The former head of Sony Worldwide Studios Sean Leiden and Analytics Circana and Ampere Analysis warn of the impending crisis of the AAA-IGR market.
According to Circana, a quarter of American players plan to spend less on games due to growth in housing, products and general economic uncertainty. The US market in 2025 can be reduced by 4.7%.
The situation is aggravated by Free-to-Play and signature services that give access to popular titles like Fortnite and Roblox without large costs, reducing the incentive to buy premium games.
At the same time, the cost of developing blockbusters reached $ 200–250 million, which forces the studio to bet on continuing and proven formulas, avoiding risky new IP.
Leiden criticizes the release of AAA in subscriptions on the day of the release, believing that it is beneficial to platforms, but turns developers into “hired workers” without a chance of superprofit.
According to him, the prices of the games should be raised gradually, and the current increase of up to $ 80 only enhances the gap between large hits and other projects.
