[Jensson]

> Most game studios from that time wouldn't qualify as AAA today.

They were still far larger than todays indie studios, todays indies are making great games but the kind of budget novel ideas had back then rarely exist for novel games today.

[MayeulC]

That's probably true in both gaming and cinema, as the genre becomes better known, and the unexplored possibilities space becomes smaller.

Still, there are AA games studios, even if most have been swallowed due to market consolidation lately.

GSC Game world (300 employees, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.), Team 17 (200 employees, worms, overcooked, escapists), PopCap games, etc.

But I kind of prove your point as most I can fit in the above list mostly churn out sequels to their previously succesful titles.

On the other hand, making good and technically impressive games has become easier and cheaper over the past two decades, with indies often reaching or going above the bar placed by AAA studios back then.

Tunic was made by a single developer, for instance.