Be part of us as we journey again by way of 2025 by way of the biggest games industry news stories of the yr, together with large takeover offers, the closure of historic studios, huge {hardware} launches, huge {hardware} reveals, and loads of hassle about tariffs.
Sony dials down stay service (January)
Following the catastrophic failure of Harmony in 2024, Sony pulled again farther from the live-service technique it had embarked upon below the management of Jim Ryan, who again in 2022 stated that by way of “shut collaboration between Bungie and the PlayStation Studios, we goal to launch greater than 10 stay service games by the fiscal yr ending March 31, 2026.”
In January, Sony confirmed the cancellation of two unannounced stay service titles from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games; this and different high-profile live-service failures and cancellations led Rob Fahey to recommend that the industry’s decade-long race for live-service riches was lastly over.
Xbox embraces a multiplatform strategy (January)
In an interview in January, Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s CEO of gaming, gave additional particulars in regards to the plans to make Xbox first-party titles accessible throughout different platforms. “There isn’t any cause for me to place a hoop fence round any recreation and say this recreation is not going to go to a spot the place it could discover gamers, the place it could have enterprise success for us,” he stated.
Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle would go on to launch on PS5 in April, and in July it was reported that six of the ten best-selling games on PlayStation from April 6 to July 5 have been revealed by Microsoft. In October, one thing that will have as soon as been unthinkable occurred – Halo: Marketing campaign Advanced was announced for PS5.
Monolith Productions closes (February)
Warner Bros. Games introduced the closure of Warner Bros. Games San Diego, Participant First Games (maker of MultiVersus), and Monolith Productions in February. Monolith had been in existence for greater than 30 years, and was behind such titles as No One Lives Eternally, FEAR, and Center-earth: Shadow of Mordor. On the time of its closure, the studio was engaged on a brand new Surprise Girl recreation, which has now been cancelled.
Though complete layoff figures have been down by round a 3rd in 2025, the yr noticed the closure of a quantity of studios, together with Ubisoft Leamington and a variety of NetEase builders: see our function trying again on the yr in layoffs for extra particulars.
US tariffs trigger confusion (April)
On the identical day as Nintendo’s Change 2 Direct presentation (April 2), US president Donald Trump introduced punitive tariffs on items arriving from dozens of nations, inflicting a rush of hypothesis on how this is able to have an effect on the games industry. Nintendo shortly moved to delay Change 2 pre-orders in the States; they lastly went stay on April 24, with the console’s US value unchanged, however with Change 2 equipment rising in value “resulting from adjustments in market circumstances.”
Sony stated it was contemplating manufacturing PlayStation 5 consoles in the US in consequence of tariffs, and retro handheld maker Anbernic suspended shipments to the States. Nintendo later hiked the US costs of the unique Change by as much as 15%, and the US noticed related value rises for the PS5 and Xbox Sequence consoles. Rob Fahey recommended the US tariffs “will doubtless power a strategic shift across the subsequent technology of console {hardware}.”
App shops open up (Could)
In Could, a US court docket enforced an injunction which prohibits Apple from accumulating charges on app purchases made exterior its App Retailer; the landmark ruling is more likely to change the app panorama. The earlier month, Apple was fined €500 million ($568 million) by the EU for deterring third-party fee strategies on the App Retailer.
Equally, Google made adjustments in October to permit third-party fee methods after a US court docket ruling stated Google may now not prohibit clients to utilizing Google Play Billing. Then in November, Google and Epic Games agreed on a deal that can doubtlessly pave the way in which for third-party app shops to be made accessible on Android worldwide.
Scopely acquires Niantic (Could)
The Savvy Games Group subsidiary Scopely formally closed its $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s recreation enterprise on Could 29. The deal included Niantic’s complete recreation improvement group, the games Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, and the apps Campfire and Wayfarer.
Scopely was beforehand acquired by the Saudi Arabian multinational recreation funding group Savvy Games Group again in July 2023 for $4.9 billion.
Change 2 launches (June)
Nintendo launched the Change 2 on June 5, which went on to promote over 3.5 million items in the primary 4 days and 10.36 million items in its first 4 months, doubling the figures for the unique Change over the identical timeframe.
Nonetheless, questions have been quickly raised in regards to the relative lack of indie games, the seemingly sluggish rollout of dev kits, and the use of Sport-Key Playing cards in phrases of recreation preservation. Plus, the Change 2’s preliminary gross sales momentum appeared to wind down in the direction of the top of the yr: in the US, Circana reported that the mixed gross sales of the Change and Change 2 in November have been 10% decrease than the gross sales of the Change in the identical interval final yr.
