Shams Jorjani, the chief executive of Arrowhead Game Studios—the studio behind the upcoming Helldivers 2—recently told GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom that the video‑game sector is undergoing a profound transition. He argued that the formulas and expectations that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have effectively become obsolete. "Sometimes there’s been doom and gloom, but overall the games industry is doing well," Jorjani said, before adding that the assumptions underpinning business plans have been upended. "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." Several forces are driving this upheaval.
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 capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring a trend that Jorjani says has been building for a decade. "There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," he noted. "That’s been ongoing for the last 10 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 reached a tipping point in terms of the quality and ambition of its output.
Jorjani observed that while the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric, that focus is shaping a distinct design sensibility that is accelerating thanks 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, according to Jorjani, is the single technology that is injecting the greatest amount of uncertainty into the industry’s future.
Unlike previous hype cycles—such as virtual reality—AI is already reshaping production pipelines, asset creation, and even game design decisions. However, its adoption varies dramatically between East and West. In Western markets, developers grapple with ethical questions, data‑training rights, and artistic integrity, often slowing the pace of implementation.
In contrast, many Asian studios appear to embrace AI without hesitation, treating it as a pragmatic tool rather than a philosophical dilemma. "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.
Beyond technology, the sheer length of development cycles for AAA titles adds another layer of risk. Large‑scale projects often span five to six years and require coordination across multiple studios and time zones. This reality has pushed many Western publishers to lean on established franchises and recognizable IPs, rather than gamble on brand‑new concepts.
Jorjani summed up the logic: "If you know that development cycles are still long 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 illustrated this point with the phenomenon of "analysis paralysis" that plagues both consumers and investors when faced with an ever‑growing flood of new releases. Familiar titles—like the long‑standing Worms series—provide a safety net because players already understand the core experience. While novelty is celebrated, data shows that a substantial portion of Steam playtime still goes to games that are at least a year old, indicating a market preference for proven experiences over untested IPs. In this environment, indie developers enjoy a strategic advantage.
Their shorter development timelines and willingness to share early prototypes allow for rapid validation. "The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," Jorjani 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." He pointed to examples such as Tiny Glade, which gained momentum after the studio released a few early GIFs that resonated with the community week after week.
By contrast, a four‑year AAA cycle that waits until the product is finished before a massive marketing push runs a much higher risk of missing the market’s sweet spot. Arrowhead itself is adopting this indie‑style approach for its next project.
Jorjani explained that the studio plans to expose early builds to a curated group of dedicated Helldivers fans, collecting detailed feedback on preferences such as favorite IPs or thematic elements. This data‑driven, early‑testing methodology mirrors tactics used by mobile developers, who often run ad‑based concept tests to gauge audience reaction before committing to full production. "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." By segmenting the test group—e.g., Helldivers enthusiasts who also love alien‑themed settings—Arrowhead can identify the subsets most likely to champion the new title, allowing the studio to prioritize features that resonate with that niche. This early, granular insight, Jorjani argued, is far more valuable than waiting two years for broad‑scale user testing after a game is essentially complete.
In conclusion, Jorjani warned that clinging to outdated playbooks—keeping projects hidden for years and then unveiling them with a splash of marketing—will no longer suffice. The industry’s landscape is being reshaped by longer‑term uncertainties such as AI, the growing influence of Asian developers, and the financial pressures of protracted AAA cycles. Yet within this turbulence, indie studios and forward‑thinking publishers that embrace rapid iteration, early community validation, and flexible development models are poised to thrive. Arrowhead’s own shift toward early player involvement exemplifies the kind of adaptive strategy that may define success in the next era of gaming.