Growing numbers of veteran video game developers are [1]leaving large studios to work on smaller projects , citing bureaucratic burnout and creative constraints at major publishers. Nate Purkeypile, former lead artist on Bethesda's "Starfield," quit in 2021 after facing up to 20 meetings weekly coordinating with a 400-person team across four offices. He has since released "The Axis Unseen," a horror game he developed solo.

The trend, reported by Bloomberg, coincides with ballooning development costs in the industry. Sony's "Uncharted 2" cost $20 million in 2009, while 2020's "The Last of Us: Part 2" exceeded $200 million. "Small studios are not burdened by stockholder expectations," Renee Gittins, International Game Developers Association board chair, told the publication. They're "more nimble, [and] able to take greater risks." Recent indie successes like "Balatro" and "Animal Well," created by solo developers, have also demonstrated the commercial viability of smaller productions.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-30/after-era-of-bloat-veteran-video-game-developers-are-going-smaller