Well , 2024 is formally behind us — and thank goodness for that . The last 12 calendar month has been a constant roller coaster ride , take the man through a series of unprecedented events . While the television game industry was n’t as quite as explosive as , say , the American political landscape , it was certainly a whirlwind year . tidy sum layoffs left tens of yard without jobs , hype - up games flopped , and harassment was on the rise . In between those headache , we make a astonishingly inviolable year of unpredictable game likeBalatroandBlack Myth : Wukong .
That makes 2025 a little hard to predict . We saw the honest and tough of the industry last twelvemonth , and it ’s unclear which side the phonograph needle will fall on by December 2025 . Are things drop dead to stabilize and give us a year with less layoff and more great game ? Or is the industry go to disintegrate further , giving us more studio law of closure and bad - budget flop ?
As I do every yeararound this sentence , I ’ve put together a list of four prediction for where TV biz are going in 2025 . What I ’ve bump from interrogate my own thought is that I ’m surprisingly optimistic this metre despite everything that transpire in 2024 . That ’s thanks to some major computer hardware and software package launching that could refresh the industry when it needs it the most . There ’s a major caution to all of that , though , as one hasty political conclusion could take all of that potential momentum to a arrest .
The Switch 2 is a hit (for real this time)
If I was feeling lazy , I would just re-create and paste everything I wrote last yr into this blurb .
Yes , when I wrote this piece last January , I basically wrote everything I ’m about to say again here : TheNintendo Switch 2will release and be an instant star . In my defense , there was good reasonableness to retrieve that would happen by the end of 2024 , but Nintendo ’s timeline turned out to be a bit longer than anyone wait . Now , the console ’s impendent launching feels more inevitable than ever in 2025 . Theleaks are becoming more credibleby the day , even giving usglimpses at what it looks like . It ’s much safer to say that the Switch 2 is coming this year and that it ’s going to be a big mint .
What ’s bright about a 2025 release is that it ’s just far enough away from the launches of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S in 2020 . It feels like it ’s been a foresighted time since we come a make new console , so emptor will be hungry for a shiny novel miniature . It ’s also been a very longsighted time since the Nintendo Switch launched , so many multitude will be more willing to upgrade . That ’s of import , because an unwillingness to spend more money on an unneeded upgrade is partly what hurt the Wii U when it launched . Nintendo will have to sell players on the idea that the Switch is sincerely a next - multiplication console table that put its forerunner to shame .
That , of course , is well-off than it sounds — especially for Nintendo . The company has never been one to make powerhouse consoles , and there ’s little reason to believe that it ’s going to wow players with a rounder , pinker Kirby . To really imprint role player , Nintendo will need to get its next console ’s intestine on equality with the those of the Steam Deck and pull some serious support from third - party studios to trade what it can do . Essentially , we require to see a capital Switch 2 port ofElden RingorBaldur ’s Gate 3 . If the Switch 2 still feel behind the meter after all this waiting , there ’s a opportunity Nintendo could botch the landing place . But still , expect the Switch 2 to have a monolithic launching that dominates headlines for weeks .
Grand Theft Auto 6 smashes records
Every year , I palpate compel to include one “ hubris prediction . ” I always want one matter in here that could mishandle up in my facial expression and properly embarrass me when I revisit this clause in December and see what I experience good . At a glance , this might not fit that bill . Grand Theft Auto 6is presently schedule to unloosen in 2025 , and it ’s the most anticipated video secret plan of all clock time . Of naturally , it ’s get to dominate records and likely become one of the bestselling game of all meter . Kind of a softball prediction , right ?
Yes , but all of this hinges on one big question : IsGrand Theft Auto 6actually coming out in 2025 ? I do n’t consider that answer is obvious at the minute . We ’ve still only seenone unmarried trailerfor it , and there have virtually been no updates on it since its reveal in 2023 . That might just signal that Rockstar is happy to make on the project in secret , but there ’s unspoiled understanding to be skeptical . The studio ’s last biz , Red Dead Redemption 2 , was delayed multiple time before it released to ensure it was urbane enough for launching . Rockstar is a perfectionist studio , and the stakes are incredibly eminent forGTA 6 . If any game were to be detain a few months , it ’s this one .
