Calm Before the Storm
The gaming industry, with over 3 billion gamers worldwide, is undeniably the most valuable sector in the entertainment business. However, that doesn’t mean its growth has been smooth sailing. On the contrary, the last two years have been particularly challenging, with the industry grappling with significant hurdles, so much so that 2024 felt like a survival mode year for many.
The rise of AI in game design, a global economic crisis, and the skyrocketing costs of game production and promotion have forced developer studios to make difficult decisions. Unfortunately, this has included widespread cost-cutting measures, such as layoffs, leaving many wondering about the future of the industry.
Yet, 2025 is being heralded as a year of recovery, a chance for the gaming sector to get back on track. Will the industry bounce back and reclaim its upward trajectory?
Here are my predictions and key trends for the gaming world in 2025.
AAA Games Face Sustainability Crisis
The current AAA gaming scene demands an ever-increasing amount of budget – bear in mind that three games from the Call of Duty series (Black Ops 3, Cold War and Modern Warfare) were reported to cost between $450-$700 million each, and Spider-Man 2 cost surpassed $300 million (3 times the cost of the first edition). These insanely large budgets need an even greater ROI. Sometimes taking the risk becomes a spectacular flop at the very start of the franchise’s history, or a slow burn leading to a miserable conclusion.
It looks like the AAA studios are starting to learn from this trend, with Sony announcing a departure from their plans to create several live-service versions of their flagship titles, and smaller (but not small) creators like Remedy showing that a less spectacular, but more sustainable production model may indeed be the way into the future.
2025 Indie Gaming Scene will Prevail
Where the big game studios can’t deliver, indie game developers come up with fantastic ideas, becoming bigger than the triple-A titles themselves and setting new trends in the industry repeatedly before. This has been a case for 2024 as well, where titles like Palworld, Nine Sols, Another Crab’s Treasure and Dave the Diver have earned their places in the top seller charts.
As games become more accessible, ideas and community interaction are valued more than ever, we don’t expect this to change either. Not with the fact that not only 80% of indie gamers are more likely to seek out communities, bringing likeminded people together to bond over but also with game development tools like DevOps becoming more accessible.
A New World of Virtual and Augmented Reality?
The VR/AR tech that launched several years ago is now becoming more accessible and affordable than ever to a point where it is expected to rise from 16.77 billion USD in 2023 to 237 billion USD by 2032. The main driving forces are investment, education, training, and, of course, entertainment.
Many gaming companies have turned their eyes at investing into VR/AR, including this leak on Valve headset, a company that has attempted to pioneer many innovations. Even if the rumours might not be true, one thing is for sure and that is how we will see far more games adapted into virtual reality throughout the year.
There are also plenty of games you can buy and play today, immersing in amazing worlds. From Beat Saber to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Phasmophobia to Superhot or No Man’s Sky.
Diversity in the Gaming Scene
As gaming becomes more popular, the need for diversity also increases. Today, out of the total online population, 72% of women play video games. A noticeable portion, making up 38%, also identify as core gamers as well. Within the game industry, this also can be seen by how The Last of Us II, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Cyberpunk 2077 and recently, Alan Wake 2 have featured strong female characters.
NCSoft’s president Songyee Yoon also highlights the importance of representation not only behind the screens but during the game development as well, emphasising different perspectives and stories that can be told through diversity in workplaces. As gaming grows, we can expect to see not only more diversity in games, communities but also the narratives.
Bigger, Better and More Frequent Events
With the pandemic, gaming influencers have exploded in popularity, where they tripled in value between 2019 to 2023, reaching 21.1 billion USD. Not only has this been on the rise, but it is not looking like it is going to slow down any time soon either. We see more games that advertise through YouTube shorts or TikTok and it has become one of the most effective ways of promotion.
This means we are to prepare for more collaborations between games and influencers, like the Ali-A and Ninja skins for Fortnite, where they have even hosted celebrities like Bruno Mars or Marshmello. Not to forget Snoop Dog in Call of Duty: Warzone or the iconic Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 reveal. We can expect to see more in-game or offline events, familiar faces and takeovers in 2025.
Looking Forward
2025 is off to an incredibly strong start, with the return of some classic titles like Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Monster Hunter: Wilds. However, one long-awaited release is set to keep gamers on the edge of their seats: GTA VI. If all goes smoothly with development, Grand Theft Auto VI is poised to shatter all-time sales records.
Let’s not forget the debut of the Switch 2. This highly anticipated handheld console is expected to significantly impact the industry and further drive innovation.
2025 is shaping up to be a year of high hopes for the entire gaming world. With exciting new releases in both games and hardware, the buzz seems well-deserved. Here at G2A.COM, we’re excited to bring gamers the best deals on these amazing titles!
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