While Hazelight Studios creative director Josef Fares has worked on a number of games that break industry trends, including last year’s co-op action adventure game Split Fiction, he has noted that the recent industry trend surrounding the rise of AA games has him concerned. In an interview with The Game Business, Fares spoke about the success seen by AA titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and how this speaks to larger trends surrounding games going for smaller budgets.
He acknowledged that, while they are great games, you can’t really make something like a new Grand Theft Auto with a budget of $10 million. He noted that the industry needs games of all kinds, and expressed hope that the industry doesn’t jump on the AA game bandwagon in the future.
“You do hear, after the success of things like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that the AA games are taking over,” he said. “But I would not be able to live without a AAA title. I really want to play the blockbuster games. You can’t do GTA for $10 million. We need both. It’s important not to get stuck in ideas, like AA is a new thing, or indie is a new thing, or ‘blah, blah, blah’ is a new thing. We need the diversity. I hope that publishers don’t just look at a game like Expedition, which has been super successful, and think, ‘oh, AA is a new thing. Let’s only do that.’ I don’t believe in that. You had a huge amount of AA games that came this year, which nobody cared about. Let’s remember that.”
When the concept of risk vs reward came up, with Christopher Dring noting that it’s often harder for games with AAA budgets to take major risks, Fares brought up studios like Naughty Dog that are using their massive budgets to push the creative envelope in different ways. He argued that it is possible to make AAA games that also happen to take risks to a certain extent. He did, however, acknowledge that incredibly large budgets, like for example $100 million, might make risk-taking a more difficult proposition for companies.
“I would argue that, actually, Naughty Dog is pushing the envelope of innovation with a AAA budget,” he counters. “I would argue Rockstar is doing it. Nintendo is, most of the time, doing it. So you can do a big AAA title but also take innovative risks. But once you go over a $100 million dollar budget, you’re going to be like, ‘okay, s***. There’s a lot of money on the table’. People are more scared. It’s understandable. But it’s proven that you can do it.”
Fares spoke about how his own studio, Hazelight Studios, likes to take risks. He noted that the studio’s ethos is to “f*** s*** up” while still being careful about the responsibilities it has towards its employees.
“The f*** s*** up mentality, without f***ing up, is important, because we take things to the next level,” he said. “We can explore. If you are limited, because of risk and being scared, it’s not good for the game. So, for us, it will always be like that, whatever the budget.”
“With that said, obviously there’s a responsibility. People need money to pay the rent, and there’s a responsibility to who’s paying for the budget, and to actually deliver the milestone, to do a great game, to not slack, to do something really well.”
Split Fiction is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. For more details, check out our review.
