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 explained that the tactics and expectations that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have lost their relevance in today’s market. "Sometimes there’s been doom and gloom, but overall the games industry is doing well," Jorjani observed. "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 identified three interlocking forces reshaping the landscape. First, the continued rise of developers in the Asia‑Pacific region is no longer a peripheral trend but a central driver of new titles.
This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live, for example, highlighted the capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, demonstrating that Asian games are now regularly competing on the global stage. "There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," Jorjani said. "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, appears to have hit a tipping point in terms of production quality.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric—a factor that influences design sensibilities—the speed at which games are developed and released is accelerating, a shift Jorjani attributes in part to artificial intelligence. "It is definitely picking up for sure," he noted. "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." The second major catalyst is AI, which Jorjani described as a "real change" that introduces a level of market unpredictability unlike any previous technology wave, such as VR. He emphasized that adoption patterns differ sharply between East and West. In Western markets, developers wrestle with ethical questions, data‑training rights, and artistic integrity, whereas many Eastern studios appear to embrace AI without the same moral hesitation, focusing purely on functional output. "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," Jorjani explained. The third challenge is the sheer length of development cycles for AAA titles, which often span five to six years and involve multiple teams across time zones.
This lengthy horizon makes publishers wary of investing in brand‑new IP, prompting a focus on established franchises that can mitigate risk through recognisability. Jorjani pointed out that brand equity provides a safety net in an environment where consumers are overwhelmed by an ever‑growing catalogue of releases. "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," he said. He cited the familiar Worms series as an example: even if a new Worms title isn’t groundbreaking, its legacy assures a baseline audience. Statistics support this cautious approach.
Steam’s 2025 replay data indicated that 44 % of player time was spent on games released between one and seven years ago, and roughly half of all Steam play sessions involve titles older than 18 months. While gamers vocalise a desire for fresh experiences, purchasing behaviour often favours remakes or sequels of known properties. Indie developers, however, enjoy a strategic advantage in this shifting climate.
Jorjani highlighted the importance of early validation—getting a prototype or a short clip in front of players quickly and iterating based on feedback. This agile methodology, common in software development and mobile gaming, contrasts sharply with the four‑year, closed‑door cycles typical of big‑budget studios. "The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," he asserted.
"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." He referenced the indie hit Tiny Glade, which gained momentum after early GIFs went viral week after week, demonstrating how rapid community response can propel a project forward. By contrast, waiting until a game is fully finished before launching a massive marketing push can be inefficient and risky. Arrowhead itself is adopting this approach for its next project.
Inspired by mobile developers who test concepts via ads and analytics, the studio plans to place early builds directly into the hands of a curated group of players. Jorjani described a targeted testing pool of about 100 Helldivers enthusiasts, segmented by their preferences for themes such as aliens.
By comparing feedback from this niche group against a broader control group, Arrowhead hopes to fine‑tune its design to appeal to a specific audience rather than casting a wide net. "We’re going to be putting it in the hands of players right away as soon as possible," he said. "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." In summary, Jorjani believes the industry’s old playbooks—long development cycles, reliance on big‑budget sequels, and cautious adoption of new tech—are losing their efficacy. The rise of Asian studios, the disruptive potential of AI, and the growing importance of early, data‑driven validation are reshaping how games are conceived, built, and marketed. While Western developers may grapple with ethical debates and a slower uptake of AI, the overall trend points toward faster iteration, more diverse sources of innovation, and a renewed spotlight on indie creators who can move nimbly in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
For Arrowhead, the lesson is clear: abandon the habit of keeping ideas hidden for years, embrace rapid prototyping, and let the community help shape the final product. By doing so, the studio hopes to stay ahead of the curve in an industry where the only constant is change.