Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads predict rise in "AA-class games" as production costs reach ridiculous heights, say only GTA 6 maker Rockstar "is able to meet that demand"

There's no denying that video games are getting expensive for consumers facing $100 Joy-Con 2 controllers and – tell me this isn't happening – $110 Alarmos, but the trend is impacting developers, too. So the famously lean team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 expects more studios to follow their lead in creating relatively more affordable AA games.

"As development costs continue to grow, I think we're likely to see an increase in companies like ours, producing AA-class games," developer Sandfall Interactive creative director Guillaume Broche tells Automaton in a new interview. "Thanks to Unreal Engine, it's now easier to get an idea of the amount of resources you'll need relative to your production scale.

"This makes it possible to develop entertaining games efficiently even with a relatively small team."

The distinctly French, magical RPG Expedition 33 impressed both players and studio leaders alike when it released earlier this year, prompting people like former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida to observe that its humble approach to $50 gaming "is the path the industry should be pursuing."

The sentiment isn't really applicable to developer Rockstar, however, whose upcoming, megalithic GTA 6 could actually be the most expensive game ever.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead programmer Tom Guillermin acknowledges this idea during Sandfall's Automaton interview, while addressing swelling industry pressure for impossibly high production value.

"I think only Rockstar Games is able to meet that demand," he says. "Therefore, I think that developers will have to put a cap on budgets, and we will inevitably see more companies settle on a development model like ours."

As rumors of a 30fps GTA 6 begin to swirl, Rockstar Games veteran says "you might prefer the visual details" offered by a lower frame rate anyway: "It's a trade off."