Not to be an ass, no idea what it was like working under xbox. But 7 years of dev time for South of Midnight is already pretty slow tbh.
Wasn’t it a highly narrative, stylistically polished game with hour and hour of voice acting, cutscenes and animation, and set pieces?
Do you realize what it takes to make all of that, and make it consistent?
Now imagine the tech keeps changing as you are working, and you have to keep revising over and over until you release. It’s not just putting a movie to film, you’re aiming for a moving target and if your aim was off 3-5 years ago, you have reintegration hell awaiting you. And that’s normal, without missteps or rewrites.
Honestly I’m surprised it only takes 7 years.
If that's how it is, I don't see how games like that can be sustainable.
