Shams Jorjani, chief executive of Arrowhead Game Studios – the studio behind Helldivers 2 – told GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom that the video‑game sector is undergoing a profound transitional period. He emphasized that the formulas that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have lost their effectiveness in today’s rapidly changing environment. "Sometimes there’s been doom and gloom, but overall the games industry is doing well," Jorjani observed. "It’s just that the things that 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 several forces driving this shift. One of the most visible is the continued rise of developers from the Asia‑Pacific region.
This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live highlighted the growing capabilities of studios in China and South Korea, showcasing high‑budget productions that can stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Western releases. "There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," Jorjani explained. "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 arrived at a tipping point in terms of quality.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric – a factor that shapes design sensibilities – the speed at which games are being created and iterated is accelerating, a trend Jorjani attributes in part to artificial intelligence. "It is definitely picking up for sure," he said.
"I think that 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, he noted, introduces a level of market unpredictability that makes medium‑term forecasting especially tricky. The technology’s impact varies dramatically across regions. In the West, developers are wrestling with ethical questions, data‑ownership concerns, and artistic integrity. In contrast, many Eastern studios appear to adopt AI with far less hesitation, treating it as a pragmatic tool rather than a moral dilemma.
"In the West, we’re asking if it is ethical and whether these companies are allowed to train on this data, and whether we should oppose it on ideological or artistic grounds. Whereas in the East, they absolutely do not care whatsoever," Jorjani said. He likened the difference to the split between IT professionals who have already integrated AI into their workflows without moral qualms and creative teams that view software as an artistic medium.
"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 added.
Beyond AI, Jorjani highlighted another structural challenge: the lengthy development cycles of AAA titles. Projects that aim for blockbuster status often require five to six years of work, coordinated across multiple studios and time zones.
This reality pushes publishers toward established franchises and away from risky new IP, especially in Western markets where financial risk aversion is high. "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," Jorjani explained. He pointed out that familiar names help cut through the “analysis paralysis” that overwhelms consumers faced with a flood of new releases.
A player can instantly gauge what to expect from a title like Worms, whereas dozens of unfamiliar announcements require more research and carry higher uncertainty. He cited Steam data indicating that half of the games played on the platform are older than eighteen months, and a 2025 Steam Replay report showing that 44 % of user playtime was spent on titles between one and seven years old. Despite vocal demand for fresh experiences, purchasing behavior still leans toward remakes and sequels.
Jorjani praised Arrowhead’s own fortunate breakthrough with Helldivers, noting that a combination of luck and a “secret sauce” – a distinctive blend of gameplay, aesthetic, and community appeal – helped the studio stand out. He contrasted this with larger companies like Riot Games or Supercell, which often juggle multiple projects simultaneously; a single hit can eclipse the rest of their pipeline.
For indie developers, however, Jorjani sees a strategic edge rooted in early validation. "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." Indies typically operate with shorter cycles and more open communication. A simple GIF posted on social media can generate immediate community response, allowing developers to pivot quickly.
Jorjani recalled the indie hit Tiny Glade, whose early teaser animations sparked a viral surge week after week, illustrating how rapid feedback loops can replace the drawn‑out marketing pushes required for four‑year AAA projects. Arrowhead intends to apply this philosophy to its next, as‑yet‑unnamed project.
The studio plans to borrow tactics from mobile developers, who routinely test concepts through ad‑based experiments to gauge audience resonance before committing to full production. "We’re going to be putting it in the hands of players right away as soon as possible," Jorjani affirmed. "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 and they like the game they’re playing with us, 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." He concluded by urging the industry to abandon the old playbook of keeping projects under wraps for years and then unveiling them with a grand spectacle. Instead, he advocated for a more iterative, data‑driven approach that embraces early player input, leverages AI responsibly, and acknowledges the growing influence of Asian studios. "But it requires you to let go of that old playbook of playing your cards close to the chest for years, and then dazzle and razzle," Jorjani said, underscoring that the future of gaming will belong to those who can adapt quickly, listen closely to their audience, and harness new technologies without losing sight of the artistic core that makes games meaningful.