State of Play: Who Holds the Power in the Video Games Industry in 2025
The 2025 video games industry is marked by significant concentration of wealth at the top, accompanied by over 5,000 industry job losses, including at studios such as Monolith Productions. The sector is experiencing widespread AI disruption; companies have made large investments in AI, with AI-generated artwork and voiceovers appearing in some titles, which has triggered pushback from workers.
Unions have gained visibility in the landscape. In March, the United Videogame Workers was formed in the US and Canada under the Communications Workers of America (CWA). In the UK, the IWGB Game Workers Union came to prominence following layoffs at Rockstar Games, leading to protests outside the Game Awards.
The industry continues to see consolidation and geopolitical influence. Notably, Microsoft acquired Activision in 2023. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has been active through investments via Savvy Games Group and Scopely, arranged a $55 billion deal to acquire Electronic Arts, and purchased Niantic in March.
Politics and culture also intersect with gaming; for instance, the White House posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump as the Halo Master Chief character. Additionally, discussions around cultural representation have been prominent, with debates over a black samurai character in Assassin's Creed and a non-binary actor in a PlayStation game. Elon Musk was revealed to be a fake gamer, reflecting ongoing conversations about authenticity within the community.
Market dynamics reveal smaller-scale, high-quality games outperforming big-budget titles. Examples include Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong, the latter having sold seven million copies. Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch 2, continuing innovation in gaming hardware.
Overall, the article highlights how power in the video games industry mirrors broader trends in wealth concentration. It emphasizes ongoing tensions between corporate dominance and the agency of workers and creatives, calling for continued monitoring of the industry's biggest players.
