AAA GAME ART STUDIO

AAA, also called triple-A, is a special term in the video game industry for large, high-budget projects. They are usually intended for a mass audience, are large in scale and scope (open world, many locations, quests, side activities, etc.), and require huge development and marketing costs.

AAA game development services are usually provided by experienced game studios with a solid track record of game development. However, individual elements of triple-A games (art, animation, interface, game design, etc.) are now often outsourced to studios around the world. Many of them are experienced enough to cover certain AAA production stages. This greatly speeds up development than if a AAA game were developed by a single in-house team.

Of course, AAA game developers and artists must have relevant experience with the so-called AAA art. In fact, it is the same 3D art, but as realistic and detailed as possible. Usually AAA art is done by senior-level artists.

The steps for creating AAA art are the same steps for creating classic 3D art:

1. Blocking. This is the very beginning of the model creation. The artist creates its silhouette using basic geometric shapes and gradually giving them the shape of a future model.
2. Sculpting. Having received some smooth model without details at the previous stage, here the artist adds nuances: muscles, skin pores, etc.
3. Retopology. At this stage, the artist needs to reduce the number of polygons of the model obtained at the previous stage, while maintaining its main details.
4. UV mapping. The mapping procedure involves transferring volumetric forms to a plane so that textures can be placed on them.
5. Baking. At this stage, the artist transfers the detail from the high-poly model to the low-poly one using special maps.
6. Texturing. At this stage, the resulting model takes on color – the artist imposes a texture on it using a physically based render – PBR.
7. Rigging. This stage refers to the preparation of the finished model for animation and consists in creating a  skeleton with joints and bones that will make the model move.
8. Animation. After the rigging is completed, the animators create the necessary movements, taking into account the specifics of the game tasks and the goals assigned to the model.

Hiring a reliable AAA artist is a big challenge. It is necessary to check portfolios and make sure that specialists have already worked with assets of the highest quality. Only then will you be able to hire an AAA artist who can definitely help you.

The best way to hire AAA artists is to contact an outsourcing company. There, all the necessary experts are formed by teams – environment artists, character artists, hard surface artists, etc. You just need to tell your requirements and the company itself will select the necessary experts of the required level.

The most common form of work on AAA projects is outsourcing. There are many reasons for this:

1. Access to the talent pool. AAA outsourcing company can immediately provide you with the right specialists to work on AAA art.
2. Saving money. Hiring AAA specialists from an outsourcing company will cost you less than finding, training, and training an in-house worker.
3. High work speed. Outsourcing company specialists can get to work immediately, they have all the necessary tools and technologies to get started.

Whether you are looking for an AAA game art studio for mobile games, console, or PC, outsourcing is an option to consider.

The process of developing AAA games is a long and expensive story. The development stages are a lot like standard pre-production, production, and post-production, except that AAA games have a few quirks. Many give the three A’s three different meanings:

• A lot of time – AAA games can be developed for years, from 3 to 10 or even more.
• A lot of resources – it usually takes a team of at least 100 experts to make a AAA game.
• A lot of money – we can talk about an average of $100 million needed to develop a AAA game.

Most modern AAA games are sequels, prequels, or remakes of famous games. This approach provides developers with risk-free access to a market full of dedicated fans of well-known franchises. AAA games from scratch are much rarer and are usually a long-awaited surprise that warms up the public for a certain period of time before release.

A good triple-A game will take at least three years to develop. This period is the average of the well-known AAA games: The Last of Us, GTA V, Elden Ring, and others.

• Pre-production, that is, the creation of a game design document, concept, and prototype, can take up to a year.
• The longest stage in the creation of a AAA game is production. It takes from one to several years. Sometimes games fall into the so-called development hell, when development is significantly delayed for various reasons.
• Post-production can also take a long time, especially if the developers noticed that the game engine could be updated or the players reacted negatively to certain elements shown in the trailers. On average, it can also take up to a year.

The main factors that affect the cost of development include the scale of the game, the size of the team, the required deadlines, and so on. You can get in touch with our professionals if you want to get an estimate for an AAA game development project.