5 talking points about the state of games in 2025

One thing we know for sure just two months into 2025 is that the games industry is still in an almighty flux. From seemingly endless job lay-offs and studio closures to the raging controversies over generative AI, the whole structure of the artform feels like it's crumbling. It’s a good time then for around 30,000 people to descend on San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference - an event that’s part business summit, part university, part gossipy hang-out. But what will everyone be talking about? Here are five topics that will surely be unavoidable…

1. AI in game development

Easily the biggest issue in the industry at the moment: should studios be able to freely use generative AI systems to create art, animation, voice acting performances and other game assets, or do there need to be limits in place? GDC has a whole summit strand dedicated to the subject and it’s clear Gen AI platforms such as Microsoft’s Muse are going to have an increasing role. Publishers claim that wildly increasing costs and expanding development times in AAA games could be eased through AI generation. But is Gen AI ethical considering the huge amounts of ambiguously sourced copyrighted material it uses to generate content? And what about industry jobs?

2. The problem of live service games

‘Forever’ games such as Fortnite, Helldivers 2 and Genshin Impact are among the most successful in the modern industry – figures from analysis company Circana showed that in January, 40% of console gaming time in the US was on live service titles. But is the rot setting in? High profile, high-cost failures such as Concord, Hyenas and XDefiant have shown how ruinously difficult it is to secure a hit – newcomers need to be familiar enough to compete in well-established sub-genres such as the hero shooter, but at the same time different enough to garner attention. Tellingly, the recent GDC State of the Industry survey revealed that 33 percent of polled Triple A devs are working on live service titles but that 70 percent doubt the sustainability of the genre. Something’s gotta give?

3. The “death” of the console - again

Pundits have been predicting the demise of the dedicated games console for a decade, but the debate is stoking up again. Though there’s excitement over the forthcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, the PS5 Pro has underperformed, and recently, Xbox chief Phil Spencer admitted that he was no longer trying to move all gamers onto the Xbox, instead increasingly taking Xbox as a platform onto other devices. Considering that live service games are built around community and cross-platform play, and that the latest PlayStation and Xbox machines are extremely similar in technical terms, do younger generations of players actually care about what they play on?

4. The funding gap

For many in the games industry, it’s a desperate time. Major publishers are closing studios and laying off hundreds of staff, even developers with a history of producing acclaimed titles such as TangoSoftworks, Roll7 and recently Monolith, have proved vulnerable. Meanwhile, independent studios are finding it increasingly tough to get funding: major games publishers are cutting back on their slates, venture capital interest is drying up (or being redirected towards Gen AI start-ups), and of course, the industry is saturated – 50 games a day are released on Steam alone. Where is the money going to come from for the next generation of innovative game makers?

5. GTA 6 and the future of the open world

If it actually does arrive this year, GTA 6 is going to be the biggest new game of 2025, and GDC will be buzzing with anticipation about how the game will shape AAA game development for the next five years. There’s been pushback recently against the dominance of open-world settings in the RPG and action adventure genres with Avowed opting for a more restrained game map. Do people still want vast explorable kingdoms and 100-hour narratives? Or in a media environment saturated with options, from streaming TV services to ever-more invasive social media apps, do we want more directed gaming experiences. Also, if the rumours are true that GTA VI will allow Robox-style user-generated content, how will that impact game development in the years to come? Will it actually be good old-fashioned modding rather than Gen AI that shapes games industry creativity in 2025 and beyond?