Triple-A games “will never be viable on their own,” says former PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida. But he’s putting his faith in Astro Bot and Team Asobi, who he believes represent the future through quality mid-budget titles.

From 2008 to 2019, Shuhei Yoshida led PlayStation through an era of immense growth. In a recent interview with French outlet PS Inside, he reflected on the current state of the industry and called attention to the developers shaping what’s next—chief among them, Team Asobi, the Kyoto-based studio behind Astro Bot and spiritual successor to the shuttered Japan Studio.

“I hope Asobi becomes the Japan Studio that PlayStation lost [laughs],” said Yoshida. “I believe PlayStation needs a team capable of making high-quality AA games—titles with modest budgets that still resonate with players. And that’s exactly what Asobi is doing.” His statement alludes to a growing industry concern: skyrocketing development costs.

“Games today are more advanced and technically complex than ever, and that raises the cost of everything. Publishers set prices, of course, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to production budgets.” Yoshida pointed to the rise in remasters and PC ports of console titles as a way for studios to finance more demanding projects. It’s a trend that directly affects how games are priced at launch.

Hope in Team Asobi

Asobi, in Yoshida’s eyes, could be the bridge that connects high-end PlayStation blockbusters to the kinds of smaller games the catalog desperately needs. “The industry can’t just keep making longer, more complex games. We need an alternative, and that’s why PlayStation must support studios like Asobi—honestly, I’d say as a top priority.”

“PlayStation’s triple-A exclusives are amazing,” he added, “but they’ll never be sustainable on their own. You can’t let the catalog go silent between big releases. That’s why we need what I call mid-market games.” He went on: “This endless race for bigger, more expensive titles will backfire unless balanced by AA and well-funded indie games.” Yoshida even admitted, “I’m starting to lose interest in long triple-A games. By the time I finish them, I’m just exhausted.”

He praised Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as an example of what’s possible on a tight budget, though he noted it was an independent project—unlike Team Asobi, which operates under Sony’s wing. Whether Yoshida’s vision can be fully realized remains to be seen, but Asobi is already racking up GOTY awards (including from 3DJuegos) and has momentum on its side.

Source: 3djuegos