Peak takes off (June)
The co-op climbing recreation Peak from Aggro Crab and Landfall turned a breakout hit on Steam in the summer time, notching up 10 million sales by the end of August. Not dangerous for a recreation that evolved from a month-long game jam.
Peak was half of a wave of indie co-op games that hit it huge on Steam in 2025, with titles like RV There But? shifting 1.3 million items in per week and REPO promoting greater than 12.3 million (based on Video Sport Insights). Different indie titles that turned unexpectedly enormous on Steam included Dispatch, Megabonk, and the drug-dealing simulator Schedule I.
An almighty row brews between Krafton and the Subnautica 2 builders (July)
The management group of Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds was eliminated by proprietor and writer Krafton in July. There adopted a really public falling out and subsequent authorized motion, with claims and counter-claims being thrown forwards and backwards by Krafton and the previous Unknown Worlds workers: you may observe the entire saga right here.
Sony sues Tencent over Mild of Motiram (July)
One other huge authorized battle kicked off in July when Sony sued Tencent, alleging the latter’s recreation Mild of Motiram is a “slavish clone” of its tentpole Horizon sequence. Tencent subsequently accused Sony of looking for a “monopoly on style conventions,” earlier than finally settling with Sony in December.
Microsoft makes large layoffs (July)
Microsoft initiated an enormous spherical of job cuts in July, affecting round 4% of the corporate’s workforce, and inflicting a serious shake-up in the games division. Studios affected included King, Blizzard, Flip 10, Raven Software program, ZeniMax On-line Studios, and The Initiative, with the latter being shuttered. Uncommon’s Everwild was cancelled, together with an unannounced ZeniMax MMO. In an opinion piece on the time, Lewis Packwood stated: “It is laborious to dispel the sensation that these cuts are merely half of a disordered retreat.”
The games industry as a complete noticed greater than 9,000 layoffs in 2025.
SAG-AFTRA strike concludes (July)
Members of the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA voted to finish its 11-month strike in July, after reaching a pay settlement and making certain “security guardrails and positive factors round AI.” The strike started in July 2024 in a bid to guard voice actors as increasingly studios discover generative AI.
Nonetheless, as GamesIndustry.biz revealed in a function in December, contracts for recreation actors nonetheless stay a nightmare in the UK.
UK On-line Security Act goes into impact (July)
The UK’s On-line Security Act (OSA) got here into power in July, requiring corporations to make sure that their games use extremely efficient age verification. Nonetheless, some recreation companies struggled with the complexities of the OSA, with many having to rethink recreation options, and Itch blocked adult-oriented games on its retailer after being unable to discover a passable age verification resolution in time. Jeremy Peel spoke to a variety of folks affected by the OSA for an in-depth function for GamesIndustry.biz.
Grownup games delisted from Steam and Itch (July)
Over the summer time, a strain group marketing campaign resulted in a crackdown on grownup games on Steam and Itch. It began with a sexually specific visible novel known as No Mercy: UK know-how secretary Peter Kyle had criticised the title in April, and it was subsequently faraway from sale in the UK by Zerat Games.
However the Australian group Collective Shout took the marketing campaign to the subsequent degree by contacting fee processing corporations, which put strain on Steam and Itch to take away sex-related titles. Jeremy Peel gave a rundown of precisely what occurred in this function for GamesIndustry.biz.
Raven secures union contract (August)
Activision studio Raven Software program ratified its first union contract with Microsoft in August. The new settlement ensures a ten% wage improve over the subsequent two years, in addition to looking for to remove crunch and supply staff with seven days’ discover for any further obligatory additional time.
A number of months later, the ZA/UM Employees’ Alliance turned the primary recognised staff union in the UK games industry.
Hole Knight: Silksong crashes storefronts (September)
On August 22, Crew Cherry introduced that Hole Knight: Silksong would launch on September 4, prompting different games corporations to quickly shift their launch dates in response.
Such was its recognition that the sport’s launch crashed world shops proper throughout Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam’s digital platforms, and it could go on to promote over 7 million copies in three months.
GDC rebrands (September)
In September, the Sport Builders Convention introduced a rebrand as GDC Competition of Gaming, leaving some to take a position that the convention would now be welcoming customers in addition to industry attendees.
