Sometimes it’s hard to understand just how much goes into making a video game of outstanding quality; hell, even semi-bad quality. Metro: Last Light was released yesterday from 4A Games. The new title beat some tough odds and can compete with other AAA titles’ standards despite emerging from Kiev, Ukraine.
What does that mean exactly? Jason Rubin, former THQ executive, went into detail about how Metro: Last Light made it out of Europe under unprincipled conditions. Games take a lot of time and money and, knowing this, the developers at 4A Games stuck hard and fast to their schedule and considerably small budget despite snow storms, consistent power outages, and lack of supplies.
It’s easy to forget that people are more capable than we think; there may be obstacles, but people find ways to make it work.
4A Games didn’t have all the machinery or materials they needed, so they had to essentially smuggle the missing components over the border to prevent customs officials from stealing them. Here, the bigger companies can order a computer without batting an eye and it’ll be shipped the same day, while in Ukraine their pieces had to be shipped from the US.
What 4A produced was a spectacle, especially coming from such an inauspicious context. However, Rubin argues that, had THQ provided “a more competitive budget, in a saner environment” without “the irrational requirement[s] of THQ’s original producers,” 4A Games may have produced something even more gargantuan and successful with the talent they already have. It’s the ever captivating “What if?” question.
Rubin also asks, “Why should we care?” We should care because games don’t just come out of thin air. Developers sprout from all over the world, sometimes in more fortunate places than others. But when a group creates a high-quality game in the face of adversity, it should make you think for a second: if they can do that in their circumstances, what can you do in yours?
You can read Rubin’s entire article on 4A‘s story here.
