Mark Darrah, a former Dragon Age executive producer, recently addressed why AAA games take so long to develop in a 25-minute YouTube video. He covers various topics, including the industry’s current preference for live service “forever games” over narrative-driven ones and the misleading early announcements of highly-anticipated sequels.

These announcements often serve to boost a publisher’s brand during dry spells, despite the games being years away from full production. Darrah’s insights offer a detailed look into the complexities and challenges faced by game developers in today’s market.

One key point Darrah highlights is what he calls the “fidelity death cult,” which refers to the push for hyper-realistic visuals and intricate details in games. This pursuit of high fidelity and customization demands significant time and resources.

For instance, the detailed movement of a character’s hair now takes considerable effort compared to simpler, static designs of the past. Such increased complexity adds to development time without necessarily enhancing the overall gameplay experience.

Darrah also discusses the issue of asset reuse in game development. Players often push back against recycled environments and animations, pressuring developers to create entirely new assets for sequels.

This need to avoid player backlash can significantly extend the development timeline. By not reusing assets, even when they are perfectly functional, developers introduce additional time and effort into the process, delaying the game’s release.

Interestingly, Darrah notes that the emphasis on endless content in “forever games” is backed by audience research, whereas the drive for high fidelity and original assets stems more from a fear of backlash rather than concrete data. He describes this as a trap that development teams set for themselves.

He cites Baldur’s Gate 3 as an example of a game that succeeded despite not prioritizing minor visual fidelity, suggesting that such details often do not matter as much to players as developers might think.

The pursuit of ever-higher fidelity is a well-worn argument in the industry, often leading to games that are difficult to write about and, arguably, not always better for the effort. This focus on realism and photorealism often boils down to technical specifications and buzzwords, driven by both the developers’ and journalists’ adherence to marketing pressures.

This cycle reflects the audience’s cultivated tastes over the decades. Darrah’s insights raise the question of how developers can break free from the “fidelity death cult” and shift player expectations away from hyper-realistic visuals, towards appreciating other aspects of game design.