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 argues that the playbooks that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have lost their relevance, and that the industry now operates under a completely different set of assumptions. "Sometimes you hear doom‑and‑gloom narratives, but overall the market is healthy," Jorjani explained. "What has changed is that the foundations of our expectations have been rewritten.
The strategies that delivered success from 2010 to 2020 simply don’t work anymore. The bottom line has vanished from every business case you once relied on.
No one ever truly knew how many copies a title would sell, but they at least guessed a baseline. Now you have to subtract that figure entirely—that’s the new reality." He identified several forces driving this shift.
First, the continued rise of developers from the Asia‑Pacific region is reshaping the global landscape. This year's Gamescom Opening Night Live highlighted the impressive output of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring how Asian companies are no longer peripheral players but central contributors to the worldwide catalogue of releases.
"There’s been a steady increase in Asian games entering Western markets for the past decade," Jorjani said. "What we’re seeing now is a point where game after game from that region is consistently breaking through." China, in particular, appears to have reached a tipping point in terms of quality and ambition. While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric—an orientation that influences design sensibilities—the speed at which new titles are produced is accelerating, a trend Jorjani attributes in part to artificial intelligence.
"The Chinese scene is definitely picking up," he noted. "There’s still a journey ahead, but the sensibilities are evolving quickly. AI is a catalyst, pushing development timelines faster across the board." Artificial intelligence, according to Jorjani, is the most disruptive technology the industry has faced since the advent of virtual reality, and its impact is uneven across regions. In the West, developers grapple with ethical debates, data‑training permissions, and artistic concerns, whereas many Eastern studios adopt AI pragmatically, focusing on functional outcomes rather than philosophical objections.
"In the West we ask whether AI is ethical, whether companies should be allowed to train on certain data, and whether it threatens artistic integrity," he said. "In the East, the conversation is almost non‑existent—they simply use the tools because they get the job done. This creates a cultural split in adoption speed and attitude." Jorjani also warned that the West may experience an "existential crisis" as AI blurs the line between artistic creation and software engineering. While he identifies himself as an artist who values human connection, he acknowledges that AI reduces many aspects of game development to functional code, a shift that could slow Western uptake but will ultimately be unavoidable.
Beyond technology, the length of AAA development cycles remains a major source of uncertainty. Large‑scale projects often require five to six years and coordination across multiple studios and time zones. This lengthy horizon pushes publishers toward familiar, established IPs rather than risking investment in brand‑new concepts. "Development cycles are still long," Jorjani said.
"When you know the market is volatile, you need a very solid bet. Brand recognition is the primary risk mitigator.
Players know what they’re getting with a known franchise, which reduces the gamble for publishers." He illustrated this point with the phenomenon of "analysis paralysis"—the overwhelming flood of new releases that makes it difficult for consumers to choose. Recognizable titles like Worms or Helldivers provide a shortcut: players understand the core experience, even if the game isn’t groundbreaking. Statistics reinforce the trend. Steam data from 2025 showed that roughly 44 % of playtime was spent on games between one and seven years old, meaning half of the activity is on titles that are no longer brand‑new.
While gamers vocalize a desire for fresh IPs, purchasing behavior leans heavily toward remakes, sequels, and established series. Jorjani cited Riot Games and Supercell as examples of companies that juggle multiple projects simultaneously; a single hit can eclipse the rest of their pipeline, allowing them to sustain revenue while other titles languish. This dynamic, he argues, gives indie developers a strategic edge.
"The secret sauce for any successful game is early validation," he asserted. "The sooner you can show something to a real player and receive positive feedback, the better you can iterate. Indie studios excel at this because their cycles are short and they share progress openly—posting a GIF, a short video, or a prototype.
If the community reacts positively, you know you’re on the right track." He pointed to the indie hit Tiny Glade, whose early GIFs generated a viral buzz week after week, contrasting that with a four‑year AAA development timeline where marketing only ramps up near launch. Arrowhead intends to adopt this rapid‑feedback model for its next project, borrowing tactics from mobile developers who test concepts via ads and retain the most engaging ones.
"We’ll put the game in players’ hands as early as possible," Jorjani explained. "Our philosophy is to craft experiences for a specific connoisseur, not the generic action‑game fan. We’ll give a hundred Helldivers veterans a prototype, ask them about their favorite IPs, and see how they respond to alien themes versus other preferences.
This early data lets us confirm we’re hitting the right niche before we invest years into full production." He concluded by emphasizing that embracing this new approach means abandoning the old habit of keeping a project under wraps for years before a big reveal. Instead, developers must be willing to expose early builds, gather community input, and iterate rapidly—essentially swapping secrecy for transparency and speed. In summary, Jorjani’s message is clear: the assumptions that once underpinned the gaming industry have been upended by longer development timelines, the surge of Asian studios, and the transformative power of AI.
While these forces create uncertainty, they also open opportunities for indie creators who can validate ideas early, adapt quickly, and target well‑defined audiences. Arrowhead Game Studios plans to leverage these insights as it moves forward with its next title, hoping to blend the reliability of a known brand with the agility of modern, community‑driven development.