Over the past five years some of my favorite games have been coming from smaller studios with a lot to say. Of course triple-A (AAA) games will forever be at the forefront of the industry with budgets now that start with the letter ‘B’ and communities will continue to highlight loveable indie titles. But I want to give a moment to gaming’s middle-child, the double-A (AA) game. It’s difficult to put parameters on what makes a studio AA, but it’s really what falls in the middle between a guy in his basement making the next one-hit wonder on steam and a skyscraper full of people making sure you’re able to play as Ice Spice in the next battle pass. What draws me to these games is that they feel like it’s what the developers wanted to make and not what was necessarily going to sell.
Whether people know it or not, AA games are making a splash and it’s happening at a time when videogames need it most. Look at last year’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 which took home 9 awards at the Game Awards including Game of The Year. The game people are already calling a modern classic, was developed by Sandfall Interactive with a team of, you guessed it, 33 people. Compare that to the most recent Assassin’s Creed installment which was led by a development team of over 400, and it’s going to raise some eyebrows of consumers and executives.
I know there is a bit of a misunderstanding because I said AA games were a middle-child, yet one was crowned as 2025’s best game. But there are games out there that completely sum up the hidden charm that comes from this tier. Games like Evil West. Developed by Flying Wild Hog, Evil West is a $50 package that embodies everything I love about grabbing a controller. Picture Van Helsing as a cowboy that beats werewolf and vampire ass with electric fists for the United States of America. Yeah, I know. And all in a campaign that doesn’t overstay its welcome at roughly 11 hours, the game is trying to be a critically acclaimed masterpiece that is going to turn into a live action film. Instead it delivers quintessential escapism and makes you feel like the biggest badass on the planet for a couple of nights over a weekend.
If you look around it’s very possible a triple A studio that once made your favorite game has been turned into a support studio for a live service game, or has closed its doors. If you’re lucky enough they haven’t been scooped up and spit out by one of the mega-corporations trying to consume everyone in sight. Now, the split in funding seems to be becoming more drastic for the titles that make money every year, making it more of a challenge to create the next great story. Hi-Fi Rush was one of my favorite games of 2023, launched to overwhelmingly positive reviews, and was seen as the most recent bright spot in a grim time for XBOX. However the impressive player count of 3 million wasn’t seen as enough for a title that was shadow dropped, as the studio was shut down in August of 2024, a year and half after release. The upside is that some acquired studios like Double Fine which once made whacky games like the Jack Black hack-n-slash, Brutal Legend, and the trippy 3-D platformer, Psychonauts, are helping to change that narrative by becoming independent once again.
Corporations continue to prove they are looking to occupy every second your eyes will give them, whereas developers want you to enjoy the experience they have put into the world. AA studios may not have the marketing budget to get God’s attention, but they are delivering some of the most unique and fun experiences you can play right now. And that’s why we play, right?
-Evan Kuhn
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