Former THQ boss Jason Rubin wrote a very interesting editorial over at GamesIndustry.biz about the conditions Metro: Last Light developers 4A Games were working under.
Rubin details how the dev team had to suffer through regular power outtages, cramped working conditions, difficulties in even getting equipment such as devkits without having to bribe officials (or have it seized and stolen). Rubin also said the team was working on a budget one tenth of what some of the competition had at their disposal.
"If 4A had been given a more competitive budget, in a saner environment, hadn't wasted a year-plus chasing the irrational requirement of THQ's original producers to fit multiplayer and co-op into the same deadline and budget(!), hadn't had to deal with the transition to a new publisher in the crucial few months before final, what could 4A have created?"
It's an interesting insight into the global conditions for game development, and perhaps something worth considering...