Nonetheless, in an interview the next month, the organisers indicated that this would not be the case, saying: “The pageant half of the GDC Competition is that we’re broadening out what the convention is and does, however not right into a shopper area.” Response to the rebrand was combined.
EA purchased by non-public fairness buyers (September)
In late September, it was introduced that EA can be bought by a gaggle of buyers comprising Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Companions. The complete deal is price $55 billion, however $20 billion of that complete is being borrowed by the consortium.
The deal will virtually definitely require regulatory approval, and is anticipated to shut throughout Q1 FY27, if given the go forward. Mat Piscatella of Circana was one of a number of industry commentators who expressed worries in regards to the EA deal: “Leveraged buyouts have a sure historical past that usually hasn’t been nice for the acquired corporations,” he stated.
AWS outage causes widespread disruption (October)
A disruption to Amazon Net Providers (AWS) in October took hundreds of web-based companies – a few third of the web – offline, with elements of the US being hardest hit. Within the games industry, web-based providers affected included Fortnite, Roblox, and PlayStation Community.
Rockstar dismissals spark union busting allegations (October)
The Impartial Employees’ Union of Nice Britain (IWGB) accused Rockstar Games of union busting after the studio dismissed 31 workers who have been allegedly making an attempt to unionise on the finish of October. The transfer led to protests exterior Rockstar’s workplaces and the sending of a letter condemning the dismissals that was signed by 220 workers at Rockstar North.
Rockstar disputes the claims of union busting, saying the staff have been fired for gross misconduct after discussing “confidential data in a public discussion board.” Nonetheless, UK prime minister Keir Starmer described the dismissals as a “deeply regarding case” and stated that ministers would examine.
GTA 6 delayed once more (November)
At the beginning of November, Take Two Interactive delayed GTA 6 for a second time, shifting subsequent yr’s biggest launch again six months to November 19, 2026.
The delay precipitated a variety of reactions in the games industry. “For a lot of of our purchasers, it opens up a useful window,” stated Damien Sarrazin, CEO & founder of HomeRun PR, “one which was beforehand seen as utterly dominated by Rockstar’s advertising and marketing and media gravity.”
Steam Machine introduced (November)
Valve introduced three new units in November: the Steam Body VR headset, a brand new Steam controller, and the console-like Steam Machine. Of the three, the Steam Machine – set to be launched in early 2026 with “fairly aggressive” pricing to equal PCs – precipitated essentially the most stir. Rob Fahey recommended it might be an “industry turning level.”
Ubisoft’s Tencent deal goes by way of (November)
On November 21, Ubisoft introduced the completion of Tencent’s €1.16 billion funding in Vantage Studios, the division in cost of the Murderer’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six franchises. Previous to the announcement, Ubisoft had postponed the discharge of its H1 2025-26 monetary outcomes and suspended share buying and selling, prompting widespread hypothesis.
Warner Bros. to be acquired by Netflix (December)
At the beginning of December, news emerged that Netflix was shopping for leisure big Warner Bros. in a deal valued at round $82.7 billion. Quickly after, Paramount Skydance launched a rival hostile takeover try, which Warner’s board suggested shareholders to reject.
Netflix stated that it didn’t “attribute any worth” to Warner Bros’ games enterprise as half of its proposed acquisition of the leisure big, leaving many to marvel what the deal will imply for Warner Bros. Games.
Name of Obligation technique change (December)
Activision introduced it’ll now not ship back-to-back releases of Fashionable Warfare or Black Ops games, following vital underperformance of the most recent launch in the franchise, Name of Obligation: Black Ops 7.
This yr, the franchise confronted fierce competitors from the likes of Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders. Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics stated: “For years, Name of Obligation was just about resistant to competitors, however now the participant base is splitting and aggravated, the franchise is creatively drained, and rivals have been extra methodical and targeted.”
Larian boss sparks enormous AI row (December)
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Lastly, feedback made about generative AI by Larian Studios head Swen Vincke in a Bloomberg interview sparked an explosion of posts on social media in December. This prompted Vincke to subject a hurried clarification, saying that the Baldur’s Gate 3 studio is “not changing idea artists with AI,” and that it’s only utilizing AI on the “very early ideation levels” as a “tough define for composition.”
The episode got here on high of a number of outbursts of AI outrage all through 2025, together with a row over the use of AI speech in Embark Games’ Arc Raiders, which prompted Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney to wade into the talk in defence of the know-how. See our look again on the games industry’s turbulent yr in AI for extra.