2025 AND BEYOND
What does the future of gaming hold?
There are over 60 games stuffed into what you just read, and it was a struggle to fit in everything we wanted to include! While there are still a lot of question marks about what some of gaming’s blockbustiest studios are working on, we’ve still got more than enough great games to look forward to, many from some fab indie studios.
In fact, there are a lot of question marks hanging over a lot of the game industry at the moment. While 2023 was a great year in terms of game releases, a fraught global economy has led to unprecedented studio closures and layoffs, and a lack of investment. By the time we get to 2025 there may be some big changes afoot in the industry.
Unfortunately a lot of the far-off titles we always look forward to are a part of this.
Bioware just laid off some of its most experienced veteran talent, and yet is still
“WE’VE GOT MORE THAN ENOUGH GREAT GAMES TO LOOK FORWARD TO.”
teasing a NEW MASS EFFECT and DRAGON AGE: DREADWOLF.
The same goes for (the Sony-owned) Destiny developer Bungie, which also doled out layoffs. Its live-service game MARATHON is rumoured to have been pushed back to 2025. It’s not the only Sony studio affected, with its upcoming swathe of live service games seemingly set for re-evaluation, so who knows what that means for the likes of FAIRGAME$ and LONDON STUDIO’S UNTITLED GAME. Telltale was hit as well, but says that THE WOLF AMONG US 2 is still happening. Embracer Group’s many studios may well have been hit the worst (that’s the problem with constant consolidation), though it seems that STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC REMAKE is still being worked on, albeit after some setbacks.
Even Ubisoft just went through a round of layoffs, though the feudal Japan-set ASSASSIN’S CREED RED and the witchy ASSASSIN’S CREED HEXE do feel set in stone (even so, we wonder if we’ll ever hear more on the remakes of SPLINTER CELL and PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME REMAKE).
It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as the rest of our feature shows. Just not a great time for gazing into the crystal ball at the distant future. But, looking into that orb, GRAND THEFT AUTO 6 (more on that next issue) is sure to be one of the biggest releases of perhaps the decade, and Insomniac Games’ MARVEL’S WOLVERINE is sure to impress on PS5 in a way only games from that studio can. Heck, we’re even looking forward to SILENT HILL F as a Japan-set reinvention of the iconic psychological horror series (though we’ll admit the interactive TV-style Silent Hill Ascension you may have seen advertised on your PS5 menu was abysmal). And what is going on with Capcom’s astronaut action game PRAGMATA?
If you’re reading this, you’re most likely pretty switched on to the game industry, and the future of gaming is going to need that savviness. The bonus-chugging suits up top would love for you to get excited about CG trailers for far-off projects while they simultaneously cut off the people who make the stuff you love. It’s a reminder to support the creatives – follow the next projects of those indies you love, pay attention to the studios that lift up their teams, and pass that on. Then we’ll have some years to really look forwards to.