Top Gaming Industry News Stories of 2025: Year in Review

Looking back at the year in gaming reveals a period defined by seismic corporate shifts, landmark hardware launches, and intense debates over the industry’s future direction. From major studio closures and multiplatform strategies to new console releases and regulatory battles, 2025 was a year that reshaped the business of games.

Sony significantly scaled back its ambitious live-service plans in January. This strategic retreat followed the high-profile failure of Concord the previous year and led to the cancellation of two unannounced titles from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. Many analysts viewed this as a signal that the industry’s prolonged pursuit of live-service dominance had reached its limit.

Microsoft’s gaming chief, Phil Spencer, provided more details in January about bringing Xbox exclusives to other consoles. He emphasized a philosophy of releasing games wherever players are found. This strategy proved successful, with titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launching on PS5 in April. By July, Microsoft-published games accounted for six of the ten best-selling titles on PlayStation during a key period. The October announcement of Halo: Campaign Evolved for PS5 underscored this dramatic policy reversal.

February brought the closure of several notable studios under the Warner Bros. Games umbrella, including the venerable Monolith Productions. After more than three decades and franchises like FEAR and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the studio was shuttered while developing a Wonder Woman game. While overall industry layoffs decreased by about a third in 2025, the year still saw the shuttering of other developers like Ubisoft Leamington and several NetEase studios.

Confusion rippled through the industry in April when new U.S. tariffs were announced. Nintendo delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in response, eventually launching them on April 24 with the console price holding steady but accessory costs rising. Sony explored moving some PlayStation 5 manufacturing to the U.S., and retro handheld maker Anbernic paused shipments. Later price hikes for the PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and the original Switch followed, leading to speculation that the tariffs would influence next-generation hardware strategies.

May saw a landmark U.S. court injunction prohibiting Apple from collecting fees on purchases made outside its App Store, a ruling poised to reshape digital marketplaces. This followed a large EU fine against Apple the previous month. Google also made changes in October to allow third-party payment systems on Android after a similar legal ruling, and a November deal with Epic Games may pave the way for third-party app stores globally.

In a massive mobile gaming deal, Scopely, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, finalized its $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s game business on May 29. The deal brought popular titles like Pokémon Go and Monster Hunter Now under the Scopely umbrella.

Nintendo launched the Switch 2 on June 5. It sold over 3.5 million units in its first four days and 10.36 million in its first four months, doubling the original Switch’s launch pace. However, questions arose about indie game support, developer kit availability, and game preservation. Sales momentum appeared to slow by year’s end in some markets.

The co-op climbing game Peak from Aggro Crab and Landfall became a surprise summer hit on Steam, selling 10 million copies by August. It led a wave of successful indie co-op titles on the platform, including RV There Yet? and REPO, alongside other breakouts like Dispatch and Megabonk.

July was a tumultuous month. A public and legal feud erupted between Krafton and the former leadership of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds after their removal. Sony sued Tencent, alleging its game Light of Motiram was a clone of the Horizon series; the companies settled in December. Microsoft implemented a major round of layoffs affecting about 4% of its workforce, leading to studio closures like The Initiative and the cancellation of projects including Rare’s Everwild.

The year-long SAG-AFTRA strike concluded in July after securing new pay agreements and AI safeguards for voice actors. However, challenges for game actors, particularly regarding contracts in the UK, persisted.

The UK’s Online Safety Act took effect in July, mandating robust age verification in games. Some companies struggled with compliance, and Itch.io blocked adult games after failing to implement a satisfactory verification system. A pressure group campaign, starting with criticism of the visual novel No Mercy, led to a wider crackdown on adult titles on Steam and Itch.io over the summer.

In a positive labor development, Activision’s Raven Software ratified its first union contract with Microsoft in August, securing wage increases and crunch protections. Later in the year, the ZA/UM Workers’ Alliance became the UK’s first recognized games industry union.

The long-awaited release of Hollow Knight: Silksong on September 4 was so popular it crashed digital storefronts across Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. It sold over 7 million copies in three months.

September also saw the Game Developers Conference rebrand as the GDC Festival of Gaming, though organizers clarified it remained an industry event. In a blockbuster business move, Electronic Arts agreed to a $55 billion acquisition by a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a deal requiring regulatory approval.

An October outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted online games and services like Fortnite, Roblox, and PlayStation Network. Rockstar Games faced union-busting allegations after dismissing 31 employees in the UK, a move that sparked protests and government scrutiny, though the company cited gross misconduct.

Take-Two Interactive delayed Grand Theft Auto VI for a second time in November, pushing its release to November 2026. Valve announced a new Steam Machine console, a VR headset, and a controller, with the console generating significant discussion about its potential market impact.

Ubisoft completed a €1.16 billion investment from Tencent into its Vantage Studios division in November. December began with news that Netflix planned to acquire Warner Bros. in an $82.7 billion deal, though Netflix stated it did not attribute value to Warner’s games division, creating uncertainty for its future.

Activision announced a change in strategy for Call of Duty, moving away from annual back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles after Black Ops 7 underperformed against strong competition.

The year ended with a controversy sparked by Larian Studios head Swen Vincke, whose comments on using AI for early ideation were misinterpreted online, leading to a clarification that the studio was not replacing artists. This was one of several AI-related debates throughout the year, including discussions over AI voice use in Arc Raiders.

(Source: Games Industry)