In recent years, with the continuous development of technology, there has been a noticeable progress in the world of gaming. While this allows for more immersive experiences for players, it also leads to an increase in the budgets allocated for the development of games. Finally, CD Projekt Red, known as the developer of games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which come to mind when it comes to “high-budget games”, made a remarkable statement. This statement caused surprise among the players.
CD Projekt Red: “Our games will be ‘AAAAA'”
Ubisoft recently released Skull and Bones, which was first announced in 2017 and has been delayed several times so far. While the piracy-themed game was generally well-received, it drew criticism for its high $60 price tag, on top of which items, battle passes and seasonal events were sold.
As the criticism grew, Ubisoft’s CEO described Skull and Bones as “AAAA”. In other words, he tried to say that the game was of higher quality than even AAA games like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and GTA 5. For those who don’t know, “AAA” is defined as a game developed by a large or medium-sized studio with a high budget. Examples include The Last of Us, Assassin’s Creed or Tomb Raider.
Today, CD Projekt Red Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz was asked if CD Projekt Red will only develop “AAA” games after Ubisoft CEO’s announcement. Nielubowicz replied, “Our (games) will be AAAAA”.
This answer, which was given as a joke, was much talked about among the players. In fact, although it may have been said as a joke, CD Projekt Red seems to be not far from “AAAAA” games.
It is known that the company has spent 125 million dollars so far on Cyberpunk 2077, which was released in December 2020. It is said that a budget of 21 million dollars was allocated for the expansion called Phantom Liberty. This amount is only one year’s income for some game companies. Therefore, we can say that it is quite high. In fact, to make a comparison, GTA 5, one of the most popular games of Rockstar Games, is said to cost 265 million dollars.