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 transition. He explained that the formulas that guided developers and publishers throughout the 2010s have lost their effectiveness, and that the industry now operates under a very different set of assumptions.
"Sometimes there’s been doom and gloom, but overall the games industry is doing well," Jorjani said. "It’s just that the things that 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 several forces driving this shift.
First, the steady rise of developers in the Asia‑Pacific region is reshaping the global market. This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live highlighted the capabilities of studios from China and South Korea, underscoring how Asian games are now regularly competing on the world stage.
"There’s always been a general rise of Asian games and companies into the West," Jorjani observed. "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 be at a tipping point in terms of production quality. Jorjani noted that while the Chinese market remains heavily mobile‑centric—a factor that influences design sensibilities—the overall output is accelerating, partly due to artificial intelligence tools that speed up development pipelines.
"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, he argued, is the most disruptive technology the industry has seen in recent memory. Unlike previous hype cycles—such as virtual reality—that fizzled after initial excitement, AI is reshaping creation, production, and even marketing.
Jorjani highlighted a stark cultural divide in AI adoption: Western studios wrestle with ethical questions, data‑training rights, and artistic integrity, while many Eastern developers appear less concerned about those issues and more focused on practical output. "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," he explained.
"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." Beyond technology, Jorjani pointed to the sheer length of AAA development cycles as another source of uncertainty.
Big‑budget titles often require five to six years and coordination across multiple studios and time zones. This long‑lead time makes it risky to invest in brand‑new intellectual property, especially when market conditions can change dramatically before a game ships.
Consequently, many Western publishers have leaned on established franchises to mitigate risk. "If you know that and the market is changing, you need to be very certain that the bet you’re taking works," he said. "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 also described a phenomenon he calls “analysis paralysis.” With an ever‑growing flood of titles, consumers often default to familiar names rather than exploring unknown gems.
He cited the classic Worms series as an example: even if a new game isn’t particularly innovative, its legacy brand gives it a built‑in audience. Data from Steam Replay 2025 supports this, showing that 44 % of player hours were spent on games between one and seven years old, indicating a strong preference for established titles over fresh IPs. "People scream for new games and IPs, but they don’t actually buy them. We tend to buy remakes," Jorjani noted.
This environment, however, creates a strategic opening for indie developers. Because smaller studios can iterate quickly and obtain early feedback, they are less vulnerable to the long‑term uncertainties that plague AAA projects. Jorjani praised the “early validation” model, where developers showcase a prototype, a GIF, or a short video to gauge community reaction. If the response is positive, the project gains momentum; if not, it can be pivoted or abandoned before massive resources are sunk in.
He referenced the indie hit Tiny Glade, which gained viral attention after early GIFs were shared online, as a case study of rapid validation leading to success. Arrowhead itself is adopting this approach for its next venture.
Inspired by mobile‑game marketing tactics—where concepts are tested via ad performance—the studio plans to place a prototype directly into the hands of a select group of dedicated Helldivers fans. By surveying these players about their favorite IPs and gameplay preferences, Arrowhead hopes to fine‑tune the experience for a niche audience rather than casting a wide net and hoping for mass appeal. "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," Jorjani explained. "If they’re interested in aliens and they like Helldivers, then we know that they should score the game higher than the control group that all like Helldivers but aliens isn’t their favourite." The CEO concluded by emphasizing the need to abandon the old playbook of secrecy and long‑term hype in favor of transparent, iterative development.
While the transition may be uncomfortable for creators accustomed to traditional models, the combination of shorter cycles, AI‑driven tools, and a growing appetite for indie‑style authenticity could reshape the industry’s future. "The West will be slower on the uptake, but the uptake will still happen," he said, underscoring that adaptation—not resistance—will determine who thrives in the evolving landscape of video games.