Shams Jorjani, 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 transformation. He described the current moment as a "transitional phase" and warned that the playbooks that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have essentially 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." 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, for instance, highlighted the capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring how Asian games are now a regular feature on Western storefronts. "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 quality and ambition.
While the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric—a factor that shapes design sensibilities—Jorjani believes the country’s developers are accelerating their output, partly thanks to artificial intelligence. "It is definitely picking up for sure," he noted.
"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 the most disruptive technology the industry has seen in recent memory. Unlike previous hype cycles—such as virtual reality—AI is already reshaping development pipelines, asset creation, and even design iteration. Yet its adoption is uneven across regions.
In the West, developers wrestle with ethical questions, data‑ownership concerns, and artistic integrity. "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 said. By contrast, many Eastern studios appear less hesitant, treating AI as a pragmatic tool rather than a moral dilemma. "They absolutely do not care whatsoever," Jorjani observed, noting that in some tech circles, the transition to AI‑driven workflows has been almost seamless.
The CEO also highlighted the impact of long development cycles on strategic planning. AAA titles often require five to six years of work, coordinated across multiple studios and time zones. This lengthy horizon makes it risky to gamble on brand‑new IPs, especially when market conditions can shift dramatically during that period. As a result, publishers increasingly lean on established franchises to mitigate risk.
"The only thing that really, really mitigates risk on that level is brand and recognisability," Jorjani explained. "People know what they’re getting, so you can offset that risk." He pointed out a paradox: while consumers claim to crave fresh experiences, data shows that a significant portion of Steam playtime still belongs to games that are more than a year old.
According to Steam Replay 2025, 44 % of user hours were spent on titles between one and seven years old. This suggests that familiar names continue to dominate purchasing decisions, reinforcing the incentive to rely on sequels, remakes, or well‑known IPs. Indie developers, however, possess a strategic advantage in this environment. Their shorter cycles and willingness to share early prototypes enable rapid validation.
"The secret sauce to any successful game is early validation," Jorjani asserted. He cited the example of Tiny Glade, an indie title that generated buzz simply by releasing a few animated GIFs that resonated with the community. In contrast, a four‑year AAA project that waits until the final product to launch a massive marketing push risks missing the window of audience attention. Arrowhead itself is adopting this lean‑validation approach for its next venture.
Jorjani described a process where a small, carefully selected group of dedicated Helldivers fans will receive early builds, answer targeted surveys, and help the team gauge whether the game hits the right niche. By focusing on a specific subset of players—those who love aliens, enjoy tactical shooters, and are already fans of Helldivers—the studio hopes to refine its design before committing to broader, cost‑intensive production phases. The CEO concluded with a call to abandon outdated mindsets.
"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 said. Instead, he advocates a more open, iterative development culture that embraces AI tools, leverages the growing influence of Asian studios, and capitalizes on the agility of indie‑style early feedback. In doing so, Arrowhead aims to navigate the unpredictable landscape of the next five to ten years while staying true to its artistic vision and the expectations of its most passionate fans.