Big AAA Publishers Need To Make Smaller Games Too, Ex-God Of War Dev Says

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A producer who used to work on God of War is warning that major game companies, such as Activision and Sony, should explore making a wider variety of games, including smaller titles, as there’s a lot of potential in that area.

Meghan Morgan Juinio, a former leader at Sony Santa Monica Studio and producer on the 2018 God of War game, recently voiced concerns about the direction of the gaming industry after the pandemic. Speaking at Gamescom Asia, she noted the recent wave of layoffs and studio closures. While big publishers may continue to focus on massive franchises like Call of Duty, she believes there’s a growing opportunity for smaller, independent games. Players are increasingly looking for experiences that aren’t defined by huge budgets, endless playtime, and overly complicated development – something AA and indie titles can deliver.

She believes major companies could expand into smaller game development areas like AA, single-A, and independent games. While it’s unclear exactly how this would work, she emphasized the need to move past simply reacting to the pandemic and instead strategically plan for the future. This means deciding what kind of games they want to create and intentionally mapping out a path to achieve those goals.

Morgan Juinio highlighted games like Astro Bot and Split Fiction as examples of successful ‘AA’ titles – games with smaller teams, shorter development times, and lower budgets. She emphasized that their success wasn’t just due to being independent of major blockbusters, but also because they offered truly engaging and creative gameplay that surpassed many larger, more expensive games. These titles were also more affordable than huge franchises like Battlefield or Call of Duty, which helped attract players. Recent analysis suggests consumers are increasingly hesitant to spend $100 on a single game, even highly anticipated ones like Grand Theft Auto 6.

She emphasized that creating truly enjoyable games is the most important thing. Gamers have become accustomed to high-quality graphics and large-scale games, so those aspects aren’t enough on their own. A game needs to be fun and captivating to really resonate with players; if it isn’t engaging, it won’t matter how good it looks.

The games industry is facing some tough times right now, with rising development costs, layoffs, and disappointing sales leaving many feeling discouraged. However, Morgan Juinio remains optimistic. They believe that continued creativity and innovation will lead to positive changes, especially if publishers start investing in smaller, more focused game projects.

As developers and creators, we naturally won’t accept a consistently negative outlook. People won’t just accept a bleak future. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll simply return to making games like those from five years ago, or even before the pandemic. Instead, I believe we’ll see something entirely new emerge. We don’t know exactly what that will be yet, but I’m confident in the creativity and innovation within our industry. Even if the industry undergoes significant changes, there will always be a strong demand for high-quality games.

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2025-10-17 19:39