According to a report by USwitch, the online gaming industry is worth a huge $27.97 billion. When it comes to the amount of gamers in the UK, the number is expected to reach a massive 11.56 million by 2027.
It鈥檚 no surprise then, that this sector has a growing number of businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to get involved.
To find out what 2025 might have in store for the gaming industry, we turned to the experts.
Here鈥檚 what they had to say:
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Our Experts
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- Rich Beese, Co-Founder at We Do Play
- Christian Perrins, Head of Strategy at Waste Creative
- James Hughes, Marketing Director at London Card Show
- Seamus Masterson, Executive Creative Director at Maverick Media
- Rosi Bremec, COO at Game Lounge
- Max Podkidkin, Founder & CEO of BisectHosting
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For any questions, comments or features,听please contact us directly.
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Rich Beese, Co-Founder at We Do Play
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鈥淚n 2025 the landscape is set to evolve in ways that will redefine how we play, connect, and experience digital worlds. With advancements in technology, a shift in player behaviour, and the continued rise in popularity of competitive socialising, gaming will become increasingly immersive and socially dynamic.
鈥淭hanks to advancements in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), companies can offer players experiences that feel more real, exciting and interactive than ever before.听 New brands are emerging that will transform gaming into something far more than a solitary pastime鈥攊t will become a dynamic, interconnected, and deeply engaging social activity. 鈥�
鈥淲ith Activate 鈥� which we are bringing to the O2 in December, the distinction between playing games, entertainment and socialising is blurred. Activate is the world鈥檚 first ever fully immersive gaming experience. It鈥檚 a high energy, adrenaline-fueled, gaming adventure, with multiple dynamic game rooms where visitors jump, climb, and problem-solve in real time 鈥� navigating physical and mental challenges 鈥� all in the company of their friends
鈥淕aming has the potential to evolve from a competitive outlet into a place for building relationships, networking, and even professional collaborations, and the best versions will seamlessly blend physical and digital worlds to offer an unforgettable experience.鈥�
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Christian Perrins, Head of Strategy at Waste Creative
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鈥淢ost major studios are investing in live-service games designed to bring players into their worlds then keep them there. Forever.
鈥淔ortnite is very good at this. But for every Fortnite and other giants in the 鈥榝orever fraternity鈥�, there are thousands of new games competing for the same player鈥檚 time. Many are failing. There are only so many games people will play forever.
鈥淚n 2025, expect to see the widening of the gap between 鈥榝orever鈥� and 鈥榝inite鈥�. The biggest AAA forever franchises will double down on transmedia strategies, they鈥檒l create more cultural crossovers and tentpole events within their games. And they鈥檒l grow. More studios will get caught chasing forever, and many will struggle.
鈥淢eanwhile, smaller Indie studios will provide an antidote. They鈥檒l give players unique 鈥榝inite鈥� experiences that won鈥檛 beg them to commit indefinitely. They鈥檒l offer up slices of strange to dive into, cherish, then put down. One-time purchases with no lingering baggage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a recipe that鈥檚 worked this year. Indie games made as much money on Steam as AAA and AA titles, led by single-player experiences like Black Myth: Wukong, an Action RPG where you play as an anthropomorphic monkey. It鈥檚 a weird time for gaming, but as Hunter S.Thompson told us; 鈥淲hen the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.鈥�
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James Hughes, Marketing Director at London Card Show听
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听鈥�2025 promises to be a transformative year for gaming as studios large and small pivot towards innovation to meet evolving player expectations. AAA publishers, aware of the backlash against bloated projects and uninspired sequels, will likely embrace bold new strategies. Expect a renewed focus on highly polished, smaller-scale games. These 鈥淎AA-lite鈥� experiences could offer blockbuster quality with tighter scopes and sustainable budgets, blending the spectacle of big studios with the heart of indie creativity.
鈥淪tudios may also leverage dormant intellectual properties, revitalising beloved franchises with modern twists. Remakes and reimaginings will continue to evolve, moving beyond nostalgia-driven cash grabs to thoughtful reinventions that respect legacy while exploring new gameplay possibilities.
鈥淥n the indie side, we鈥檒l see experimentation flourish, especially with advances in AI and procedural generation. Indies will push boundaries in emergent storytelling, procedural world-building, and dynamic gameplay. Virtual reality and augmented reality could finally find their mainstream stride, with smaller teams delivering meaningful experiences that larger studios have struggled to achieve.
鈥淐ross-platform and cross-medium integrations will grow, merging gaming with film, TV, and social platforms. Players might even participate in narratives that extend beyond a single medium, with games anchoring vast transmedia universes. In 2025, expect gaming to deliver both innovative blockbusters and deeply personal adventures.鈥�
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听Seamus Masterson, Executive Creative Director at Maverick Media
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鈥淚n 2025, we will start to see the industry鈥檚 challenges reflected in the games being made. Up until now, we have seen the business response to developments in the games market: changes in team size, cancelling of projects in development and the rapid shuttering of underperforming titles. These are all the immediate levers that are pulled to address unforeseen market change and are an unfortunate part of the 鈥榗reative destruction鈥� within economic systems.
鈥淗opefully, now we are past this destructive phase, we can begin to articulate a new, more creative phase. This, I believe, is where the games industry truly excels鈥攊ts unparalleled ability to adapt, innovate, and forge new ways to connect with audiences.
鈥淭o that end, I think that games will take on new forms to attract, or reattract, new audience groups. I think that Pok茅mon Pocket is an outlier here in the way that it evokes the IRL experience of card opening and collecting, heavily fuelled by nostalgia and tactility. This creates a strong reconnection to older audiences, while also appealing to newer demographics.鈥�
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Rosi Bremec, COO at Game Lounge
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鈥�Game Lounge is paving the way forward in response to these to ensure a global focus on cyber security, trust and responsible gaming will shape a better experience for iGaming in 2025 for the end user and has spearheaded a new standard 鈥� The ASR Standard.
鈥淭he new ASR standard is a behind-the-scenes innovation that transforms iGaming transparency, ensuring players鈥� bets, bonuses, and rewards are accurately tracked and securely handled.听 ASR as the solution to longstanding issues of data inconsistencies that cause player frustrations鈥攕uch as bonus miscalculations or delayed payouts. It鈥檚 not just a tech upgrade; it鈥檚 a fairness upgrade for the player experience which will lead to a more responsible and sustainable experience for industry affiliates, operators but most importantly the end user.鈥�
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Max Podkidkin, Founder & CEO of BisectHosting
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鈥淎s we approach 2025, the gaming industry is poised for continued rapid transformation, bringing both challenges and opportunities. Technological advancements and global trends are expected to redefine the future of gaming for years to come.
鈥淎 key trend to watch in the new year is AI-generated game content. AI is enabling faster creation of large open-world games and more complex multiplayer experiences, driving the need for greater storage and processing power while accelerating game development timelines. To meet the energy demands of these advancements, major tech companies like Microsoft and Google are increasingly exploring nuclear power as a solution for their massive energy needs.
鈥淎t the same time, DDoS attacks, which surged by 94% in 2024 alone, are expected to increase in frequency and scale. This escalation will strain gaming servers, disrupt gameplay experiences, and potentially harm the reputations of game developers. Attackers often target gaming companies to gain a competitive advantage or for extortion.
鈥淎dditionally, importing gaming hardware into the U.S. is likely to face new challenges, particularly if the incoming Trump administration enacts its proposed 60% baseline tariff on exports from China.鈥�
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