Is the era of the independent AAA studio coming to a close?

[ToddBonzalez]

I just got to thinking that outside of Insomniac, Ready at Dawn, and CDPR, I can't think of any AAA studios out there anymore that aren't owned by a major publisher. Is it impossible for independent studios to take on projects of the budget and scope required in the AAA space? Is this a benefit or a detriment to the industry?

 

[Grexeno]

CDPR is more of a publisher itself now.

 

[Cliff Steele]

By the end of this year Insomniac and Ready at Dawn both will be First Party studios me thinks.

CDPR... Well.... I bet people are trying to make moves.

So yes, that ERA is coming to an end.

 

[Ricky_R]

RAD was AA, then went AAA, then quickly back to A.

 

[matimeo]

You almost have to become a publisher yourself to stay diversified enough to be independent and huge.

You need diverse streams of income and opportunities at all times.

 

[Mass Effect]

CDPR is more of a publisher itself now.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I don't think CDPR really counts here. They're more like Valve (probably late 2000s/early 2010s) since they have their PC digital distribution service.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

x

 

[Stiler]

It's simply not that feasible to do like it used to be, especially when it comes to AAA games. A single game can literally make/break a studio if you are an independent studio trying to compete in the AAA space.

That's why a lot of once independent studios have either turned to publishing other games, or have sold themselves to a major publisher in order to stay afloat.

There are still some left, like Frictional Games for instance (developers of Amnesia/Soma), but they are few and far between compared to the 90's.

 

[Dyle]

CDProjekt was a publisher before they had a development team and should definitely be considered a publisher now that stuff like Thronebreaker is premiering on GoG.

I wouldn't consider Ready at Dawn to be a AAA developer at this point since they appear to be focused solely on smaller vr titles

Remedy, IO, Insomniac, Quantic Dream, and 4A are the only ones I would point to as producing the types of games that typically fall under the AAA umbrella without acting as a publisher for other titles. But it depends almost entirely on what you consider to be AAA,

 

[LewieP]

You missed Quantic Dream, although I suspect that if Sony don't end up buying them, or at least continue to publish their games, they'll end up scaling back the level of production on their future games.

Platinum, too, they'll live forever.

I dunno if No Man's Sky fits the arbitrary criteria for "AAA", but it was marketed by Sony like a first party title.

Edit: This trend has been going on for a while though.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

You almost have to become a publisher yourself to stay diversified enough to be independent and huge.

You need diverse streams of income and opportunities at all times.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much.

So yeah, OP, I think it is over for the most part.

 

[elenarie]

CDPR is more of a publisher itself now.

Click to shrink...

CDPR are as much independent as we or Activision Blizzard or Microsoft or Take Two or any other public company is.

 

[LewieP]

CDPR are as much independent as we or Activision Blizzard or Microsoft or Take Two or any other public company is.

Click to shrink...

Yep
https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/investors/shareholders/

It's even kinda hard for major publishers.

Ubisoft had to fight tooth and nail to avoid that hostile takeover, and them plus Activision Blizzard have taken Tencent money.

 

[Hanbei]

In Europe, IO Interactive, Avalanche Studios, Supermassive Games, Sumo Digital and Techland are still independant.