Former Assassin's Creed Director Alexandre Amancio Shares Insights on Revitalizing AAA Game Development

Alexandre Amancio, the former creative director of Assassin's Creed, recently gave a presentation at DevGAMM Lisbon, discussing the current state of AAA game development and potential solutions. Amancio emphasized that the key to fixing AAA development is to acknowledge the problem and be willing to ask questions. He noted that making games is a complex, dynamic process, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Amancio suggested that smaller teams, similar to those found in the film industry, could be more effective. He also discussed the importance of finding 'choke points' to collapse complexity and having 'floodgates' to manage the workflow. Amancio expressed his preference for working with smaller teams, citing the example of the film industry, where core teams are assembled for specific projects. He also highlighted the benefits of co-dev and outsourcing, particularly for self-contained modules within a game. Amancio shared his experience working on Assassin's Creed, noting that the series' traditional formula could be adapted to incorporate more systemic gameplay elements. He also discussed the challenges of feature creep and the importance of filtering ideas through the project's core pillars. Amancio emphasized the value of constraints in driving creativity and innovation, and he suggested that reusing assets or locations could be a viable approach, as long as it's done honestly and with the audience's expectations in mind.