Rockstar, Naughty Dog, and Nintendo are "pushing the envelope of innovation with a AAA budget," says Split Fiction director: "You can do a big AAA title but also take innovative risks"

Ellie and Joel during The Last of Us.

Split Fiction and It Takes Two director Josef Fares is worried about the future of AAA games in the face of what he sees as a AA uprising, but he knows of a few extremely high-profile studios striking the right balance of big-budget production and boundary-pushing innovation.

Talking to The Game Business, Fares expressed concern that the massive success of AA games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was a sweep at the 2025 Game Awards, could spell trouble for the AAA industry. "I would not be able to live without a AAA title," he said. "I really want to play the blockbuster games."