Shams Jorjani, the chief executive of Arrowhead Game Studios – the studio behind Helldivers 2 – recently told GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom that the video‑game sector is undergoing a profound transition. He argued that the assumptions and playbooks that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have largely lost their relevance in today’s market.
"Sometimes there’s been doom and gloom, but overall the games industry is doing well," Jorjani said. "It’s just that the things we based our assumptions on have changed fundamentally. The playbooks used from 2010 to 2020 no longer work.
The bottom has fallen out of every business case that you had. No one knew how well a game would sell, but they assumed it would sell at least this much. Whatever that number was, take a zero away. And that’s the reality." He outlined several forces reshaping the landscape.
One of the most visible is the continued ascent of developers from the Asia‑Pacific region. This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live, for example, highlighted the capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring a trend that has been building for roughly a decade but now appears to have reached a tipping point. "There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," Jorjani noted. "That’s been ongoing for the last ten years, but now it’s reached a point where it’s game after game after game that’s really making it." China, in particular, is producing titles of a quality that rivals many Western releases.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric – a factor that influences design sensibilities – the speed at which new games are launched is accelerating, a development Jorjani attributes in part to artificial intelligence. "It is definitely picking up for sure," he said. "I think there’s still a way to go, but there are very different sensibilities to what makes the games tick as well.
The Chinese audience is still primarily mobile‑driven. That flavours the sensibilities, but it’s going faster. I think AI is accelerating this because more and more games are coming out faster and faster everywhere." AI, according to Jorjani, introduces a level of unpredictability that makes forecasting the next five or ten years of the industry especially challenging. He contrasted the cultural attitudes toward AI in the West and the East.
In Western markets, developers wrestle with ethical questions, data‑training rights, and artistic integrity, often slowing adoption. In contrast, many Eastern studios appear less concerned with these debates and have integrated AI tools more rapidly, focusing on functional outcomes rather than philosophical objections.
"When you introduce AI to it, I understand that Western game developers have an existential crisis. I am an artist, and I’m also connecting with people on an artistic level, but when you make it into software, it’s just functional. There’s a different attitude there. The West will be slower on the uptake, but the uptake will still happen," he explained.
Beyond AI, another structural challenge remains the length of development cycles for AAA titles. Large‑scale projects often span five to six years and involve multiple teams spread across continents. This long‑term commitment makes publishers wary; they prefer to lean on established franchises that already have brand recognition, reducing the financial risk associated with untested IP. "Development cycles are still long.
If you know that and the market is changing, you need to be very certain that the bet you’re taking works. The only thing that really, really mitigates risk on that level is brand and recognisability. People know what they’re getting, so you can offset that risk," Jorjani said. He illustrated this point with the example of long‑standing series like Worms, which, despite not being groundbreaking, offers a familiar experience that players can count on.
He also cited data from Steam Replay 2025, which showed that roughly 44 % of user playtime was spent on games between one and seven years old, indicating that a significant portion of gamers continue to enjoy older titles rather than constantly seeking brand‑new experiences. This pattern reinforces the market’s preference for recognizable names and explains why many studios focus on sequels, remasters, or extensions of existing universes. In contrast, indie developers enjoy a strategic advantage because they can iterate quickly and validate concepts early.
Jorjani highlighted the importance of “early validation” – getting a prototype or even a short GIF in front of players to gauge reaction. This rapid feedback loop enables small teams to pivot or refine their ideas without the sunk‑cost burden of a multi‑year development timeline.
"The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," he said. "The sooner you can get something in front of a person and get positive feedback, you know you’re on track, onto something, and you can iterate.
That’s the strength of software development. We see this in indie development because their cycles look very different and they share openly." He pointed to the success of Tiny Glade, an indie title that gained momentum after early GIFs went viral, as a case study of how momentum can be built without a massive marketing push. By contrast, a four‑year AAA cycle that waits until the game is finished before launching a large‑scale campaign risks missing the optimal window for audience engagement.
Arrowhead itself is adopting this indie‑style methodology for its next project. The studio plans to involve a curated group of dedicated Helldivers fans early in development, using their preferences to shape the game’s direction. By presenting concepts to a focused cohort and measuring their reactions, Arrowhead hopes to ensure the final product resonates with its target audience before broader testing even begins. "We’re going to be putting it in the hands of players right away as soon as possible," Jorjani explained.
"Our philosophy has always been that we want to make games for a certain type of connoisseur. We don’t want just any action player fan.
We want a specific one. So we’ll probably put the game in the hands of 100 Helldivers players, and then we’ll ask them what their favourite IPs or games are. If they’re interested in aliens and they like Helldivers, then we know that they should score the game higher than the control group that all like Helldivers but aliens isn’t their favourite.
That will allow us to know that we’re able to hit that specific group, and we should do this now, early into development rather than waiting two years after getting broad user tests." Jorjani concluded that the industry must abandon the old habit of keeping projects under wraps for years and then unveiling them with a grand spectacle. Instead, developers need to embrace transparency, rapid testing, and iterative design to thrive in an environment where AI, shifting regional dynamics, and changing consumer habits continually rewrite the rules of the game. In summary, the gaming sector is moving away from the decade‑old formulas that once guaranteed success.
Long development times, the rise of Asian studios, and the disruptive potential of AI have all contributed to a new reality where brand equity and early player feedback are paramount. While large publishers may continue to rely on established franchises, indie creators—armed with agile processes and direct community engagement—are poised to capture a growing share of the market, shaping the next wave of interactive entertainment.