studios making games like No Way Out or It Takes Two are probably doing better than some of their AAA counterparts.

I love these videos from you, Jules. They give insight to the operations of the gaming business, and tho some may just ignore it, others gain an understanding of it that's sorely needed.

Could this be the return of the PS2 era of gaming? Where the games were heavily diversed? I can’t wait for this.

AA is the underrated middle child since they get the perks of both between the boundary of indie new concept and refreshing takes and AAA financial budget and size. and its really hard to tell one nowadays as how close they are in between (i used to call an AA when its an indie game w/ a publisher)

Actually here in Western Europe they might go on sale faster and could be bit cheaper than AAA but not by a huge margin.

AAA panders to the wrong audience. Rather than appeal to their core audience they've branched out and hurt the ones that supported them.

AA games offer what old gamers mostly want, single player story driven campaigns. They play like PS2 era games where online playing wasn´t available. AAA now focus on multiplayer service games.

So.... If Fallout 4 was a "Triple-A" game, what does that make Fallout London? What I have noticed is that the "Double-A" games of today are of the same standard that "Triple-A" was at merely a decade ago. To repeat: small groups of programmers are now putting out quality that used to require teams of programmers a mere decade ago. In a world where Triple-A is trying to win us over with the latest extravaganza, Double-A can easily provide us with the core of what we are looking for with room for extra at affordable prices. I've always equated games & software with other types of media. We've all seen the overhyped concert for the tired singer vs finding that sensation doing a Wednesday jam at that backalley jazz place, we know the differences why we would buy hardcover vs softcover books even though the contents are the same in both of them, and we can all agree that we can be here all day debating the pros and cons of each type of cinema. Games are no different. Starfield was a "Minimal Contractual Obligation", Suicide Squad was an overhyped empty playroom with too many lights and Helldivers showed you can make a kick-ass generic combat arena at low cost. If it was a book it would be a softcover half as thick as these AAA titles, sitting under the "New Author" sign, and yet the writing brought them in droves. Go figure. The gaming industry will be facing the same thing that all other forms of media have received: democratization. Just as you no longer need ten-thousand dollar camera to record quality video our own discussions should have clued you in to the fact that you no longer need to hire teams of programmers to make a game. As a modder I very much understand that the game of the future is when I tell the computer "I want THIS type of game, set in THAT time period, with THESE types of characters and... begin!" What "standard" will they be then?

At the end of the day, I'm here for the art. While there are plenty of AAA games that still provide that (Horizon, Witcher, BG3, etc) I miss the days when I knew I could take the same amount of time finishing a game as I could binging a season of a tv show. If I'm going to spend a week or a month on a single game, I want there to be a week or a month worth of story. A lot of the time now, it's that single season worth of story, dragged across 7 seasons worth of procedural busywork (not even getting into the predatory nature of microtransactions). I still want the massive open world games to have their place, but forcing a game into that when it doesn't require it is doing more harm to the industry than good. Bigger budgets are wasted if they don't have budget efficiency, and trying to make the money back with microtransactions is pointless if no one likes the experience it's meant to "enhance" to begin with. I'm more likely to enjoy (and more importantly BUY) 3 mid priced, mid length games that give me what I'm looking for than one expensive game that is 1/3 of what i want, 2/3 what i don't, and takes the same amount of time or longer to complete as the 3 shorter games.

The two AAA games I played last year were BG3 and TotK. Though I enjoyed them, the AAA felt like they were being held back. For BG3 it was the graphics and production values. TotK, the open world sameness seen in almost every open world game.

I think after Jurassic Park Survival and Star Wars Outlaws my dream game is definitely a AA Doctor Who open world or Metroidvania game with numerous locations and monsters to battle.

Triple-A titles cost so much because every studio making them thinks that the only way to justify a $70 price tag is to basically design four or five games into one title. You'll have shooting segments, driving segments, stealth segments, RPG character-building and so on, and 200 hours of content. I ain't about that life no more; I'm an adult with family, friends and responsibilities. I'm too damn old to be committing myself to the endless well of an MMO or a 100 hour story playthrough of a sandbox game.

Helldivers 2 is still technically a live service but there are ones that are not.

09:30 you are forgetting the point of optimisation is a lost art in AAA mainly because it is seen as a 'cost' with no benefits (a big reason a sale rep can out earn lower level ceo's)

A plague tale innocence and requiem are the best stories i have ever seen in a videogame.

Its because lower cost of creation breeds creativity. Limited resources empower creative thinking to create what is necessary and keeps out the ideas that adds to the financial stress of reaching the developers goals. Thus storytelling, gameplay mechanics, and others are at the core of development and nothing else needs to matter.

