[johnnyanmac]

Well Balatro didn't so it's not hopeless.

I don't think gamedev was ever simple, but I do believe the process can be streamlined. From my experience the biggest choke point (outside of keeping everyone aligned properly) is asset production. Arguably the most important aspect to make games sell, but the 3d asset pipeline has only gotten more complex.

If you can streamline on that (and stay lean as a team) I imagine you can dramatically shorten development.