Thompson: HD Asset Costs Forced Game Developers Cross-Platform
Ben Thompson · Ben Thompson Explains the XBOX Disaster · Jul 8, 2026 · at 11:02
Ben Thompson (Stratechery) analyzes how the shift to HD gaming altered the economics of third-party console development.
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“Asset creation at HD was way more difficult, way more expensive than it was for standard-deficit TVs. And so the economic imperative for developers came, we can't just be on PlayStation. We need to be on everything, and so that was the ultimate generation, and almost every game was made to run everywhere. Run on PS three, run on Xbox three 60, and run on the PC”
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