IGN: Microsoft putting together a "AAAA" game studio

[gogojira]

AAAA is such a dumb term for "endless budget."

 

[Green]

What are they making? No one will ever know... This gen.

The prospect of a AAAA game however... Might be cool if you think about what that could mean.

 

[Joshua]

Hear me out.... teledildonics! Bam, four A's.

 

[JamboGT]

I want to know when the first "S" studio opens, personally.

 

[Dust]

 

[LumberPanda]

Add another 'A' for every 5 years till the game finally ships

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Add an A for every 6 month period that the employees don't get to see their family.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Oh my god, I need to hear Jim Sterling say "QUADRUPLE AYEEEEEE".

 

[Master Chuuster]

I didn't know this was a thing.

On the old System Wars forums AAAA used to mean a game that got a 10/10, if I remember correctly, but... those were the System Wars forums.

 

[xtib81]

What games did this studio release in the past ?

 

[NottJim]

Jim Sterling is going to lose his mind.

 

[Bomblord]

The extra A is for Anaconda

 

[Iwao]

I'd love to hear AAAA in the voice of Jim Sterling.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

This is a dumb thing. So the Initiative is hiring a bunch of people. Developers do this all the time. Naughty Dog does it, everyone does it.

Why is it such a big deal that the Initiative is doing what any AAA studio does?

 

[headspawn]

Is it at all possible the extra 'A' was just a fun typo they decided to leave on there?

 

[monketron]

The MS PR department really do earn their money.

 

[Ombala]

Isn't this old news, the people going there might be new but the studio being AAAA according to MS is something I've heard before.

 

[kurahador]

Hope it won't be GAAAAS.

 

[Deleted member 5596]

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When the joke becomes reality

 

[pswii60]

MS has never announced it as, or called it as, a "AAAA" studio. Only an external recruiter referred to it as such, before the studio was even officially announced. Not to mention Drew has talked about wanting to keep the team relatively small.

 

[theme park joe]

Always thought the move up from AAA games would be Major League Games.

 

[Emergency & I]

I just started a studio only making AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA games. Look out, Bill Gates.

 

[Keyser S]

They use this wording a lot... for example here is a job listing from 2012

Executive Producer-IEB-Microsoft Studios-Core Publishing (787348) Job
Apply now »

Date: Mar 5, 2012

Location: Redmond, WA, US
Job Category: Software Engineering: Program Management
Location: Redmond, WA, US
Job ID: 787348-75992
Division: Interactive Entertainment Business

Executive Producer - Core Publishing


Do you have strong business acumen, creative vision, and game development/production experience to define, build and lead a world-class production team?


Microsoft Studios (Xbox) is looking for a dynamic and seasoned Executive Producer to lead and develop a world-class team who will own the creation and delivery of a AAAA experience that delivers on 1st party goals and, more importantly, creates a fun gaming experience for our audience. The EP will be responsible for identifying a great development partner who shares our passion and goals, mapping the product roadmap, all aspects of production, from initial concept development through retaining world-class production capacity to delivering high-quality games that are on time and on budget, and improving the viral performance of the games.


Reporting into the Core Publishing team, the Executive Producer must be a mix of strong business leadership, the ability to influence and drive new business models forward, a creative thinker, pragmatic producer, entrepreneur and someone who has a great sense of what makes quality game experiences that promote our Xbox platform. The successful Executive Producer must be able to review concepts, manage partners and have a vision for entertainments future. Additionally, they must have proven experience interacting with production planning, technical teams, business groups and be able to sell their ideas to the highest levels of executive management.


Major Responsibilities:


-The EP will have P&L responsibility for a major Xbox AAAA console title.

-Deliver the end-to-end AAAA title experience (Concept, Prototype, Greenlight, Pre-Production, Production, Release, ongoing revenue streams and a complete franchise plan).

-Establish 1P goals and metrics exploiting the platform in innovative and differentiating ways.

-Maintain high-level relationships with external developers to guarantee a great working relationship and on time, on budget delivery of titles

-Represent and ensure that the project is aligned internally with all levels of the Studios organization

-Provide creative direction, identify properties and concepts with the greatest potential and drive the team to successful launch and ongoing development of game experiences

-Ability to travel both domestically and internationally


Qualifications and REQUIREMENTS:

- 8+ years of deep shipping experience in games production, both internal and external (Publishing scenarios a plus)

- Proven ability to blend business, creative and project management decision making

- Product portfolio management experience and insight

- High passion for the game industry (plays games, knows developer brands, etc.)

- A track record of defining, building and managing a world-class production group

- Proven track record of hiring and managing multiple production teams (internal & external) that have successfully delivered your products to the marketplace

- Excellent communication and presentation skills

- Ability to manage and work within ambiguity to reach a successful outcome

- A technical degree (preferably Computer Science or other Engineering discipline)

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[EagleClaw]

That is even better and bigger then AAA.

 

[ianpm31]

This is a dumb thing. So the Initiative is hiring a bunch of people. Developers do this all the time. Naughty Dog does it, everyone does it.

Why is it such a big deal that the Initiative is doing what any AAA studio does?

Click to shrink...

MS PR

 

[Brainfreeze]

If you follow the article, the 'AAAA' label is just coming from one job posting they made a while back asking for someone with "experience shipping AAAA games" - meaning it's likely just a typo, and not necesarrily indicative of anything. Unless AAAA is terminoloy used internally at Rockstar or Sony or something and Microsoft is targeting specific studios.

In my mind, even if there was such a thing as a AAAA studio, it's probably just a studio working on multiple AAA games at a time.

That said, they're making a ton of major hires, so I expect whatever they're working on will be huge.

 

[Omnistalgic]

Says nothing about the quality...

Animal Crossing and Botw looks like it could've been accomplished on PS3-level hardware, same as Fall Guys and Rocket League. Some of the best experiences of the gen, and I'm sure they don't have anywhere close to some AAAA budget. No one should be getting hyped about the talent/budget IMHO today, it's really not indicative of producing an amazing product.

 

[madridi-gh]

Hey xbox fans: do we have a sense when we might first see their project?

 

[Burly]

Psht, call me when they make a +SS tier video game

 

[ghostcrew]

We already have a thread about these new acquisitions and this article can probably be discussed in there too.

Xbox's The Initiative continues its hiring spree with Naughty Dog, Bungie, Crystal Dynamics, Respawn... alumni

Xbox's Newest Studio Continues Its Hiring Spree With Naughty Dog, Crystal Dynamics Alumni The Initiative has some of the industry's top talent on board for its secretive first game. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xboxs-newest-studio-continues-its-hiring-spree-wit/1100-6481366/ List from...

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