Head of Strange Scaffold: The eight-year game development cycle feels chaotic and disorganized
The founder and head of the indie studio Strange Scaffold, Xalavier Nelson Jr., explained why he is more drawn to games developed in two years rather than those that take five years in production.
I Am Your Beast — one of the games from Strange Scaffold
In an interview with GamesRadar+, Nelson Jr. noted that a long development time does not guarantee quality.
“Today, I am more attracted to games made in two years because, in this case, I understand that someone in the studio definitely knew what they were doing and focused on realizing their vision with the team,” Nelson Jr. stated.
According to him, the five to eight-year production cycle typical of the AAA industry feels “chaotic” and disorganized. Such projects often experience changes in leadership or creative vision, which adds additional chaos and extends development time.
“In the case of many games made over five years, the developers spent three to four years trying to figure out what game they even wanted to make, and then had a year left to put it all together,” Nelson Jr. noted.