Alright, let’s just be real for a second. Not every game needs to be a marathon. I’m talking about these AAA titles that stretch themselves out for no reason—games that clock in at 40 to 100 hours, and they act like that’s some kind of achievement. I get it, you want to flex your expansive world, but at some point, it’s just a flex on me to finish. Take the Yakuza series, where you’re looking at a minimum of 40 to 80 hours of your life. Or those RPG Assassin’s Creed games? A bloated 40 to 60 hours, and the worst part is, it feels like you’re playing the same 10 minutes of content over and over. What are we doing here? I didn’t sign up for a second job.
Now, contrast that with something like Astro Bot, which is a game that isn’t afraid to be compact. Team Asobi studio head, Nicolas Doucet, said, “From the start, we were in the mindset that it’s OK to make a compact game… it’s OK to make a small game.” That right there is the voice of reason, my friends. Can we get more of this thinking, please? Games that are 10 to 16 hours long—just enough time to enjoy the experience without feeling like I’m doing an entire job search in the digital world.
And guess what? Smaller games can be just as high quality as those bloated ones. There’s no law that says a game has to be as long as your aunt’s holiday dinner just to be considered “epic.” We’re living in a time when indie games are proving that shorter, tighter experiences can have just as much impact. But for some reason, the big studios have got to make everything a sprawling epic. It’s like, “Oh, you want a new game? Cool, here’s a 200-hour saga. Hope you’ve got nothing else to do for the next three months.”
The thing is, this bloating problem isn’t just a nuisance for players. It’s a nightmare for the developers too. Longer games mean longer dev times, higher budgets, and—let’s be real—more crunch. Crunch culture is a real problem in the industry, and a lot of it comes from the fact that we think more hours equals more value. But what if less was more? Shorter games mean lower costs, less pressure on developers, and new titles hitting the market more quickly. That is the future. And if Astro Bot can prove that, maybe it could kick off a whole new movement.
Look, I’m not saying all long games are bad. Hell, I loved Red Dead Redemption 2. I was in that world for weeks. Persona 5? A straight-up classic. Cyberpunk 2077? All right, it needed some polish, but the heart of it? I’m there for the long haul. But even in those, there’s something about the richness of the world that justifies the time. But then you get games like the Assassin’s Creed series. Huge maps, side quests that go on forever, but here’s the thing—the main story is like 10% of the content. The rest of it is just, “Hey, go collect a hundred feathers” or “Hey, go kill 5 bears.” Come on, that’s just padding.
And don’t even get me started on Starfield. A game that promises the stars, but ends up giving you a whole bunch of filler. The main story could be wrapped up in, like, 23 hours—if they just took out all the cookie-cutter temples and the light-catching tasks. You’re running around the galaxy, doing the same stuff over and over, hoping for something interesting to pop up. If you cut out the fluff? You’d probably finish the game before lunch.
But publishers are making it like this is the only game you’ll ever play. “Hey, you want value for your money? Here’s a game that’ll last you a lifetime—if you want to abandon everything else in your life.” It’s a nice thought, but my schedule isn’t made of infinite hours, and I’m not trying to be locked in your digital prison for months. Gamers like variety! We want to jump from one experience to another, not commit to one game that eats up every waking hour.
Now, I’m not saying all games should be 10 hours and done. Some games need to be long. But the reality is that some of these AAA titles could easily be trimmed down. They could keep the quality, cut out the filler, and make the experience more digestible. People have lives outside of gaming. You’ve got work, relationships, eating… you know, life. It’s about time game developers realize that not everyone has the time to pour 100 hours into every game that comes out.
The truth is: Astro Bot isn’t just a cute game. It’s a rallying cry. We need more bite-sized, high-quality games from big studios. Make it good, keep it tight, and give players something they can actually finish without their backs aching and their brains fried.
Maybe the revolution won’t be televised, but it might be a 12-hour game with no unnecessary filler. And I’m here for it.
