What are AAA games? Everything you need to know about Triple-A

There are several popular phrases and terms in gaming. One of the popular terms is “Triple-A” or “AAA”, You may have seen the term used for several games. Many people think that AAA is the classification of the game, but most people have no idea about it. So, I thought to write about AAA or Triple-A games in detail to give you an overview of it.

AAA games

AAA games refer to high-budget video games with a large development team, high production values, and extensive marketing campaigns. These games are often published by major video game companies and are considered one of the largest and most expensive games on the market. They aim to provide an immersive and polished gaming experience, with high-quality graphics, advanced gameplay mechanics, and a robust feature set. These games require a powerful system configuration to run properly. AAA PC games should include a powerful CPU and GPU.

AAA games typically have large development teams with hundreds of people working on a single game. It takes a long time in developing these games. Even after spending huge money and time, a AAA game can be a hit or miss.

There’s also a term AAA+ (Triple-A-Plus). It refers to a subset of AAA games that are the highest-selling or have the highest production values

It’s difficult to determine the exact first AAA game as the term “AAA” is more of a marketing label and doesn’t have a clear definition. However, games such as “Super Mario Bros.” (1985) and “The Legend of Zelda” (1986) for the Nintendo Entertainment System are often considered among the earliest games to set the standard for high-quality, big-budget gaming experiences. Another early example is “Doom” (1993) which popularized the first-person shooter genre and set new standards for graphics and game design in the 1990s.

Typical Budget For AAA Games

The typical budget for AAA games often ranges from tens of millions to over 100 million dollars. Some AAA games had even higher budgets. Some of the largest and most expensive games can have budgets exceeding 200 million dollars. The exact budget for a AAA game depends on several factors such as the size of the development team, the length of development time, the complexity of the game mechanics, and the level of marketing and promotion desired. The high costs of development for AAA games can also be offset by the potential for high sales and profit margins if the game is successful.

Some popular AAA Games:

If I try to make a list of all AAA games, it will be a really long list. I am just adding some notable and popular AAA games.

1. God Of War
2. Elden Ring
3. Total War Warhammer III
4. Elex II
5. Resident Evil Village
6. Halo Infinite
7. Ghost of Tsushima
8. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
9. Watch Dogs: Legion
10. Destiny 2
11. Grand Theft Auto V
12. The Last of Us Part II
13. Red Dead Redemption 2
14. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
15. Cyberpunk 2077
16. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
17. Doom Eternal
18. Tomb Raider (2013)
19. God of War (2018)
20. Spider-Man: Miles Morales.