When were you in the AAA world, Jonathan?
Love to hear more about your 2000-2005 paratrooper work at the AAA shops - have you discussed that at all anywhere?
I've always been interested in seeing how the really tough stuff gets done at AAA shops.
The parachute-in often happens for teams that don't have a whole staff of low-level engineers around. Either small studios using an off-the-shelf engine (that can still be customized), or studios in a large conglomerate. (EA e.g. used to be quite happy to ship experts around. At least back in my day.)