Thomas Mahler Calls Out the Decline of AAA Studios and Nails the Problem Behind Modern Gaming’s Struggles
Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios, recently tweeted a scathing critique of the AAA game industry, identifying a decline that he sees as inevitable, while also highlighting why no one should expect improvement of it any time soon. Mahler’s tweet points to an industry plagued by issues of scale, culture loss, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and obsessions with rapid expansion...
For anyone familiar with Mahler, his words carry weight—this is the same dude who publicly dismantled Kotaku’s Alyssa Mercante, showing himself to be not only a source of sharp industry insight but also a true no-nonsense leader who doesn’t shy away from speaking the truth - no matter what some jaded agenda-pushing activists try to narrate...
In his latest tweet, Mahler dives into the reasons AAA studios have struggled... and explains why their downward trajectory is far from over. In fact, in a way, what we are seeing right now, is just the beginning. His perspective shines a light on how industry dynamics shift as companies grow, altering what originally made them great in the first place.
A Culture Built on Friendship and Passion, Not Corporate Agendas
Mahler opens by explaining why so many beloved studios have fallen short of their past successes:
“Most of the game studios out there that hit it big were at one point just a small group of passionate folks that wanted to make games together. In a lot of cases they were just friends.”
He draws attention to an essential factor in any creative industry—the magic that comes from a tight-knit team with a shared passion. When studios are founded on such authentic connections, they create games that resonate deeply with players, often because they’re the result of a pure creative vision.
However, as many studios grow, they invite an influx of new (and 'diverse') employees and external demands, often shifting from creative passion to meeting corporate objectives. As Mahler continues
“Then the games they created struck a chord and now they scale up and become a massive studio. And then lots of other folks come in and demand this and that and unknowingly change the culture.”
It’s a familiar story: the studio expands, and suddenly the vision is diluted, bent to satisfy a broader audience, shareholders, and market trends. The magic fades, and the quality dips.
The Music Industry Analogy—Why Expanding Kills the Vibe
Mahler’s analogy to bands like The Beatles is spot-on...
It underscores the incompatibility between creative synergy and forced expansion. He imagines a world where a record label demands that John, Paul, George, and Ringo
“hire Lisa, Steward, Shane, and Mary and have them be part of the songwriting team… and, of course, these new folks should have the same say because otherwise we might just face diversity issues.”
It’s an exaggeration that nevertheless rings powerfully true in today’s game industry, where the pressure to "diversify" teams for PR purposes or to speed up production has become commonplace.
By bringing in noobs who lack the same history or passion, companies disrupt the balance that once allowed creative teams to excel. There is definitely something to the whole 'industry being invaded by activists' thing. These activists might THINK they like games, but deep down, they know they've stepped foot in the industry for other reasons to prioritize.
Mahler’s comparison to The Beatles illustrates how disruptive it is when outsiders are pushed into a creative mix without the same shared goals. Games lose their essence, becoming products of committee decisions rather than pure artistic expression.
The Industry’s Disregard for Human Factors
In one of the most biting parts of his message, Mahler comments:
“You have to keep that magic alive that made it all work in the first place. We’re dealing with humans here and all too often the industry seems to forget that.”
This remark right here exposes THE fundamental problem in the game industry’s mindset. In the race to scale up to be as big as possible, studios are treating developers as replaceable cogs in a machine, assuming that any talent can replicate the success of the original team. This mechanical approach to game development forgets the human element that initially sparked success.
We’ve seen the devastating effects of this trend across numerous studios that once produced groundbreaking games but now churn out forgettable titles. The lack of respect for the “magic” Mahler describes means that instead of fostering environments where people feel connected and valued with innate passion, studios now instead push deadlines, add unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, and alienate the original team.
...It’s no wonder so many AAA titles today feel hollow.
Thomas Mahler: Industry Truth-Teller and Game Development Chad
Mahler has proven himself unafraid to hold a mirror to the industry. When he dismantled Kotaku’s Alyssa Mercante, he showed he’s not one to mince words or bow to the mainstream media narrative.
Mercante’s attacks on Mahler revealed a lack of understanding game industry intricacies, and Mahler... didn’t hesitate to expose it. Now, this tweet critiques the state of AAA gaming with equal boldness, asserting that the industry has lost sight of what made it great in the first place.
Mahler’s voice is vital as it speaks to both developers and fans frustrated by the current direction of AAA studios. While he doesn’t hold back on the problems, he also implicitly issues a challenge: remember the humanity behind the art. Emphasizing culture, creativity, and the original spark, Mahler, like many other gamers, want a return to the basics—an ethos that values people over profits and innovation over sheer output.
A Call for Change in the Game Industry
Thomas Mahler’s tweet isn’t just a critique; it’s a manifesto for what the gaming industry could be if it remembered its roots. As he points out, until studios start prioritizing keeping the actual “magic” alive, AAA gaming will continue its unfortunate descent into mediocrity. The industry needs MORE leaders who, like Mahler, value artistic vision over market share, who champion culture over corporate demands. Shout down these insidious attempts at injecting DEI, pushing ESG scores, prioritizing "equality" over QUALITY.
It’s time for studios to listen up: the industry is struggling, and as long as profit is prioritized over passion, the quality—and integrity—of games will suffer. Gamers have extended backlogs, and if these companies don't start making decisions to change, the decision to fail will be made for them.
~Smash
I think what really needs to happen is that the Wokeness virus needs to be purged out of gaming companies because it is literally destroying these companies
He's speaking the truth it's why Hideo Kojima created his own studio. We need more people like mahler. To remind these developers why they got into the game industry in the first place