Bloomberg columnist Jason Schreier decided to «read the crystal ball» about what 2025 will be like for the gaming industry. Spoiler: Ubisoft is unlikely to have anything good in store, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be delayed, and Hollow Knight: Silksong fans will be happy.
First of all, the journalist expressed hope that the video game industry will finally begin to recover after two years of constant layoffs and studio closures. There will still be layoffs, but not on such a large scale. In addition, the undoubted release of Nintendo Switch 2 will spur the market and developers will actively take on the new platform.
Another «prediction» was the reduction of exclusives. Jason Schreier is confident that industry giants like Sony or Microsoft will eventually abandon releasing games for only one or two platforms and expand their platforms. Xbox will probably become a multiplatform pioneer.
Other important «predictions» from Jason Schreier for the industry:
- 2025 will be a decisive year for Ubisoft. The release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows will either save or finally bury the studio. In the latter case, it will be sold to either Tencent or Savvy Games Group from Saudi Arabia, which is planning a major purchase this year.
- The release of GTA 6 in 2025 still looks doubtful. Jason Schreier is confident that the game will be postponed until next year.
- Fans of Silksong will still get the long-awaited release. Moreover, the sequel to Hollow Knight will sell in millions of copies.
- Generative AI will survive its rise and ingloriously disappear from the information field. Compelling arguments include rather weak advertising campaigns like the recent Coca-Cola commercial, numerous errors and «hallucinations» of the neural network, as well as the use of AI bots in social networks to imitate «live» users. Some companies that have taken on the creation of AI games, like Elon Musk's startup, will face complete collapse.
- Half-Life 3 will be. The journalist is confident that the game will be announced this year, since there are more and more rumors around the new Valve project. In turn, we will add that the voice actor of G-Man recently posted a mysterious teaser.
Recall that in December, Jason Schreier spoke a little about the development of GTA 6. According to him, the Rockstar Games studio has changed its tone and has become softer towards minorities in its projects.