Game developers hope to return to growth in 2025 | Metaplay

While the gaming industry in 2024 has been a nightmare, the idea that seemed to encourage everyone was that it will return to growth in the following year. Gaming backend provider Metaplay today he revealed a new report, which shows how optimistic the industry is – at least on a large scale – that this will happen. In fact, according to a report by Metaplay, 77% of respondents are optimistic that 2025 will bring a renaissance in gaming.

The Metaplay report details findings from 150 tech leads and C-suite studios that develop games with Unity. In addition to the aforementioned 77%, the report shows that 90% of devs say they plan to launch a game in 2025. 71% believe that 2025 will have fewer and more studio closures (even given the number of layoffs for 2024). was, finding less is not a difficult task to achieve), and 76% expect more access to print media.

One of the main topics of this report is the situation for the year. The majority of those surveyed believed that 2025 will have a greater distribution of games (71%), more revenue from live titles (75%) and lower development costs (63%). 75% also believe that they will have access to advanced equipment, which will also reduce development costs.

“We survived until 25” – now what?

As the gaming industry seeks to return to growth, it has also adopted the motto, “Survive ’til 2025” in the belief that this year will be more favorable to the industry than its predecessors. As mentioned above, most developers said they wanted to launch new games this year, while 53% of those who did not said they wanted to look at existing titles.

Teemu Haila, Metaplay CTO and co-founder, said in a statement, “Our findings have shown that LiveOps, platform development, and external technology are at the center of the Game Development Renaissance. The Renaissance is more than a catchy headline. It’s a shift, a change in the development process.” This represents a time when studios no longer need to rely on crowdfunding to grow.

John Wright, Kwalee’s VP of mobile games, added to the report, “The biggest hits in 2024 didn’t come from new games – they came from LiveOps. If you look at the top 100 games today, most of them are more than four years old. We loved Call them ‘evergreen’ games, but now they are becoming ‘perennial games’ that can be relevant for seven to ten years. That’s a big change. LiveOps is at the center of this change. it’s just one sign of the changing mindset that’s causing a renaissance in the mobile gaming market.”