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Former Santa Monica Studio Boss Urges AAA Publishers To Fund Smaller Games

She frames diversification as a way to counter layoffs tied to costly triple-A bets.

Overview

  • Speaking to Game Developer at Gamescom Asia, Meghan Morgan Juinio said major publishers should add double‑A, single‑A and indie projects to their slates.
  • She stressed that blockbuster franchises such as Call of Duty and God of War still merit backing because their payoffs can be very large.
  • She connected waves of layoffs, cancellations, and studio closures to an overreliance on expensive triple‑A development and pandemic‑era short‑term thinking.
  • As workable models, she pointed to Astro Bot and Split Fiction, emphasizing shorter, lower‑budget development, including Astro Bot’s roughly three‑and‑a‑half‑year cycle.
  • She argued players increasingly value fun and strong hooks over graphics and scope, and voiced confidence that creativity will help the industry recover.