- Ubisoft is working on two AAAA games, one of which is Beyond Good and Evil 2.
- The new terminology is referenced in several Ubisoft employee LinkedIn profiles.
- It’s unclear exactly what AAAA means, although Ubisoft appears to be embracing it.
We’ve heard of AAA games, pumped out ad nauseam by the likes of Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and EA, but AAAA games? There’s something new.
What that additional A represents is unclear, but according to LinkedIn details unearthed by an eagle-eyed fan, AAAA games are precisely what Ubisoft is working on; two of them, no less.
The nugget comes from a Twitter user named bogorad222, whose LinkedIn trawling landed on two intriguing profiles for two current Ubisoft devs.
The first, found on the profile for Ubisoft Paris Studio senior art technical director Cyril Masquilliere, refers to Beyond Good and Evil 2 as a ‘AAAA, open universe’ game.
We’ve known about the successor to 2003’s cult classic action-adventure for some time now, bolstered by sporadic news from Ubisoft, although there’s little in the details shared so far that shed any light on the meaning of that mysterious extra A.
The other interesting profile entry discovered by bogorad222 is that of Berlin-based Ubisoft Project Coordinator Yoni Dayan. According to the profile, Dayan currently holds an ‘Intermediate role in Production for an unannounced Quadruple A game.’
Ubisoft Embraces The AAAA Game
While the AAAA in the first entry could pass off as a typing blunder, the second unequivocally cites a’ quadruple A game,’ implying this new terminology is real and something Ubisoft is embracing.
As for what AAAA might mean, the natural assumption is even bigger budgets, teams, development cycles, and invariably, more crunch.
Yet, if we consider that AAA teams regularly tally up to hundreds of developers (even thousands in some cases), and budgets comfortably dip into the hundreds of millions, it’s hard to say what type of project warrants the AAAA description.
If we take development time as a measure of a AAAA game, then Beyond Good and Evil 2 certainly fits the bill with the sequel existing in some shape or form for well over a decade.
With the sustainability of AAA efforts a hotly debated topic in recent months, it’s hard to see how doubling down on this approach to making games will end well.
I’d wager the extra A is simply the latest marketing ploy to manufacture excitement and hype. A superficial move on Ubisoft’s part to distinguish itself with a shiny new label.
One thing is sure, though: AAAA games will come with a price tag to match. Publishers have to justify that $70 somehow.
