You can use “a tenth” of the AAA “$400 million budget” and still get “not so different results” if you do it right, RuneScape CEO says: “We’ve seen that from Clair Obscur and a bunch of others”
By Anna Koselke
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Old School RuneScape
You can use “a tenth” of the AAA “$400 million budget” and still get “not so different results” if you do it right, RuneScape CEO says: “We’ve seen that from Clair Obscur and a bunch of others”
Anna Koselke
24 September 2025
“I think that that is a guiding light for many”
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(Image credit: Jagex)
When it comes to developing hit games, plenty of studios with so-called indie or AA budgets have emerged successful in recent years – and Jon Bellamy, newly appointed CEO of RuneScape creator Jagex, says they serve as proof that it’s not all about AAA money.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Game Business, Bellamy looks to new smash-hit gems like Clair Obcur: Expedition 33 – a game that notably wasn’t developed with a huge AAA budget or team behind it. “You can take a $400 million budget – and there’s not many of them left – but you can still take a swing with that kind of thing,” he states, “but you can also take a swing with a tenth of that and deliver not so different results if you get it right.”
He’s right – and there are various new games that support this idea, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 being just one (hell, I personally instantly think of titles like Hollow Knight: Silksong, which aren’t even AA but prove successful). “We’ve seen that from Clair Obscur and a bunch of others recently,” as Bellamy puts it, “and I think that that is a guiding light for many who might have been a bit disheartened coming out of a big studio.”
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads predict rise in “AA-class games” as production costs reach ridiculous heights, say only GTA 6 maker Rockstar “is able to meet that demand”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio is “just the right size” for a “full-priced turn-based RPG,” so don’t expect its success to lead to AAA ambitions: “I’d prefer working as a small team”
“The French make wine and the Germans make cars and Jagex makes RuneScape”: In 5 years, new CEO wants RuneScape to be at least “the second biggest MMO” in the West behind World of Warcraft, and says “we’re already very close to that”
This isn’t the first time Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Interactive has been praised for its stellar work on the RPG – in fact, former PlayStation head Shuhei Yoshida called the game a “perfect balance” of AAA ambition, AA budget, and “independent vision” earlier this year. Sandfall COO and producer François Meurisse also spoke on the topic of AAA budgets himself, saying games backed by big money don’t always work.
“There are plenty of games made with very large teams and for huge amounts of money that don’t land,” the lead had admitted, “and there is a human cost to running things that way.” He certainly wasn’t wrong – and judging by what Bellamy and other devs have said after seeing games with smaller budgets, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, explode in success, I’d say it truly doesn’t have to be all about the money.
“The French make wine and the Germans make cars and Jagex makes RuneScape”: In 5 years, new CEO wants RuneScape to be at least “the second biggest MMO” in the West behind World of Warcraft, and says “we’re already very close to that”
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Anna Koselke
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Staff Writer
After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms’ clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she’s not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she’s probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she’s spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you’ll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads predict rise in “AA-class games” as production costs reach ridiculous heights, say only GTA 6 maker Rockstar “is able to meet that demand”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio is “just the right size” for a “full-priced turn-based RPG,” so don’t expect its success to lead to AAA ambitions: “I’d prefer working as a small team”
“The French make wine and the Germans make cars and Jagex makes RuneScape”: In 5 years, new CEO wants RuneScape to be at least “the second biggest MMO” in the West behind World of Warcraft, and says “we’re already very close to that”
“Most players have no idea” how much games cost to make and “everything’s more expensive than people think,” devs say, as indie hits like Balatro are “the exception”
Space Marine 2 publisher praises Oblivion Remastered, FromSoftware, and the “Frenchy friends” on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as proof “the industry remains powerful” despite layoffs and studio closures
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is “a strong signal” that players don’t just want live-service games, BioWare veteran says, but GTA 6’s success will be a real indicator of the industry
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