Randy Smith believes immersive sims should leave the AAA spending race because the genre’s audience cannot sustain projects of that scale.

Randy Smith became known as one of the designers of the original Thief: The Dark Project and later contributed to System Shock 2, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Thief II and Deadly Shadows. Based on that experience, he argues that immersive sims have spent years competing under the wrong business expectations.

In his view, the commercial disappointment surrounding Dishonored 2 and Prey does not necessarily prove that the games or the genre were unviable. The deeper problem was that AAA-sized budgets and sales targets were attached to projects serving a comparatively small audience.

The genre could thrive at a smaller scale

Smith sees III or AA development as the way forward. A budget between $3 million and $10 million, an experienced and passionate team, and a shorter production cycle could make immersive sims more sustainable. He also notes that the original Thief cost roughly $3 million, equivalent to around $6 million today.

A modern $3 million immersive sim might not sell proportionally much less than a production costing hundreds of millions, he argues, while requiring far less revenue to become profitable. Games such as Heat Signature and Gloomwood demonstrate that the genre’s systems and player freedom can work effectively on a smaller scale.

Smith’s conclusion is that the future of immersive sims may depend on focused projects built around systemic interaction, freedom and replayability rather than participation in the AAA spectacle arms race.

Source: PC Gamer