Why Are Games Taking FOREVER TO MAKE?

Games really should be faster to make, shouldn’t they? After all, engines have grown in power, middleware is more abundant, and hardware architecture now semi-ubiquitous. So what gives? Okay, gross over-simplication aside, here’s the bottom line: stronger tools have enabled loftier ambition, and that ambition has spiralled. Longer development cycles and skyrocketing budgets means the reality is fewer releases per studio. What’s more, expectation has grown in tandem with studio ambition. Publishers want bigger worlds, deeper mechanics, and sharper fidelity to match improvements in game development infrastructure, while players want value for money.