I do want to mention that A Plague Tale Requiem is used in a lot of GPU reviews, right alongside games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2. Just shows that you don't need a massive dev to make a stunning game

AA games actually have passion behind them. actually are made to be good games because the people making them know thats how you get the most money out of it. you make something good. AAA games have forgotten this. they are pushed out quickly, have little passion put into them all because Shareholders refuse to accept making a game is not as easy or quick as it was a decade ago. and its causing the fall of AAA companies. i fully expect the current AAA giants to start falling within the next few years as their stored up profits start to dwindle and more and more people realize that they are no longer doing what they should. and in their place AA devs will stand up, show the community what devs should actually be doing.

The PS2 era was really the last time we've had a plethora of AA games and IMO was why it has the highest sales of any console ever.

Double A games are doing well because they are generally complete games that are being sold are reasonable prices ($60 or less) without 'live services', microtransactions, season passes or other bollocks. Its not a mystery.

The fact that Lies Of P was my GOTY last year, speaks volumes.

Smaller games are made by gamers for gamers. Big games are made by corporations for their shareholders.

The stack has just moved, today's AAA game was yesterday's AAAA game. The problems were all there uninspired games, the sequels/reskins over and over, high prices. The difference is that the budgets are so much higher and they need many more sales to break even.

Thank you for the non clickbaity non tabloid esque video. It was nice

What's the future of AA games? Simple answer is today's AA games are tomorrow's AAA games.

In all honesty. The slow death of split screen co-op hurts most. I am always surprised COD still has this available

Lots of parallels with movies where studios have to reduce risks on their big budget movies but, there, smaller fare has tended to disappear, not thrive…

They were always there it's just that people didn't understand what AAA means for them to even think about AA. There is also single A, BBB, BB and B

Except I can name multiple AAA games that weren't in development for five to ten years, such as Halo Infinite, which was in development for four years, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which followed the typical development period of a core series Pokemon game of three to four years, both of which launched with numerous technical issues.

Not a fan of gamepass though... you're basically telling corporations you have no interest in owning games. You're happy to rent. You'll also be subject to guaranteed pricing increases over time

Games aren't expensive, they just sometime aren't worth the price when released incomplete or broken.

Personally, I don't care to label games like that. Indie, double A, triple A, even quadruple A - games are games, and we shouldn't be judging their merit by their "label" or budget or studio size, but by how fun we find them to be.

Honestly the price of helldivers was why I purchased it in the first place I just was happily surprised when it turned out to be good

I've always had a 3 hard and fast rules regarding purchasing games. 1. Never buy games within the first month of release. 2. Never pay more than $35 for a game. 3. Don't trust AAA publishers to make something complete or enjoyable. Also, on a more personal note, I have never really enjoyed the "safe" AAA genres, or for that matter any top-down games. BRs, MMOs, MOBAs, Open World RPGs with 50+ hours of "content", Non-stop and Over-the-top action, Rampant Shooting/Killing, War games, etc. I can never really get into any of them. To this day, I've always had a thing for story-focused single-player games with between 10 and 40 hours of content, that include functional item customisation if you're willing to do a bit of grinding or side quests, that have a relatively steep difficulty curve that you can never really get ahead of, and that naturally lead towards the main story in order for you to unlock more content but don't lock you out of previous areas of the game the moment you pass it. Games that, when you take your time with it, can be enjoyed for twice as long, potentially three times as long for completionists. Bonus points if it's in First Person or Over-the-Shoulder perspective too. And I don't believe that many, if any, AAA publishers make games that fit all of those requirements for me to enjoy their content. Also, I really don't care about how a game looks. Make everyone chibi with sharp angles or use PS2 era graphics, and I'll often enjoy it as much as, if not more than those games that are photo-realistic. In fact, I often find myself intentionally turning down the graphics on newer games because I don't enjoy photo-realism all that much. Sure, I like the higher fidelity, but I'm not exactly playing a game for pretty pictures. I'll gladly take PS2, PS3, or XBox360 era graphics without issue or question anyday, and will often enjoy it more than modern photo-realism graphics. (PS1 era graphics are a bit too blocky for my tastes to be fair) God of War, Spider-Man 1, Lords of the Fallen 1, The Evil Within 2, White Knight Chronicles 2, Thief 1, Bound By Flame, The Surge 2, Last Hero of Nostalgaia, Risen, and similar are all great examples of games that fit my personal tastes.

