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 lost their relevance in today’s market. "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 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 three inter‑related forces driving this shift. First, the steady rise of developers in the Asia‑Pacific region is reshaping the global landscape. This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live, for example, highlighted the growing creative muscle of studios from China and South Korea.
"There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," Jorjani 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 hit a quality tipping point.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric—a factor that influences design sensibilities—its developers are delivering increasingly sophisticated experiences across platforms. Jorjani observed, "It is definitely picking up for sure.
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." The second catalyst is artificial intelligence.
Jorjani warned that AI introduces a level of market unpredictability that makes forecasting the next five or ten years especially tricky. He contrasted the West’s cautious, ethically‑charged debate with the East’s pragmatic embrace. "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. 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 added that Western developers are experiencing an "existential crisis" as AI blurs the line between artistic creation and software engineering.
He predicts a slower adoption curve in the West, but one that will inevitably converge as the technology matures. The third challenge is the sheer length of AAA development cycles.
Large‑scale titles often require five to six years and coordination across multiple studios and time zones. This reality pushes publishers toward established franchises and away from risky new IPs. "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," Jorjani explained. He argued that brand recognition is the primary risk mitigator. Players gravitate toward familiar names because they know what to expect, even if the experience isn’t groundbreaking. Data from Steam Replay 2025 supports this: roughly 44 % of user playtime was spent on games aged between one and seven years, and half of all Steam sessions involved titles older than 18 months.
Yet this reliance on legacy brands creates a paradox. While consumers vocalize a hunger for fresh experiences, their purchasing behavior often favors remakes and sequels.
Arrowhead’s own success with Helldivers was, Jorjani admitted, partly luck and partly a “secret sauce” that made the game instantly recognizable while still feeling unique. Indie developers, however, possess a strategic advantage in this environment. Jorjani highlighted the importance of early validation—a process where developers expose prototypes or small demos to players as soon as possible to gather feedback. "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," he said.
This agile approach is common in the indie scene, where teams share GIFs, short videos, or playable builds on social media and quickly gauge community reaction. Arrowhead is adopting that mindset for its upcoming project. Inspired by mobile‑game studios that test concepts through ad performance, the company plans to place early builds directly into the hands of a curated group of players. Jorjani described a pilot: "We’ll give the game to 100 Helldivers fans, ask them about their favorite IPs, and see if they also love alien‑themed experiences.
If they rate the prototype higher than a control group that likes Helldivers but not aliens, we’ll know we’ve hit the right niche." This data‑driven, rapid‑feedback loop contrasts sharply with the traditional “keep the cards close to the chest for years, then dazzle and razzle” methodology. Jorjani concluded that abandoning the old playbook is essential for navigating the new, more volatile landscape.
In summary, the gaming industry is being reshaped by three converging forces: the ascent of Asian studios, the disruptive potential of AI, and the inertia of long development timelines. While these trends create uncertainty for large publishers, they also open doors for smaller, more nimble studios that can iterate quickly, validate concepts early, and target specific player sub‑communities. Arrowhead’s shift toward early player involvement exemplifies how even established developers can adapt to the evolving reality and continue to thrive in an industry where yesterday’s formulas no longer guarantee tomorrow’s success.