Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but it looks like when it comes to the most recent content and articles regarding game dev startups, it's primarily focused on indie dev startups, and not so much AAA. On top of that, I don't hear many stories, if any at all, about AAA or AA-ish dev startups. Normally when I'm looking up resources regarding non (or not so much) indiedev, I end up looking towards some older stuff.
Ultimately, I'd like to hear from those of you who have successfully started a AAA or something close like PopCap or Gameloft. Any of those types here? What was your experience like? I don't get much opportunity to meet professional game devs (even though I live in Seattle where there's loads of them) but findings aspiring indies are abundant. Nothing against indies, but I want the perspective of those who are successfully established in the industry.
Thanks,
Shogun.
Any AAA game development startups out there?
Well PopCap wasn't AAA when it got started - it was AA at most, making casual solitaire/speed-puzzle games. Generally no one starts an AAA studio unless they have a movie studio or a tabletop/CCG that's already in the AAA range. It's a lot more common to start an AA studio and grow it into an AAA studio over the course of 5-8 years. AAA is almost the antonym of startup.
Yeah for a AAA startup to exist, you need investors that are willing to pour $10M+ into a new/unknown/unproven team. That's not something that happens very often.
Often you'll see senior staff leave AAA companies and form so called "indie AAA" teams -- which basically means they've got staff who have previously worked on AAA titles, so will be following similar practices and producing similar quality, but on a smaller (cheaper) scale.
Maybe after their first title they'll find someone willing to gamble the massive amounts of money involved in AAA dev on them.
The first game company I worked for was originally an almost unknown game-dev called Perception, who had basically zero published works. However, the management flew to LA with a pitch and somehow came back with $10M+ and the license to Stargate SG:1, basically propelling them into the AAA realm overnight! This is quite unheard of. This also did not go well - the SG1 game was not shipped...
Often you'll see senior staff leave AAA companies and form so called "indie AAA" teams -- which basically means they've got staff who have previously worked on AAA titles, so will be following similar practices and producing similar quality, but on a smaller (cheaper) scale.
Maybe after their first title they'll find someone willing to gamble the massive amounts of money involved in AAA dev on them.
The first game company I worked for was originally an almost unknown game-dev called Perception, who had basically zero published works. However, the management flew to LA with a pitch and somehow came back with $10M+ and the license to Stargate SG:1, basically propelling them into the AAA realm overnight! This is quite unheard of. This also did not go well - the SG1 game was not shipped...
By go as far as to say that by definition its difficult for a startup to be considered AAA. By the time they get large enough to be considered AAA most of them have been around for several years so are not really startups.
Then again I work in and around startups in Shoreditch in London and some of the companies there have been around for 15 - 20 years and still refer to themselves as startups because they have the same kind of Bohemian vibe.
One rarely start as a AAA unless they are born from the defection of other AAA studios.
Riot, for example, was a AAA startup which, much like Runic, resulted from a clash at Blizzard.
Unless you have that kind of field experience, and a team that goes along with, as well as investors willing to throw money at you (which I'm going to assume is not the case given that the question ended up on gamedev forums), this is unlikely to happen.
Your best approaches to achieving this are:
- Make an indie startup and succeed hard, and never give up. Ultimately, you *may* end up getting close to AAA.
or better yet
- Work for a AAA studio, become known for being one of the best, and several years down the road, start your own gig.
*Note that doing so may end up infringing on contract clauses you may have signed such as non-compete (and the general notion of not "stealing" people from your former employer).
Most of the startup AAA I know of had legal issues, but their success outweighed these concerns.
Best of luck!
Author
Yeah, I guess startup wasn't quite the proper word to use here. Maybe what I should have said was "successfully started a AA or AAA company" because it's not a realistic idea to gain a publisher deal overnight or at the drop of the hat, no matter how good your game is.
Even EA started off as a group of indies, selling their games in floppy disks and ziplock bags. It can be done, but from a realistic perspective, the odds are against you in one way or another. Since I am an experienced individual with multiple resources at my disposal, and I live in a key area of sillicon valley, I have an advantage that unfortunately alot of indies or other aspiring devs do not have. Nothing is going to stop me from forging head.
Btw, I ended up on gamedev.net because I once lived in a piss poor excuse of a city in Indiana, and any hopes of becoming a successful game dev or IT professional was next to 0. So in 2009, I took the risk of coming back to Seattle (I should have done it in 2003 when my mom said I should have because back then, things were better marketwise); best decision I made in years. So, between me and my business advisor, things are looking good so far, but there's lots of work to be done. Having said that, time to get to it.
Shogun.
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