An Introduction: What are Indie, AA, and AAA Games?
Introduction
If you've been in this hobby for any length of time, you've probably heard the terms indie and triple-AAA thrown around quite a bit. But what do they mean? Where do indie games fit in? I'll be answering all these questions and more! Today, I'd like to take you on a journey to explore the various types of games in the industry, highlighting what sets them apart and covering their numerous strengths and weaknesses. So, with that out of the way, let's baseline each of the categories we'll be covering today.
What are Indie, AA, and AAA Games?
Independent (Indie) Games
Let's start with indie games. These titles are developed by smaller, independent studios that larger parent companies do not own. A few key characteristics define indie games. Indie studios are typically small, often consisting of just a few talented developers or even a single individual. While this may seem like a disadvantage at first, it can work in the studio's favor. Having a smaller team leads to a more agile and flexible work environment, allowing development to adapt more readily to changes, as well as making decisions more quickly than would be possible with a larger team. Another point is that these developers, more often than not, have budgets that are drastically smaller than those of bigger studios. This results in games with good production value but less than what is being offered by the big players in the industry.
Celeste
However, while they may not offer the celebrity voice acting and graphical fidelity of their bigger brothers, what they DO offer is greater creative freedom, experimentation, and innovation. This also relates to budget constraints. While I'm sure anyone would love to have a massive $100M+ budget, the truth is that not everyone does. A smaller budget can force you to focus more on making the gameplay and core of the game good without having to worry about having the most cutting-edge tech and visuals imaginable. Granted, good visuals are essential, but gameplay is what matters when discussing long-term success. Some notable examples and personal favorites of mine include Stardew Valley, developed by ConcernedApe, and Celeste, created by Maddy Makes Games Inc.
Triple-AAA Games
Triple-A, or AAA, games are developed by some of the largest companies in the gaming industry. These games are produced and funded by major studios, such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and Rockstar Games. The key distinguishing factor of AAA games is the vast amount of resources they have at their disposal, which includes larger teams, bigger budgets, advanced tools, and production techniques like motion capture, as well as extensive marketing campaigns. These factors can lead to the creation of truly stunning titles, such as the recently released Death Stranding 2.
Death Stranding 2
Earlier, we discussed indie titles and their greater ability to innovate. AAA games do this as well, but in a different way. While these games may experiment with new gameplay mechanics and so forth, much of their innovation is focused on being on the cutting edge, utilizing the best tech available to push the industry forward. Technologies such as complex 3D graphics rendering, ray tracing, dynamic lighting, and increasingly realistic textures are pushing us towards more impressive, expansive, and expensive games.
However, there are some downsides to these big-budget productions. Higher budgets come with increased pressure to succeed, which often results in developers being more cautious and taking fewer risks. They tend to stick with what has proven successful rather than experimenting with innovative ideas. Additionally, coordination and communication can be challenging, as teams often consist of many different developers working together across various time zones and locations. Moreover, the cost of failure for a AAA game can be severe. A failure can lead to massive layoffs at the studio or even the closure of the developer, given the immense scope and resources invested.
For example, consider going to a casino. If you bet $200 and lose, it stings, but you can likely manage it. Now imagine betting $20,000—losing that amount would hurt much more. It all comes down to scale. If a AAA game fails, the consequences can be dire, making it a high-risk, high-reward situation.
Examples of Triple-AAA games include Resident Evil 4, created by Capcom, and Cyberpunk 2077, developed by CD Projekt Red.
Double-AA Games
Double-AA, or AA, games lie somewhere in the middle and are somewhat more complicated to define. Many of these titles do not have the reach of the larger AAA titles, but they have more backing, larger development teams, and resources behind them than their smaller indie counterparts. While these games may not have the resources or reach of AAA games, they retain larger teams and budgets compared to indie titles. These games are more likely to have greater publisher involvement behind them while still maintaining more creative freedom compared to their AAA counterparts.
Some examples of AA games include Sloclap-developed Sifu and Palworld, developed by Pocketpair.
Palworld
Conclusion
Today, we covered a lot of ground in our discussion. We began by discussing indie games, highlighting how, despite having fewer resources, they compensate for this with truly creative and innovative gameplay. Next, we explored how AAA games drive the industry forward through cutting-edge technological advancements. Finally, we examined the space in between—AA games—where the creativity and risk-taking of indie games blend with the larger budgets and resources of AAA games, resulting in something truly special. Now, I'd love to hear your thoughts! What did you think? Leave your comments down below!
