End of exclusives, blockbusters on the decline… Faced with a protracted growth crisis, the video game industry is looking for a new model as Gamescom, one of the main trade fairs in the sector, opens in Cologne (Germany).
After a launch party on Tuesday, presenting the main releases of the end of the year – culminating in the new “Call of Duty – Black Ops 7” – and a day dedicated to professionals on Wednesday, the high mass of video games will welcome the public from Thursday to Sunday.
335,000 visitors last year
Last year, nearly 335,000 visitors walked the aisles of the imposing Koelnmesse, where each studio has a stand to test the latest new products.
Absent in 2024, Nintendo is making its return, crowned by the record launch of the Switch 2, while Xbox (Microsoft) will present its new portable consoles expected before the end of the year.
But the Japanese Sony preferred to ignore it.
The atmosphere looks mixed for the approximately 1,500 exhibitors: if all the economic lights are green among the main publishers, the waves of layoffs continue.
Microsoft announced in early July that it would reduce its workforce by nearly 9,000 employees, leading to the departure of hundreds of employees from its studios like King (“Candy Crush”) and the cancellation of games (“Perfect Dark,” “Everwild,” etc.).
A “consolidation” that lasts
After prosperous years linked to confinements, “the industry is in the process of consolidating” and “to become more profitable, these companies are often content to reduce their workforce”, tells AFP Rhys Elliott, expert at the specialist firm Alinea Analytics.
According to the Game Industry Layoffs website, nearly 30,000 employees in the sector have lost their jobs since the start of 2023, including more than 4,000 this year.
In a rather stable global market (estimated at $188.9 billion in 2025 according to the Newzoo firm) and where the number of titles available continues to grow, playing time as well as the number of players are stagnating.
Faced with the giants “Fortnite” and “Roblox”, frequented each month by several hundred million players, “everyone is fighting for an increasingly small share of the pie”, estimates Mat Piscatella, expert at Circana.
Change of strategy
Lagging behind in console sales, Xbox, the world’s leading game publisher, recently made a winning change in strategy by more widely distributing certain titles previously exclusive to its platform.
“Microsoft games are very successful on PlayStation,” notes Mat Piscatella. Its eternal rival Sony also “generates a lot of money by selling these games in its online store”, so “everyone is a winner”, he says.
A movement followed to a certain extent by PlayStation which, in addition to bringing its exclusives to PC for several years, is making its game “Helldivers 2” available for the first time on the Microsoft console.
The stakes are high, because the exponential cost of blockbusters, which now amounts to hundreds of millions of euros, puts the studios at risk in the event of failure.
The “Clair Obscur” phenomenon makes people envious
Conversely, titles with tight budgets created a surprise like the French “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33”, with nearly 4 million copies sold.
“The whole industry is rushing towards this model,” notes Christopher Dring, founder of the specialist site The Game Business. It proves “that it is not necessary to spend astronomical sums of money to create a high-quality game that will appeal to a wide audience.”
But “for a success like Chiaroscurothere are ten games which do not find their audience”, tempers Mat Piscatella, pointing out the “hyper competitiveness” of a sector in which financing is always difficult to obtain for smaller studios.
However, the blockbusters have not said their last word.
Due on May 26, 2026, Rockstar Games’ blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto VI” (GTA VI) is on track to become the biggest entertainment product launch of all time.
