Rework consumes 30 to 50 percent of software development effort, with reworked code costing 2.5 times first-pass development. Skull and Bones burned eight years and a reported 200 million dollars on unstable direction rather than slow execution. Faster generation increases work-in-flight volume when pivots land, increasing write-offs. Producers should measure rework rate, decision latency, and decision durability before tool speed.
Luke Dicken, former Head of AI at Take-Two, argues AI cannot fix broken fundamentals. He notes that AAA budget growth stems from repeated project resets and money spent on features that never ship. Dicken states, "No amount of automated asset generation is going to fix a broken steering wheel." The steering wheel remains the one uninstrumented component in game production.
Kotaku's investigation into Skull and Bones reveals a core premise changing at least four times, with three creative directors rewriting design. Headcount grew from roughly 100 in 2015 to 400 by 2019 while the game's direction remained unclear. One developer summarized the experience as "running around in a loop." By 2021, reported spend was 120 million; by launch, it neared 200 million.
Embracer quietly cancelled 29 unannounced games in six months during 2023. Each cancellation involved teams, decisions, and top-level mind changes. The ordinary version of this failure happens everywhere with no coverage. Nothing about it gets cheaper when the payroll works faster.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing