While the philosophy is always interesting on what an original thought is, in this context most folks use terms like "truly creative" as a proxy for "something folks enjoy that doesn't feel like a copy of something else". Emphasis on _feel_.

yea, if thats the case then I feel that AAA studios release creative things all the time. GTA for example, Alyx to name two. I guess it is always easier to buy creativity when you are a giant studio.

The most recently released GTA game is over a decade old, it's a big stretch for it to fit "nowadays".

Even Alyx is 6 years old, if that's your best example of an innovative AAA game, you're already in trouble.

What, Alyx is literally "Half-Life, but in VR". It's fiarly polished but the concept is not creative at all. They barely even pushed the overall series plot forward and there's like one whopping new character.

I agree.

The required investment is just a lot larger in AAA. So just from a risk management perspective, people look to reduce the risk level.

Doesn’t really lend itself to creativity unless people involved have a track record.