Ben Harrison writes "Lets take a look back at the developers who proved themselves more than the others over the course of gaming history. In this wonderful industry we are exposed to some truly benevolent development companies. Which unfortunately means we are also introduced to some truly abysmal development companies. Despite how much I’ve ever hated a developer or a publisher, if they made a good product. Id buy it. Sadly, with some people that’s not always the case. So a fair warning before I start this list, its very opinionated, I imagine no one will agree with all the opinions I express in this piece."
Former Naughty Dog artist Gabriel Betancourt explains why the "sweet spot" for game teams is under 200 people and how AAA "factories" kill creativity.
There’s definitely some truth to this. When teams get too large, coordination starts to outweigh creativity—layers of approval, risk aversion, and tight deadlines can turn bold ideas into “safe” ones. Keeping a team under ~200 people sounds ideal for maintaining clear communication and a shared vision. That said, massive AAA projects also come with huge technical demands and expectations, so scaling up isn’t always avoidable. The real challenge is figuring out how to keep that small-team creativity alive inside big studio structures.
More than that, it's logistically untenable. Inevitably, when teams get too large, how do you keep tabs on accountability? I suspect this massive team size is a consequence of the perfectionism streak Naughty Dog has.
I wish we could have so many people working on something and it turns out great because I'm all for collaboration in spirit - the problem is too many people as part of the larger team and smaller units. Suppose for example that you have too many people in the art department; you will very often come up against fiercely competing visions for how things should look. That competitive vision will cause friction between team members, team doesn't work as a unit, the back and forth can further delay parts that the other departments are waiting for, etc etc.
A 200-person team says, to me, that we need to scale back game development. Even if it means we go back to PS2 era costs and scale, why not? Those games are still great fun, the budgets were in check, and you could literally break the 200-man team into like 10 20-man teams working on different projects.
The Marathon Duo queue test ends as Bungie confirms its return in Season 2, with new experimental playlists already on the way.
Replies(3)
Its neat especially since not everyone might have two friends playing it. Makes it more personal to go at in duos.
It's 2026 and basic match making features in MP games are still being drip fed to an audience that still gets excited over said basic feature being implemented.
The show is set to take place between July 14 and 16
