(From the NYTimes via archive.is. If you want the fancy graphics at the top, here's the original link.)
Really good piece at how the high cost of graphics is in conflict with what the majority of game players actually care about. One bit that stood out is just how much filmed/passive content there is in these games now:
In 2007, the first Assassin’s Creed provided more than 2.5 hours of footage for a fan edit of the game’s narrative. As the series progressed, so did Ubisoft’s taste for cinema. Like many studios, it increasingly leaned on motion-capture animators who could create scenes using human actors on soundstages. A fan edit of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which was released in 2020, lasted about 23 hours — longer than two seasons of “Game of Thrones.”