Game developers expect to get back to growth in 2025 | Metaplay

Throughout the games industry’s rather disastrous 2024, the notion that seemed to bolster everyone along was that it was going to get back to growth in the subsequent year. Gaming backend provider Metaplay today revealed a new report, which shows just how optimistic the industry is — at least on a macro level — that this is going to happen. In fact, according to Metaplay’s report, 77% of the developers surveyed are optimistic that 2025 will bring a Renaissance for gaming.

Metaplay’s report covers findings from 150 tech leads and C-suite at studios making games with Unity. In addition to the aforementioned 77%, the report shows that 90% of those devs say they plan to launch a game in 2025. 71% believe that 2025 will have fewer layoffs and studio closures (though given how high the number of layoffs in 2024 was, getting fewer is not a hard task to accomplish), and 76% anticipate more availability for publishing deals.

One of the major topics of the report is the outlook for the year. A majority of the developers surveyed believed that 2025 would have broader game distribution (71%), greater revenue from live service titles (75%) and lower development costs (63%). 75% also believe they’ll have better access to high-end tooling, which would also cut down on development costs.

We “survived ’til 25” — now what?

Just as with the games industry’s desire to get back to growth, it also lived by the motto, “Survive ’til 2025” under the belief that this year would be more favorable to the industry than its predecessor. As stated above, most developers said they planned to launch a new game this year, while 53% of those who didn’t said they wished to focus on existing titles.

Teemu Haila, Metaplay CTO and co-founder, said in a statement, “Our findings have shown that LiveOps, cross-platform development, and external technology are at the heart of the Game Development Renaissance. The Renaissance is so much more than a catchy headline. It’s a movement, a shift in the way game development is done. It represents an era where studios no longer have to rely on raw headcount to achieve growth. Instead, growth is achieved through smarter tooling, leaner teams, and sharper strategy.”

John Wright, Kwalee’s VP of mobile games, added to the report, “The biggest successes in 2024 didn’t come from new games – they came from LiveOps. If you look at the top 100-grossing games today, most of them are over four years old. We used to call them ‘evergreen’ games, but now, they’re becoming ‘forever games’ that can stay relevant for seven to ten years. That’s a massive shift. LiveOps is at the heart of that transformation, and just one indication of changing attitudes fueling the Renaissance in the mobile games industry.”