GamesIndustry.biz's Top Features of 2025: A Year in Review

As the year draws to a close, we're taking a moment to reflect on some of the standout features published on GamesIndustry.biz in 2025. With the new year rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to revisit some of the highlights from the past 12 months. Below, you'll find a curated selection of our top picks, covering a wide range of topics that shaped the gaming industry in 2025. We had the opportunity to speak with key figures behind some of the year's biggest games, including the creators of Blue Prince and the team behind the surprise hit Dispatch. We also heard from François Meurisse of Sandfall Interactive and Matthew Handrahan of Kepler Interactive, who shared their thoughts on the importance of maintaining small team sizes despite the success of titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Additionally, we explored how the release of major games like Necrosoft Games' Demonschool and Hollow Knight: Silksong impacted the plans of various studios. Our interviews with Quantic Dream and Neon Giant provided insight into their upcoming projects, including the MMO title Spellcasters Chronicles and the cyberpunk game No Law. We gathered reactions from industry leaders on significant events such as the acquisition of EA, the rebranding of GDC as a 'Festival of Gaming,' the delay of GTA 6, and the impending purchase of Warner Bros. by Netflix. Furthermore, we examined the shortage of Switch 2 development kits, the inner workings of Metacritic, and the implications of the UK's Online Safety Act on the gaming industry. BAFTA's executive director of awards and content shared the judging process for the BAFTA Games Awards, while two studios discussed their experiences with layoffs. We also received insights from Unity on recovering from the Runtime Fee debacle and learned about the growth of the open-source engine Godot. Other notable features included an analysis of the To The Moon Expo, an interview with Santa Ragione co-founder Pietro Righi Riva about the implications of Steam's ban on their game Horses, and a two-part feature entitled The Big Picture, in which analysts like former PlayStation head Shawn Layden examined the current state and future trajectory of the gaming industry. The trend of transmedia was also a significant focus, with discussions on the success of A Minecraft Movie and the challenges of finding funding for game-based film adaptations. We looked at the emergence of VR natives, a new audience of young people who primarily play multiplayer games in VR, and examined the story behind the success of Schedule I, a drug-dealing simulator that found a huge audience on Steam. The move towards unionization in the gaming industry continued, with the IWGB union and ZA/UM sharing their experiences. In terms of technology, we spoke with the teams behind Digiphile, Playnist, and Teammates from Ubisoft, and explored the opportunities and pitfalls of user-generated content. Publishing was also a key topic, with discussions on the focus on smaller games and the importance of women in the gaming industry. Interviews with company heads like Playstack CEO Harvey Elliott, Build A Rocket Boy head Leslie Benzies, and Atari CEO Wade Rosen provided valuable insights into the inner workings of the industry. As we looked back on the past year, several features examined the history of gaming, including the preservation of classic games and the stories behind abandoned projects like Project Milo and Dead Island 2. Finally, thought-provoking features on topics like contract negotiations in the UK, the experiences of women in the industry since Gamergate, and the efforts to empower Palestinian game developers rounded out our selection of the best features from 2025.