Artistic comms and marketing company Bastion has launched its annual video video games marketing survey, which reveals that discoverability is the largest problem publishers and builders anticipate to face this 12 months.
Revealed on August 14, 2025, Bastion’s Annual G2M Video Games Marketing Survey 2025 requested builders and publishers a collection of questions on their firm construction, video games, and present strategy to marketing, in addition to the challenges they anticipate to face in the future.
“The world of video games marketing isn’t simply evolving, it’s accelerating,” G2M director Clare Hawkins stated in the report. “Over the final 12 months, entrepreneurs have been requested to do extra with much less: tighter budgets, leaner groups, and a market bursting at the seams. Agility is now not a nice-to-have; it’s important to success.”
63.9% of the survey’s respondents have been discovered to have greater than a decade of publishing expertise, however the identical share solely have marketing groups of 1 to 5 individuals.
“That’s a powerhouse of expertise, stretched razor skinny,” famous Hawkins.
Marketing group sizes stay considerably secure, with 44.4% of corporations saying their group dimension stays “unchanged,” whereas 33.3% decreased and 22.2% elevated. The report notes that “considerably much less” of this pattern have elevated their group dimension in comparison with the almost 40% enhance we noticed in 2024.
The bulk (44.4%) of corporations are nonetheless “undecided” on whether or not they’ll be hiring for his or her market group in the subsequent 12 months, with 40% outright saying “no.”
Company spending, nonetheless, has elevated, with the majority (38.9%) of respondents answering that their firm has elevated company spending over the final 12 months. “Considerably much less” entrepreneurs are lowering company spend, too, with 27.8% of respondents saying that they had finished so – a 14.2% drop in comparison with final 12 months.
33.3% of respondents revealed they aren’t altering their company spend, 13% greater than in 2024.
When requested in the event that they felt their “present price range is ample to satisfy your marketing targets,” solely 36.1% of respondents stated sure – dropping from 60% in 2024.
Elsewhere, the report discovered that 81% of respondents have a marketing price range below £500,000 for main titles, a 17.7% enhance from final 12 months.
Extra of this 12 months’s survey pattern produced AA and AAA video games (28.8% and 15.1%, respectively), however solely 5.4% had a typical marketing price range between £500,000 and £750,000, whereas 13.5% had a price range over £1 million. The report notes this implies “extra of those sport varieties have skilled price range restrictions over the final 12 months.”
The survey additionally discovered that 31% of corporations noticed discoverability as their largest problem final 12 months, and 94.4% consider it is going to stay the largest over the subsequent 12 months. Hawkins described it as “the industry’s Achilles’ heel.”
“Discoverability nonetheless tops the record – however it’s now not nearly being seen,” stated Bastion managing director Ravi Vijh. “It’s about proudly owning the highlight in an overcrowded market.”
With regards to marketing channels, the majority (25%) of respondents consider natural influencer marketing is the simplest. Whereas, in 2024, Paid Media (which is now seen as the least efficient) and Paid Influencer have been the hottest.
“The information suggests a shift in the direction of extra natural and community-led content material over the final 12 months,” the report notes.
“The video games business is shifting quick – budgets are tighter, competitors’s fiercer, and the struggle for consideration has by no means been harder,” stated Vijh. “Our newest marketing survey reveals a transparent image: the challenges are common, and so are the strikes that get outcomes.”
“The one-size-fits-all playbook? Useless,” Vijh continued. “From influencer partnerships to Steam occasions to how studios present up on LinkedIn – the rule is easy: authenticity wins. With groups below stress, entrepreneurs are turning to trusted company companions to ship daring, performance-driven artistic at scale.”