Blockbuster games with outsized budgets and big spectacle are “not really sustainable in terms of the cost of development”, said former God of War exec Meghan Morgan Juinio, adding games need to be “fun first”.
Juinio recently left her position as director of product development at Sony’s Santa Monica Studios, where she worked on the God of War series. She discussed the current state of blockbuster game development with PC Gamer at Gamescom Asia.
“I think it’s already not really sustainable in terms of the cost of development,” she said. “There’s been a ton of layoffs, and a lot of that is focused on the West Coast of the US, and it’s clearly because the minimum costs are so high. Development costs will necessitate that the big publishers create [new] pathways.”
While big budget games like God of War won’t be going away, Juinio believes larger publishers will look to AA or single A games for inspiration.
Ultimately, though, successful games should be fun to play, rather than focusing on flashy graphics and presentation.
“I think what it comes back to,” said Juinio, “is just make something fun. Just make something awesome, and that will achieve what you need it to achieve.”
She continued: “My opinion is that it has to be fun first. It can look the most beautiful, the best soundtrack in the world, it can be winning all the BAFTAs for audio and all this, but if it’s not fun it’s not worth the investment, whether that’s $2m or $500m.