That enunciate , Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick exact that the publisher isconfident in a 2025 release date , so I ’m going to take him at his word . If it does indeed come out this year , expect it to be an ineluctable cultural phenomenon . It will be the only biz people speak about for month . It will singlehandedly pinch cabinet sale , maybe even turn thePS5 Prointo 2025 ’s hot gambling gimmick . It will become a whipping boy for every act of violence across the earth for at least five years . However freehanded you thinkGTA 6is work to be , think bigger .
Xbox’s acquisitions pay off
Starting in 2021 , Xbox made some major index plays in the grade of pricey acquisitions . That started with Bethesda and then lead to a successful — and outrageous — Activision Blizzard purchase . While that all sounds like ancient chronicle , it ’s still a fairly fresh ontogeny . It ’s so brisk , in fact , that we have n’t really gotten to see the existent results of it . With how long video recording game take to prepare , we in all probability have n’t seen any video game unloosen by either company yet that were greenlit by Microsoft . A lot of what we ’ve seen over the preceding few geezerhood has been existing projects that were in development before the acqusitions .
In 2025 , we ’ll in all probability begin to see that change . Bethesda will have been part of Xbox for four years at that point , long enough for projects mostly built under Microsoft ’s watch to revolve out . AvowedandDoom : The Dark Agesare the only Bethesda games that we have it off for sure are set to come in 2025 , but both could be braggart releases for Xbox . likewise , we should see a lot more from Activision Blizzard this year too , including a new Call of Duty game that could capitalize onBlack Ops 6 , a plot that successfully invigorate a declining serial .
It ’s not that we ’ll see an enormous wave of games from these company in 2025 . It ’s more so that the ones we do get will finally stabilise Xbox . The Series X has been a unknown cabinet since its exit in 2020 , as its struggled to consistently bear high - quality scoop . Some days have gone by with only two or three major liberation . There ’s no room for erroneousness in that cadence , as one unsatisfying game can ruin Xbox actor ’ entire twelvemonth . With an special shot of big releases to pump up the calendar twelvemonth , Xbox will now be able to achieve a degree of consistency that will help it stick around afloat in the 2nd half of this current console table generation .
Trump presidency creates headache for gamers
The biggest story of 2025 will undoubtedly be President - elect Donald Trump ’s 2nd term in office . We ’re likely in for a chaotic year as Trump uproots much of the work laid by the current Biden administration and go through his own controversial plan . You may think that none of this has anything to do with video games , but you may be in for a rude awakening if that ’s the casing .
Trump ’s current plans could have a major encroachment on the picture secret plan diligence — and role player may be leave with the bill . One of Trump ’s big plans at the moment is to impose new tariff on imports from other countries . That includes a 25 % revenue enhancement on products from Canada and Mexico and a 60 % revenue enhancement on ones from China . If those tariffs go through , you could ask the prices of electronics made outside of the U.S. to skyrocket . That would likelyinclude TV game systems , which could make gadget like the Nintendo Switch 2 much more expensive than you ’re expecting .
That ’s the main expanse that fan will feel an shock , but more headache could be on the way . In his premature term , Trump used violent video recording games to explain a raise in mass shooting — a go - to scapegoat for Republican politicians . While it ’s unlikely that Trump effect any sort of violent video recording biz ban , you may predict that he ’ll invoke them the next time there ’s a high - profile pillowcase of mass violence in America . In fact , we just sawAmong Usinexplicably turn into a piece of evidence in thekilling of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . With artillery control off the table in a second Trump terminal figure , expect games to be demonise — especially ifGrand Theft Auto 6releases .
