Thief designer says that the immersive sim audience is too small for AAA games: ‘There’s quite a few of us who think the way to do it is be III or AA’
A designer who worked on the Thief series has argued that immersive sims are unlikely to succeed as big-budget "AAA" productions, suggesting the genre's audience is too niche to support such investment. Instead, they believe the format is better suited to smaller-scale "III" or "AA" development, where lower budgets and expectations allow for the kind of focused, systemic design immersive sims are known for.
The comments reflect a broader view shared among some genre veterans that chasing mass-market AAA scale risks diluting what makes immersive sims distinctive, given their comparatively limited but dedicated fanbase. The designer's remarks point to a preference for leaner, more sustainable development approaches over blockbuster-scale budgets for this type of game.
- Thief designer says immersive sims suit AA or III budgets, not AAA
- Genre's niche audience seen as too small for big-budget games
- Smaller-scale development favoured to preserve the genre's identity