Topic: Why do AAA games take so much longer to make today than in the past?

Game engines are more automated than they ever were in the past, whether automation is creating new assets from the work you've already done, eliminating the need to do custom LODs, eliminating the need for complex light management because of raytracing features, simpler node based programming, or even various AI-based automation capabilities.

Also, game consoles don't require proprietary architecture to program for. Graphics APIs and programming languages are easier to work with than they were in the past. Games don't really have a need for significantly more artwork than games of previous generations. It's just that in older generations, you'd need to spend more time making lower poly versions of the models, which is less of an issue today. Procedural generation can also make tons of variation to make it feel like there's a lot more unique artwork than there actually is.

So what in the world is taking so long? Have developers stayed working from home ever since COVID or something? That's the only thing I can think of. Work from home is less stressful but it's also much less efficient in terms of collaboration, and can have distractions that slow down the work as well. Or has something just completely broken down in how game dev studios are managed in recent years?

If AAA linear games could be developed in TWO years in the PS3/360 generation (open world 3-4 years), when they had MUCH less capable tools and had to do so much more complex architecture programming, how in the world have things seemed to slow down 2-3x today when the tools and hardware is so much more capable and easier to work with?

I honestly don't understand what happened and I don't think it's sustainable at all.

I think the short answer is that all the advances you've mentioned have simply been outpaced by both gamer's balooning expectations for what a "AAA" title needs to be, and the level of work required to attain that.

Yeah, 360/PS4 games were made by smaller teams with simpler tools, but they were also MUCH simpler games by modern standards. It may not "feel" that way, especially with nostalgia goggles, but the fact is a job that may have taken a single person 10 years ago, now requires a team, despite the advancement of the tools.

That is only true in some cases, the idea of making games bigger and bigger. There are still AAA games being released this generation that very much feel in line with the same kind of scope as those PS3 era games, but they're taking much longer. I also think it is inherently a problem for developers to think they need to make things bigger and bigger. The constant push for larger and longer games has made games feel lower quality and more stale imo compared to smaller scope games. It's not a good thing. Often times, bigger games means the quality gets stretched thin. While there are exceptions, I think players are starting to get tired of massive open world games that just feel like 90% busywork with very little creative inspiration or strong narrative. And clearly the live service thing isn't working out either.

Also, tools are FAR simpler today than they were in the PS3/360 era.