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 formulas 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," he 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 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." Jorjani 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, for example, highlighted the capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring how Asian games are increasingly entering Western consciousness.
"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 reached a tipping point in terms of production quality. Jorjani noted that while Chinese gamers remain predominantly mobile‑centric—a factor that shapes design sensibilities—the overall output is accelerating, partly due 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 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 perhaps the most disruptive technology the industry has seen in recent memory. He warned that predicting the landscape five or ten years from now is extremely difficult because AI introduces a new layer of uncertainty. Moreover, the adoption of AI varies dramatically between regions. In the West, developers grapple with ethical questions, data‑training rights, and artistic integrity.
In contrast, many Eastern studios appear less concerned with those debates, focusing instead on practical implementation. "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 observed. He likened the situation to his friends in the broader IT sector, many of whom have switched to AI‑driven workflows without moral hesitation because the output is functional code rather than expressive entertainment. He added that Western developers may experience an "existential crisis" as AI blurs the line between artistic creation and software engineering.
"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 structural challenge of long development cycles for AAA titles. Projects that take five or six years, involve multiple studios across time zones, and require massive budgets are increasingly risky in a market that is fragmenting and accelerating. This risk aversion explains why many Western publishers are leaning on established franchises rather than investing heavily in new intellectual property. "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," he explained. "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." Jorjani pointed out that the sheer volume of releases creates "analysis paralysis" for consumers. When faced with a flood of titles, players often gravitate toward familiar names.
He cited the classic series Worms as an example: even if a newcomer is technically impressive, a recognized brand instantly conveys expectations. Data from Steam Replay 2025 supports this, showing that 44 % of user playtime was spent on games aged one to seven years, and half of all Steam sessions involved titles older than 18 months. "People scream for new games and IPs, but they don’t actually buy them.
We tend to buy remakes," he said, noting that Arrowhead’s own success with Helldivers was partly luck and a distinctive “secret sauce” that made the game stand out. The CEO also contrasted the strategies of large publishers with those of indie developers.
Companies like Riot Games or Supercell may juggle multiple projects, but only a handful become breakout hits, causing the others to fade into obscurity. Indie studios, by contrast, can iterate quickly and validate concepts early. "The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," Jorjani 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 illustrated this with the story of Tiny Glade, an indie title that gained momentum after early GIFs went viral week after week. In comparison, a four‑year AAA cycle forces teams to wait until the game is finished before launching a massive marketing push, reducing flexibility. Arrowhead intends to adopt the indie mindset for its next project, borrowing practices from mobile developers who test concepts via ad‑based A/B experiments.
"We’re going to be putting it in the hands of players right away as soon as possible," Jorjani 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.
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." By segmenting the test group—identifying those who love aliens, enjoy Helldivers, and respond positively to the prototype—Arrowhead can gauge whether the new title resonates with its target audience earlier than traditional methods allow. This data‑driven approach, he noted, requires abandoning the old playbook of keeping projects under wraps for years before a grand reveal. "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," he concluded. In summary, Jorjani believes the industry’s assumptions have been upended by longer development timelines, the surge of high‑quality Asian games, and the transformative impact of AI.
While these forces create uncertainty, they also open opportunities for smaller, more agile developers who can test, iterate, and connect with niche audiences faster than the traditional AAA model permits. Arrowhead’s own strategy reflects this new reality, emphasizing early player feedback, targeted outreach, and a willingness to experiment beyond the conventions that once defined the business.