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 transitional period. He argued that the assumptions and playbooks 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. "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 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." Jorjani identified several forces driving this shift. One of the most visible is the continued rise of developers in the Asia‑Pacific region. This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live featured a string of impressive titles from Chinese and South Korean studios, underscoring how Asian creators are no longer peripheral players but central contributors to the global market.
"There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," he 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, appears to have arrived at a tipping point in terms of quality and ambition.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric – a factor that shapes design sensibilities – the speed at which new experiences are produced is accelerating, a trend 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 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." Artificial intelligence, according to Jorjani, is the most disruptive technology the industry has seen in recent memory. Unlike earlier hype cycles such as virtual reality, AI is already reshaping development pipelines, asset creation, and even design iteration.
However, its adoption varies dramatically between East and West. In Western studios, debates about ethics, data ownership, and artistic integrity dominate the conversation. "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," he explained. By contrast, many Eastern developers appear to embrace AI with fewer reservations, treating it as a pragmatic tool rather than a philosophical dilemma.
"There’s a parallel to our friends in the IT industry; everyone’s shifted over to using AI completely and without any major moral qualms, because at the end of the day, if you’re making functional code, you’re not making entertainment where you’re trying to connect with other humans," Jorjani observed. He warned that this cultural split could lead to an "existential crisis" for Western creators who view games as artistic expressions. While the West may adopt AI more slowly, Jorjani is confident that the technology will eventually become indispensable across the board.
"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 said.
Beyond technology, Jorjani highlighted the sheer length of AAA development cycles as another source of uncertainty. Large‑scale projects often span five to six years, involve multiple studios across different time zones, and require massive financial commitments.
This reality pushes publishers toward established franchises and recognizable IPs, as brand equity offers a hedge against market volatility. "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," he explained. He illustrated the point with a reference to classic series like Worms, where players know exactly what to expect, even if the game isn’t groundbreaking. Data from Steam Replay 2025 supports Jorjani’s observation: roughly 44 % of total playtime was spent on titles aged between one and seven years, and half of all games played on the platform are older than 18 months. Despite vocal calls for fresh IPs, consumer purchasing behavior still leans toward familiar experiences, remakes, and sequels.
Arrowhead’s own success with Helldivers was, in Jorjani’s view, a blend of luck and a “secret sauce” that made the game instantly recognizable while offering something distinct. He contrasted the fortunes of large publishers with those of indie developers, arguing that smaller studios possess a strategic advantage in today’s fragmented market. Indie teams can iterate quickly, gather early feedback, and pivot without the sunk‑cost inertia that plagues multi‑year AAA projects.
"The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," Jorjani asserted. He recounted how a modest indie title, Tiny Glade, gained momentum after the developers posted a few early GIFs that resonated with the community, leading to rapid word‑of‑mouth growth. Arrowhead intends to apply this indie‑style validation to its next venture.
The studio plans to expose early prototypes to a curated group of dedicated Helldivers fans, gathering detailed preferences about genre, theme, and gameplay mechanics. By segmenting participants – for example, those who love aliens versus those who simply enjoy the Helldivers brand – the team can fine‑tune the experience before committing to a full production run. Jorjani likened this approach to the advertising‑driven concept testing long used by mobile developers, where multiple ad creatives are field‑tested to see which resonates best. In summary, Jorjani believes the industry’s future will be shaped by three intertwined trends: the rise of Asian studios, the transformative impact of AI, and the growing importance of early, data‑driven validation.
While the old playbooks that once guided multi‑year, high‑budget projects are fading, developers who can adapt, experiment, and listen to their audiences – especially indie creators – are likely to thrive. He concluded with a call to abandon the habit of keeping ideas hidden for years and instead embrace transparency, rapid feedback, and continuous iteration: "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."