Randy Smith Evergreen, a designer on the original Thief: The Dark Project, has argued that immersive sims are ill-suited to triple-A budgets and should instead be made on smaller, leaner scales. Speaking to PC Gamer, he suggested that developers in the genre often mistakenly feel pressure to compete with blockbuster titles like Ghost of Tsushima or GTA 6, when the actual audience for immersive sims may not support that level of investment. This matters because several recent triple-A immersive sims have struggled commercially, and Evergreen's comments point towards a "triple-I" or double-A model as a more sustainable path for the genre's future.

Evergreen proposed budgets of roughly $3-10 million, made by smaller, passionate teams with genuine experience in or enthusiasm for the genre, rather than chasing mass-market appeal. He noted that the original Thief was made for around $3 million (about $6 million adjusted for inflation), and questioned whether a similarly modest game released in 2026 would sell dramatically fewer copies than a $250 million triple-A production. He suggested this reflects where the market for immersive sims is heading, or at least where it should head.