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Big video game sequels are taking more years than ever to make it to players.
Whether it's Zelda or God of War or Assassin's Creed or Forza, new installments take more time to develop than they did a decade ago, as annual releases or two-year gaps give way to dev cycles lasting five years or more.
The still-annualized Call of Duty, made by rotating development studios, and the clockwork-like, iterative yearly sports games from EA and Take Two.
What they're saying: "Used to be two years was a reasonable window for a sequel," Cowen analyst Doug Creutz tells Axios. "Now, I think three years is bare minimum."
Experts tell Axios there are myriad reasons for the slowdown, including the recent disruption of the pandemic, the increased complexity of modern game development and changes to gaming's core business model.
Fans expect bigger, more graphically detailed games each time out, several developers mentioned to Axios, which requires bigger teams and richer budgets.
The often-painstaking process of finding the fun in game design, requiring multiple iterations and the scrapping of lots of work, doesn't get any faster with more people on board.
Meanwhile, each big new game, sequel or not, is a high-stakes, eight- or nine-figure investment that has to soar to make a profit.
Whether it's Zelda or God of War or Assassin's Creed or Forza, new installments take more time to develop than they did a decade ago, as annual releases or two-year gaps give way to dev cycles lasting five years or more.
The still-annualized Call of Duty, made by rotating development studios, and the clockwork-like, iterative yearly sports games from EA and Take Two.
What they're saying: "Used to be two years was a reasonable window for a sequel," Cowen analyst Doug Creutz tells Axios. "Now, I think three years is bare minimum."
Experts tell Axios there are myriad reasons for the slowdown, including the recent disruption of the pandemic, the increased complexity of modern game development and changes to gaming's core business model.
Fans expect bigger, more graphically detailed games each time out, several developers mentioned to Axios, which requires bigger teams and richer budgets.
The often-painstaking process of finding the fun in game design, requiring multiple iterations and the scrapping of lots of work, doesn't get any faster with more people on board.
Meanwhile, each big new game, sequel or not, is a high-stakes, eight- or nine-figure investment that has to soar to make a profit.
