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HELSINKI, FINLAND - 16 JANUARY, 2025 - The games industry is set to enter a renaissance in 2025, according to game backend provider Metaplay. Surveying 150 Tech Leads and C-Suite at studios that make Unity games, the research reveals an industry set to enter an era of renewed progress fuelled by technological advances.
77% of the 150 Tech Leads and C-Suite at studios that make Unity games surveyed for the study expect industry growth in 2025 and beyond. However, rather than a simple return to growth, the reasons underpinning this optimism point to an entirely new phase for the games industry. Just as the Renaissance was marked by major leaps of technical progress —heralding the advent of the printing press and the nautical compass— games industry leaders anticipate a comparable period of innovation, following the turbulent years gone by. 75% of developers anticipate a greater availability of high-quality tooling, which may explain why 59% of developers are launching a new game in 2025 because of better tech being available.
Equipped with new technologies and ways of working, industry leaders expect to benefit from increased access to capital, with 77% of developers anticipating greater availability of funding for new studios and 73% of developers expecting more acquisitions and exits. This new age of progress is good news for players too as 90% of developers expect to launch at least one new game in 2025.
Surveyed by MRS-certified independent market research company Atomik Research, the full 60-page report includes additional data points, expert analysis, and interviews with industry leaders from Kwalee, Sisu, Future Run, Bitmagic, and Homa and more.
Teemu Haila, Co-Founder and CPO, Metaplay, said:
“Our findings have shown that LiveOps, cross-platform development, and external technology are at the heart of the Game Development Renaissance. The Renaissance is so much more than a catchy headline. It’s a movement, a shift in the way game development is done. It represents an era where studios no longer have to rely on raw headcount to achieve growth. Instead, growth is achieved through smarter tooling, leaner teams, and sharper strategy. The pages of our latest report give you a front-row seat to this transformation.”
John Wright, VP Mobile Games, Kwalee, said:
“The biggest successes in 2024 didn’t come from new games - they came from LiveOps. If you look at the top 100-grossing games today, most of them are over four years old. We used to call them ‘evergreen’ games, but now, they’re becoming ‘forever games’ that can stay relevant for seven to ten years. That’s a massive shift. LiveOps is at the heart of that transformation, and just one indication of changing attitudes fueling the Renaissance in the mobile games industry.”
The report follows the publication of Metaplay’s Build Vs. Buy research in May 2024. You can read The Game Development Renaissance Report here or collect a physical copy at Metaplay’s Booth, stand P01 at PocketGamerConnects London from January 20-21.
Key Findings
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Industry Outlook: 77% of respondents are optimistic for industry growth as a whole; 73% anticipate more acquisitions and exits, 71% expect fewer layoffs and studio closures, and 76% foresee more availability of publishing deals
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New Games: 90% of studios expect to launch at least one new game in 2025; respondents (59%) cite availability of better tech as the main reason for doing so. Developers expect to see better quality games too, with 68% of developers expecting more of them in 2025.
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Title Support: Of those not launching new games, 53% say it is to focus on improving existing titles.
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Shipping for Success: Developers cite strong player progression and rewards (39%), regular content updates and live services support (38%), and cross-platform compatibility (38%) as the top three qualities to shipping a successful game in 2025.
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Feature Implementation: Cross-platform compatibility is the most considered feature (31%) at the concepting stage of game development. At pre-production, developers consider accessibility and inclusivity the most (36%). A quarter of developers (27%) only consider LiveOps after global launch.
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Live Service Expectations: In 2025, 75% of developers expect live service games to generate more revenue than before, with 73% of developers anticipating deeper metagames
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2025 Toolkit: 75% of developers anticipate greater availability of high-quality tooling; 48% of developers are looking to mostly adopt external tech in 2025 and 6% of developers say they’re mostly looking to build tech internally. 63% of developers anticipate lower game development costs
METHODOLOGY
The research fieldwork took place between 22-27 November 2024. The 154 respondents all work at game development companies using Unity with a minimum of 20 staff in the United States (US) or United Kingdom (UK). All respondentds are Founders, C-level executives or tech team leads. The online survey was conducted by Atomik Research, an independent creative market research agency that employs MRS-certified researchers and abides to the MRS code.
ABOUT METAPLAY
Metaplay is a complete backend solution for building, operating, and scaling top-grossing mobile games. Metaplay’s SDK is the only backend that offers a full suite of customisable and extensible tools which cater to every stage of production of an online game’s growth from the first line of code, right through to LiveOps and player support. Based in Helsinki and founded in 2019, the team comprises veteran game developers and engineers, each highly familiar with the tools needed to support a game as it scales. Since its founding in stealth, Metaplay has worked with various Finnish developers including Metacore, Dodreams, and Playsome to create a leading-edge game development platform. In 2024, the backend branched out across Europe and the world, with established studios such as Trailmix and Lessmore trusting Metaplay's battle-tested tech to support their next wave of projects, as well as many other studios from across the world.