What Is AAA Gaming?

1. What are AAA games?

AAA games are the highest quality projects in the gaming industry. The term "AAA" not only refers to the level of quality but also relates to the scale, large investment budget, and special attention to detail and player experience.

AAA games are often developed by notable studios with substantial development and marketing budgets. These games typically feature top-tier graphics and sound, complex gameplay, and a deep player experience.

Some examples of AAA games in the traditional market include:

Elden Ring: Developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, Elden Ring is highly anticipated due to the collaboration between author George R. R. Martin and the development team of Dark Souls.
Starfield: A project by Bethesda Game Studios, Starfield is an open-world role-playing game set in space and has been long-awaited by fans.
God of War: Ragnarok: The sequel to God of War (2018), Ragnarok continues the story of Kratos and Atreus in the world of Norse mythology.
Horizon Forbidden West: The sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West continues Aloy's journey in an expanded and captivating open world.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2: The sequel to the legendary game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, developed by Nintendo and the team led by Eiji Aonuma.

For many players, the classification of a game as AAA often guarantees quality and significant investment from the developer.

2. Features of AAA games

Beyond the fundamental factors of scale, quality, and budget, AAA games are evaluated based on other important criteria as well:

Quality graphics and sound: AAA games typically feature high-quality graphics and sound, utilizing modern technology to create valuable visual and auditory experiences.
Large scale: AAA games often have expansive open worlds, with many regions to explore, side quests, and extensive details.
Complex gameplay: These games usually offer deep gameplay, with elements such as complex combat systems, character leveling, and intricate interactive features.
Deep storyline: AAA games often have complex storylines, written by professional writers, with developed characters and plotlines.
Large budget: Developing a AAA game requires a large investment budget to cover development teams, marketing, and high-quality production factors.
Post-release support: AAA games often receive updates, upgrades, and additional content after release to maintain player interest.
Wide popularity: AAA games are typically released on multiple platforms and available in the global market to ensure widespread popularity.

Despite the considerable number of AAA games being announced, regular users still have certain misconceptions about these games, such as:

High quality equals high praise from all players: Although many AAA games are developed with large budgets and a focus on quality, community reviews can vary. Each player has different preferences and expectations, so some may not like a game despite it being considered AAA.
Large budget equals financial success: Although the development budget of a AAA game can be substantial, financial success is not solely reflected in the amount invested. A game needs to attract enough players and sell enough copies to be considered successful.
All AAA games are the same: While many AAA games focus on high-quality graphics and gameplay experience, there is considerable diversity in genres, storylines, and gameplay mechanics. Some games may offer completely different experiences.
All AAA games are perfect: Even with large budgets and development teams, AAA games can still encounter issues such as technical glitches, imperfect gameplay balance, or failing to meet the expectations of all players.
AAA games are only for hardcore gamers: While many AAA games are challenging and require significant time investment, there are also many AAA titles that are easily accessible to casual gamers

These misconceptions can lead to misunderstandings about the value and importance of AAA games.

3. Notable AAA game studios in the traditional market

There are many large AAA game studios in the market, focusing on developing high-quality and large-scale games. Here are some of the notable AAA game studios:

Naughty Dog: Famous for games like the Uncharted series and The Last of Us series, Naughty Dog is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Rockstar Games: Renowned for the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series and Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games is a part of Take-Two Interactive.
Ubisoft: Ubisoft is a French game company with numerous studios worldwide. Famous titles include the Assassin's Creed series, Far Cry series, and Watch Dogs series.
Bethesda Game Studios: Bethesda, a studio under ZeniMax Media, is famous for games like The Elder Scrolls series and Fallout series. The company is now part of Xbox Game Studios (Microsoft).
CD Projekt Red: Known for The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red is a game studio from Poland.
Square Enix: Square Enix is a Japanese game company with many studios and branches worldwide. Famous games include the Final Fantasy series and Tomb Raider series.
Bioware: Bioware, a studio under Electronic Arts (EA), is famous for games like the Mass Effect series and Dragon Age series.
Blizzard Entertainment: Blizzard is a part of Activision Blizzard and is famous for games like World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and the Diablo series.
Respawn Entertainment: Famous for the Titanfall series and Apex Legends, Respawn Entertainment is a studio owned by Electronic Arts.
Guerrilla Games: Owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Guerrilla Games developed Horizon Zero Dawn and is working on its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.
Activision: Known for games like Call of Duty and the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Overwatch.
Capcom: One of the leading game studios in Japan, Capcom is famous for legendary titles like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and Monster Hunter.
Konami has a long history in the gaming industry and is famous for series like Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and Pro Evolution Soccer.
EA is one of the largest game companies in the world, with popular titles like FIFA, Madden NFL, and Battlefield. They regularly invest in high-quality graphics and game production.

