Kingdom Come director says AAA games are too expensive and slow in making

Daniel Vávra, co-founder of Warhorse Studios and creative director of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, recently spoke about the tough reality of modern game development. In an interview with journalist Christopher Dring, he shared his thoughts on the rising costs of AAA games, the fear of failure in big studios, and the future of game design.

Vávra believes major studios spend way too much time and money trying to avoid mistakes. They're so afraid of making the wrong move that they constantly rework parts of the game, which makes development more expensive and delays releases. He says this cautious approach can backfire — if a game takes too long to launch, the audience might move on or lose interest in that genre. His advice? Move faster, take risks, and don't be afraid to make smaller, cheaper games.

He also commented on the recent wave of layoffs and studio closures. While he sees it as a tragedy for developers, he hopes it pushes the industry to rethink how games are made and encourages fresh ideas.

Vávra admitted that making Deliverance II was a tough journey for him, both physically and mentally. The stress affected his health, forcing him to slow down. Even so, he still has plenty of ideas for future games and hopes that AI and new tools will help bring them to life more quickly.

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