“It’s already 2022, how come the picture quality of domestic games is still at the level of more than ten years ago?”

“When will we be able to release a domestic 3A game? Masterpiece? "

In the past few years, whenever a domestic game comes out, the term "AAA masterpiece" appears in my ears like a ghost from time to time. The ardent expectations for domestic 3A game masterpieces seem to be trapped in some kind of crazy emotion.

3A is the English abbreviation, which means a large amount of resources, a large amount of costs, and a large amount of money. It was a concept originally proposed by the United States.

It is a relatively broad content, mainly considered from aspects such as game R&D funds, team size, and R&D cycle. What's more, some people have further refined the indicators to include the number of polygons, ray tracing, number of interactive pieces, number of texts, etc.

No matter how it is defined, there are no specific quantitative indicators for AAA game masterpieces. Whether it is a AAA game or not depends entirely on feeling. If you think it is, then it is.

"The Witcher 3", "GTA 5", "Red Dead Redemption" and "Detroit Become Human" are all recognized AAA masterpieces. As for "Yakuza", "Mount and Blade", "Quantum Break" and "Beyond Two" Players have different opinions on whether it is considered a AAA masterpiece or not.

Although 3A is a borrowed word, it is far less popular abroad than imagined. We are here to play games, as long as the games are fun, as for whether you are 3A or not, what does this have to do with me?

What's more, there are many 3A masterpieces that have overturned in recent years. 3A does not mean that the overall quality of the game is higher than others. For example, the 2021 TGA best game "Two People" is not a 3A masterpiece.

So how did the term 3A become so popular in China? Why is it linked to the four words "domestic games"?

The first thing you need to know is that the term 3A mostly appears in the field of console games in China. As for mobile games and web games, they have nothing to do with 3A, and players don’t have much interest in learning about so-called 3A masterpieces.

Console players, or stand-alone game players, are also the group of players who have the closest connection with 3A because they are often exposed to foreign masterpieces.

Today’s players have two polar views on the achievements of domestic games.

The positive view is that a large number of domestic mobile games are sold overseas, occupying various lists and creating a large amount of foreign exchange. This is an exciting thing, indicating that domestic games are recognized by overseas players.

The negative view is that no matter how good a mobile game is, it is just a money-making game, a trick to cheat money, and cannot form an excellent cultural output. What we need are high-quality 3A masterpieces like "God of War 4" and "The Last of Us".

In the words of netizens, 3A masterpieces are a symbol of strength. Only by making a true 3A masterpiece can domestically produced games be called a brand, worthy of our status in the world, can foreign players think highly of us, and can we form a real cultural output.

I can understand this idea very well. The games on handheld consoles, arcades, and console platforms that we have been exposed to since childhood were almost monopolized by Europe, the United States, and Japan. After a long time, more than 20 years ago, domestic stand-alone games had A golden period was ruined by piracy.

I won’t talk about things that are too far away, let’s just talk about the past ten years. We experience the feast of Chinese culture prepared by Japan for us from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", experience Japanese culture from "Nioh" and "Ghost of Tsushima", experience American culture from "GTA" and "Red Dead Redemption", and experience the American culture from "The Witcher 3" 》Experience Polish culture, experience Nordic culture from "The Elder Scrolls 5", and even learn about Southeast Asian culture from "Town of Terror", not to mention the "Assassin's Creed" series...

I have played it all Domestic console players who have various 3A game masterpieces don’t want to see 3A masterpieces created by us in front of the screen one day? Especially after seeing various Chinese cultural elements that have been modified by foreigners, this idea has become stronger and stronger.

In recent years, the number of Chinese players on STEAM and PS platforms has been increasing, and many excellent foreign masterpieces have entered our field of vision. Against the background of the proliferation of money-making mobile games in China, domestic 3A masterpieces are calling for Getting higher and higher.

In order to gain traffic and popularity, some self-media and game manufacturers catered to this call and began to frequently hype the concept of "AAA masterpieces", and even the saying "AAA will prosper the country" has emerged.

In recent years, domestic stand-alone masterpieces, whether they are "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3", "Legend of Sword and Fairy 7", or "Fantasy of Divine Dance" and "Xuanyuan Sword 7", will be used to compete with 3A masterpieces In comparison, even niche games like "Destiny 2" will be complained about that the picture quality cannot keep up with the times.

On a certain website, someone compared the detailed textures and scene renderings of "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3" and "The Witcher 3", and then concluded that domestic games are all fun and want 3A masterpieces , wait for the next life.

There are many such nonsensical reviews, but they deliberately ignore the fact that the research and development funds of "The Witcher 3" are 80 million US dollars, the core development staff is 250, and the total participation There are as many as 1,500 people involved in research and development. There are almost no domestic stand-alone games with R&D costs exceeding 100 million yuan, and even fewer teams with more than 100 people.

Nowadays, many players in China place the responsibility of producing 3A game masterpieces on stand-alone games such as "Sword of Immortality" and "Gu Jian Qi Tan". Little do they know that Daewoo Corporation and NetEase Tang are the developers of these games. , in the ranking of domestic game companies, it is not even ranked in the top twenty.

On the contrary, foreign companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, which are rich in 3A masterpieces, are all leading companies in the gaming industry. They have abundant funds and experience to carry this banner.

So, what is the reason that makes you believe that domestic "third-rate" game companies such as Daewoo and NetEase can produce a triple-A game masterpiece? Do you use love to generate electricity, or do you believe in miracles?

The former "AAA masterpiece" was a spurring force. However, under the exaggeration of various emotions, this force turned into an expanding force, a reminder, and a life-threatening talisman. A bowl of poison.

This feeling becomes stronger and stronger especially after seeing that the work "Black Myth Wukong", which has not yet been released, has been infinitely promoted by many people and reached a precarious height.

I don’t know how many game companies there are in China today. In order to cater to players’ growing sentiment for “domestic 3A masterpieces”, they do things that are beyond their capabilities and financial scope.

This is not a child’s play house. You can start over. Once it overturns, it will be insignificant to big companies such as Tencent and NetEase, but for companies like Daewoo and NetEase, it will be ruined. disaster.

Everything changes through a process. High-risk projects such as AAA masterpieces may not be suitable for the current domestic game environment. Things that are too deliberate are often counterproductive. No game company has the obligation to provide players with cheap products. Emotions to pay the bill.

Compared with 3A masterpieces, works similar to "Guigu Bahuang", "Taiwu Scroll" and "Chinese Parent" are more like a trajectory suitable for copying.

Forget the so-called 3A masterpieces. Today’s domestic games no longer need to use 3A masterpieces to prove themselves. In other words, we never need to use games to prove how powerful we are.

Perhaps one day, when we no longer miss 3A masterpieces, domestic games will truly rise?