4. Notable AAA game projects in the Web3 market

Below is a compilation of potential AAA game projects you need to know:

4.1. Bigtime

"Bigtime" is a gaming project that has gained significant traction in the market recently. Currently, the project has been launched, and players can both experience the game and earn tokens from it.

To invest in a game, it's essential to conduct thorough research to avoid losses when participating. I've played the game and consider it to be the most worth playing in the current Web3 market.

You can read my article introducing the project "Explaining the earning mechanism of Big Time. Will GameFi make a comeback?" to understand more about the game and how to play.

4.2. Cradles

Following Big Time is the game Cradles, which was recently released on November 16th. The game has been launched on Steam, and you can download it to play for the price of 35,5k VND.

The project has just been launched, this is the early stage before many players join in. The special feature of this game lies in its survival mechanism. The game emphasizes survival, so when you die in combat, you will lose all your items, and others can pick them up.

In addition to experiencing the game, you can earn project tokens directly through mining activities in the game. This is considered the core mechanism currently attracting an increasing number of players to the project.

Currently, Bybit is offering the launchpad token of the project for sale, so everyone can participate. You can also read a review about this project "What is Cradles? A potential AAA game project not to be missed" to understand more about the project and the potential it brings.

4.3. Shrapnel

Shrapnel is an extremely promising AAA game project set to be released this December. The project is expected to launch the game on the Epic Store platform. The project recently released its token in November and reached its all-time high (ATH) today. The project's attraction is extremely high.

*Shrapnel is available on the Epic Store*

Shrapnel is an extremely promising project. This project has received a massive investment of $37.5 million. This is a significant figure and positions it as one of the GameFi projects receiving substantial investment at the current time.

To play the game, players need to purchase packs available on the project's website. However, you can also search for or participate in community giveaways to receive free codes.

GM! pic.twitter.com/GOID4ZVw0Y
— SHRAPNEL 🔺 (@playSHRAPNEL) November 14, 2023

You can also learn more about the project through the article "What is Shrapnel? A potential GameFi project on Avalanche" to gain a better understanding of this game project.

4.4. Champions Ascension

Champions Ascension is an AAA game belonging to the PvP fighting genre, where players compete against each other. The game truly embodies the definition of skill. Players need to understand and master the skills of each character in the game to achieve victory.

Hình ảnh trong game Champions Ascension — *Images in the game Champions Ascension*

Currently, the project has released a Playtest version for everyone to freely download and experience the game. The project has not yet announced the rewards or the official launch date, but it is still garnering attention.

Champions Ascension has raised $32 million from the seed round with the sole participation of a16z. There is a high possibility that the project will continue to raise funds before its official launch. This will be seen as a good opportunity to monitor and seek opportunities from the project.

4.5. The Wildcard Alliance

WILDCARD is a game that falls into the MOBA genre, combining card mechanics. To paint a clear picture, players will control their characters and then deploy their Pets (cards) into specific positions to create strategies for these Pets to engage in combat and defeat enemies.

*Image from the game The Wildcard Alliance*

The project has launched its NFTs, but there's still no specific timeframe for the official product release. Currently, you can follow the project to stay updated on further information.

This is Wildcard, which has successfully raised $46 million in Series A funding led by Paradigm, along with participation from other investment funds such as Griffin Gaming Partners and Sabrina Hahn.

You can learn more about the project through this article: What is WILDCARD? A potential MOBA game project you should know about.

5. Conclusion

AAA games are gradually entering the Web3 market, accompanied by high-quality products that help attract users to Web3 even more.

The GameFi market in 2021 has faced doubts about the quality of game projects. However, in the future, with the increasingly strong development of AAA games, this market is expected to experience significant growth.

Above is a summary of information about AAA games and potential AAA game projects in the Web3 market. If you have further discussions, you can join the Bigcoin Vietnam group to seek better investment opportunities.

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