There was a time where all the main games where AA: Super mario, Fzero, Metroid, Sonic.

I love it when AA games are just AAA but short

Yup, I'm playin' Warhammer 40K Dakka Squadron, right now (and still feel the pain from 2007 when Sony dissolved Factor 5).

I have to say, Indie and AA are where I put my money. I literally can't afford the AAA games, even if I was interested. Spending $60+ on a game only for it to end up a mess or not my jam just isn't feasable, since I'm on a very tight budget. Besides, I can play Stardew Valley for the rest of my life without getting tired of it. I'm surprised that AAA games are still being coughed out if they're just not making the money back. If the model isn't working anymore, you'd think they'd realize changing how they do things is a better idea than laying people off or firing them.

I firmly believe that giant budget games have been so unoriginal overall is due to not having to solve problems arising from limitations. Some of the greatest innovations in gaming were borne out of necessity, to either work around hardware limitations or budget/dev team restraints (clever use of textures/polygons, fog to obscure draw distance, animations to hide loading screens, etc). Now the tools exist to make it more accessible than ever, specs are practically a nonissue, and big titles have hundreds or thousands of people involved in development. Resources aren't so limited, but now they need to play it safe to recoup the massive costs associated with hiring so many people. They'd be better off letting a dozen small teams come up with something original and sell it cheaper than the $70 price point we've somehow collectively accepted. Even if the majority don't resonate, at least a few might, and they'd probably be more creative than the same Call of Duty every year. Just my take, sorry for the essay, it's just sad seeing where we are now compared to what it was like 20 years ago (in general, obviously it's not all bad).

I honestly think that AAA games have become so large that it started caving under its own weight... I think AA games are the sweet spot for making money and giving the gamers what they want... and honestly I think that politics have also clipped our optimistic view of big franchises (at least for me)

The most positive side of double AA games is they do it and finish it at their own pace instead of following stupid trends

Being more hardware-accessible while feeling AAA is a big combo. Like, I can upgrade my aging PC to be able to run the newest AAA titles, or I can just go for AA titles that provide the same degree of entertainment without having to make any major financial decisions.

I am playing mostly AA and old AAA titles at very discounted prices. I recommend, when possible, GOG for game preservation.

Guys post down some great AA games from last 5 years.

This video made me realize that I can not tell the difference between AA and AAA games. A lot of games I thought were well developed AAA games turned out to be considered AA games by the industry. With out even realizing it I had already been transferring over from AAA to AA games due to a lot of the reasons mentioned in this video.

Play games like Project Wingman and realize how small the team was that built it. It's an amazing game and it doesn't break the bank.

Screw subs, screw online only, screw digital only.

A quote I heard somewhere: Gaming isn't a Passion anymore, just a Paycheque.

60 quid for a AAA game? In Australia that's closer to (and sometimes over) $100. A twitch streamer made fun of me for not wanting to shell out for a AAA game just because it was goty. Like wtf? Not everyone can do that or is so easy to canoodle. I hope AA companies roll right over the AAA ones.

Didn't know there was such a term as double A, as obvious as it should be. But yes, sounds like a fine idea. These triple A games are too constricted by pleasing the masses that don't even consume them in the first place...

What a great video article and industry analysis that i hope publishers, devs, and even players can take notes from

alot of my favorite game series are jrpgs that have a new release every 2 years or so because of their tight budgets. Its why there are 8 yakuza games and they are all awesome lol

The one huge benefit of A.I. is that it's eventually going to put AA studios on a level playing field with the big AAA studios and publishers. Hopefully the increased competition changes the way the multi-billion dollar companies handle their gaming business.

Im actively looking out for shorter games, after recently playing FF7 Remake & Rebirth, FFXV and now Tales of Arise, I’m burned on long games. I was already getting fed up with Open Worlds and there fluff (Rebirth finished me off with that). This has led to me finding more AA games. I did play Terminator Resistance in between Rebirth and FFXV and I really enjoyed it, especially as it didn’t overstay its welcome.

The problem with AAA is that the staffs are massive on these games and it seems like there is no effective planning- hence the crunch and incomplete/buggy output.

AA is a wellspring of creativity, and tools like Unreal and Unity becoming more accessible means small teams can now make games that look as good as "AAA" looked 1 or 2 gens ago. That being said, not all of them are success stories, and the big problem is discoverabilty and marketing, which is something that kills a lot of really cool creative projects. But if you are looking for fresh ideas, or cool ways in which old ideas are reshufffled (like unique settings, for instance), AA is absolutely the place to look.

Great video I can't stand when studios think more content is better. The newest final fantasy (which I love) comes to mind. There is so much filler and busy work that it became off putting to be 25-30 hours into a game and the story is progressing at a snails pace.

The fact that the same game can be an extra 15+ USD just because of where you live is ridiculous. 60 Quid is roughly 75 USD

It doesn't matter what kind of business you have, when you stop caring about your core business and just start chasing profit and ideas that have no place in your business, you are going to fail. Years ago McDonalds started severing fancy and gourmet style burgers because they saw how others fast food places were doing it. The thing is that had always been the other places business model, it's what they did from the beginning. When the next quarterly report came out it showed that Mcdonalds lost more money trying to do what the others did than if they had just stayed with their same menu choices. They went chasing after something else they didn't need to and lost.

What is the threshold for A, AA, and AAA? I’d love to know where those lines are. Also… as someone who’s been consuming these videos for over a decade now, I miss my affirmations from Jules. Not asking for him to force it, just want him to know it was truly appreciated.

As much as everyone is going to hate it the next 5 years are going to see major developers using AI to try and speed up AAA development. Imagine an open world game were you could explore New York City and every building interior is auto generated when you open the door.

2023 was not even in the top 10 best years in gaming. .

It's just that weird spot where, alot of AAA games made aren't simply for me. Meanwhile, there are so many AA (and indie) games that absolutely nails my specific preference; Ground Branch, Sniper Elite games, Torchlight 1 & 2, Ghost Warrior Contract 1 & 2, The Surge 2, Dying Light 1, Aragami 2, Rebel Galaxy 1, Blood West, X3 space sim...also, the lot of eastern-european RPGs and strategy games, and the mountains of "boomer shooters" that is available today. It's why I am genuinely baffled every time I stumble on a video or an article lamenting "the absolute state of the videogame industry!!1!". If anything, I hope the industry absolutely implodes, and goes back to when it wasn't an industry on par with hollywood. So big companies aren't stupid with their money, developers aren't stupid in running with their ego, and the audience are not suffering on footing the bill for their foolishness.

For $10, Order 1886 was amazing

I really wish that cell shading was more common. Can still be beautiful and seems like it leaves more headroom to have better performance. I’ll take an artistic style with good performance over “photorealistic” with massive frame drops every day of the week.

I have liked all my AA games so much more than AAA recently

I still love triple A games. They’re often incredible. Happy that both options exist.

I'm 35 and pretty sure I've bought my last console. I haven't even gotten an 8k tv yet to get the most out of the current Gen and there's a strong possibility that I'll be 50 before GTA 7 comes out 🤯

Can we bring Bayonetta or ninjas gaiden sized games? Like one game I am excited for and I hope it gets released this year is lost soul aside. It feels like I has the scale of a AA game similar to devil may cry or Bayonetta. basically I’m saying games that don’t sell much but are great

I'm still a big AAA game fan. I'm a bit behind on most newer titles, so I get the older ones on special.

AAA are now 70 quid upwards mainly, 60 quid is now wishful thinking. I got Pacific Drive & Robocop:Rogue City for 25 & 35 quid each (lucky timing) - loads of hours & enjoyment in both.

I've been saying for quite some time, the future of gaming is AA and indie.

Get out of my head Jules. I’ve been thinking the exact same. All I’ve played recently have been single player AA games and Helldivers.

AA games tend to take more risks and because of this they're generally more interesting.

Very good video. I think overall AA devs are stepping in place abandoned by big publishers and those expecting big returns. And to be honest, that is healthiest thing industry could have.

AA studios don't hire consultancy services , that's why.

When AA games become more quality, more cheaper, more responsive dev which they focus on fun factor

AA is like trying to get on base or having a good run game in football. AAA is trying to hit home runs or take deep passes every down. When it hits amazing! However you are more then likely to strikeout or to punt or turn the ball over.

The main problem with the gaming sphere is that they list a title as "double A" or "triple A" based solely on who made it and how much they spent making it, and not on the quality or enjoyment by the end user. A game should not be listed as "Triple A" unless it's listed so by the player, not the developer.

🤔 I didnt make the conscious desicion to do so, but personally the games I'm buying are AA (Remnant, Helldivers) and only buy AAA when they are VERY discounted 😂

Next year A games will rise.

I think ready or not is an excellent example. It feels very close to a AAA but better

What doesn’t help AAA is that they all run on similar game engines. UE5 increasingly dominates just as UE4 did before. Most current consoles and modest PCs cannot do UE5, so you end up with AAA games struggling at 30fps and feeling jerky while AA games have steady frame rates and more style