Outsourcing is the norm in the modern game industry. For the average game, there is simply too much to be done in terms of programming, game design, asset creation, to manage under a single in-house production pipeline. I agree with your point on how outsourcing can lead to blurred development visions. It reminds me of when Square Enix pulled the plug on CyberConnect2 for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project. With this project being a 10+ year investment regarding their biggest IP, I think they made the right call to do it in-house instead, as the vision simply had to be perfect. Furthermore, It's another interesting topic! The average consumer still thinks Nintendo makes the Smash Bros. and Pokémon games lol. That being said, most outsourcing is done within the context of co-development. So where a game like you mention, SF4, was largely programmed and playtested within Dimps, the "important" shots were still being called by Capcom producers, Art Directors, etc. With this in mind, I agree there will always be a loss of vision the bigger (and more divided) a development team gets, but in my opinion the degree to which this happens will largely depend on the level of mutual communication between critical parties.
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Outsourcing is the norm in the modern game industry. For the average game, there is simply too much to be done in terms of programming, game design, asset creation, to manage under a single in-house production pipeline. I agree with your point on how outsourcing can lead to blurred development visions. It reminds me of when Square Enix pulled the plug on CyberConnect2 for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project. With this project being a 10+ year investment regarding their biggest IP, I think they made the right call to do it in-house instead, as the vision simply had to be perfect.
Furthermore, It's another interesting topic! The average consumer still thinks Nintendo makes the Smash Bros. and Pokémon games lol. That being said, most outsourcing is done within the context of co-development. So where a game like you mention, SF4, was largely programmed and playtested within Dimps, the "important" shots were still being called by Capcom producers, Art Directors, etc. With this in mind, I agree there will always be a loss of vision the bigger (and more divided) a development team gets, but in my opinion the degree to which this happens will largely depend on the level of mutual communication between critical parties.