Head of Xbox Game Studios claims the days of 2-3 year dev cycles is over

In recent years, Xbox in particular has struggled to get many of its games across the finish line, with a majority of first party titles announced years ago still in development. Speaking on these development times, the head of Xbox Game Studios claimed that the length of development for AAA games “aren't two or three years anymore.”

In an interview conducted by Axios, Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty spoke on the increasing development time for video games, saying “I think that the industry and the fans were a little behind the curve on sort of a reset to understand that games aren't two or three years anymore…They're four and five and six years.”

One of the listed reasons for such an increase in dev time is said to be due to the fact that “There are higher expectations. The level of fidelity that we're able to deliver just goes up…Games continue to get more ambitious as an art form.”

Fortunately, as we have seen with the likes of Hi-Fi RUSH, there are still games in development which can take much less time, with Booty believing that (as explained by Axios) “smaller teams working on indie projects may still be able to make great games in as little as a year, in some cases.”

Many of Xbox’s first party titles which have yet to be released were announced years ago – in some cases nearly half a decade ago. With the likes of Everwild, Fable, Perfect Dark and more yet to get even a release window, it is safe to say that Booty’s estimates on the increasing development time for games is true.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Booty’s statements? Would you like to see games be less ambitious but release sooner? What first-party Xbox title do you wish was coming out this year? Let us know down below.

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