Ex-Anthem producer: AAA industry is in a "really dangerous place" as budgets balloon

Mark Darrah, former executive producer on Anthem and Dragon Age at BioWare, says AAA development has become "hyper-fragile" due to over-specialisation. He estimates a one-month delay for a 500-person team adds $5–10m to the budget, and predicts a market "bifurcation" where GTA 6 and a handful of others pull away while the rest scale down.

• Darrah: a one-month delay for a 500-person team costs $5–10m
• He says no single person can add anything to a AAA game — it takes at least five
• Prediction: GTA 6, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty and Battlefield join the top tier
• BioWare cited as a casualty: Veilguard hit 1.5m players vs 3m planned