2025 Wrap-Up: AI, Unions and Industry Upheaval

• Generative AI in games generated roughly $660M on Steam for titles that disclosed its use, but costs and ethical questions outpaced clear revenue gains.
• The industry faces deprofessionalization as layoffs and gig-style work shift employment, while collaborative mid-sized studio models and Kickstarter provide alternative financing.
• Unions gained traction (id Software, ZeniMax, SAG-AFTRA wins) even as independent games media scrambled to survive and former outlets relaunched or reformed.
• Political harassment and algorithmic amplification from far-right networks continued to target developers, influencing creative decisions.

Generative AI: tested but unsettled

2025 was the year the market started to quantify AI's impact. Games that disclosed generative AI usage on Steam have grossed ~ $660 million, according to industry data.

But commercial promise is tempered by rising infrastructure costs, ethical debates over training data, and studios trading human roles (voice acting, concept art) for automated tools. Notable examples include Embark's Arc Raiders and Ubisoft's Google Gemini–powered NPC experiments.

Employment and deprofessionalization

Mass layoffs since 2022 have shifted supply and demand for talent, driving many developers toward freelance and gig arrangements. That trend risks lowering wages and stability for rank‑and‑file creators.

Some studios are experimenting with a Hollywood-style collaboration model: multiple mid‑sized teams sharing financing and talent to produce larger titles, a model seen in projects like Adhoc Studio's Dispatch.

Independent media and transparency

Independent games journalism faced a brutal year: closures, sales, and staff shakeups led veterans to relaunch under new banners. Game Informer relaunched its channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoVfBvxKdm0) and former Polygon staffers formed new outlets (https://game.substack.com/p/polygons-fitful-birth-and-sudden).

At the same time, more studio heads spoke openly about funding failures—useful for community learning but risky when comments stray beyond "on the record" expectations.

Politics, harassment and platform effects

Harassment campaigns and political pressure continued to shape company decisions and creative risk-taking. Reports linked targeted attacks and algorithmic amplification on platforms to cancellations and self‑censorship.

Even cultural production can be entwined with politics: notable controversies involved creators amplified on social platforms (see an example: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFHFkBhMQP5).

New genres, crowdfunding and consumer costs

‘Friendcore’—social, chaotic co‑op games like Peak and Lethal Company—rose as a breakout indie trend, driven by player performance and social play. As an art director put it, the fun often comes from "the mistakes you make."

Kickstarter returned as a practical funding route: contemporary campaigns typically raise $200K–$500K to kickstart or validate projects.

Meanwhile consumer costs rose: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate jumped 50% (from $19.99 to $29.99), hardware and developer kits also saw price increases tied to tariffs and macroeconomic conditions.

Outlook for 2026

Expect continued experimentation with AI, renewed union organizing, more cooperative funding models, and ongoing debates over platform responsibility and political harassment. The industry's resilience will depend on whether new business models distribute revenue and stability more broadly.