Grand Theft Auto VI (Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.)
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“Survive ’til ’25.”
Whether it was at DICE, GDC, Summer Game Fest, or Gamescom, you couldn’t mingle among the video game industry last year without hearing those words floating in the air. It was a benediction, a rallying cry, a statement of hope, a reassurance among friends, and a whispered command before morning coffee or after a long day.
We’re now more than halfway through 2025, and many independent developers and employees at large triple-A studios are simply hoping to get through December.
“Survive through ’25.”
Hope. Reassurance. Necessity. But it isn’t going to be an easy road. To understand where we’re going, we need to examine where we are, and how the entire video game industry was led here by bad decision-making at the hands of the wealthiest executives.
Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
It’s hard to imagine how different our industry, and the world in which it exists, would be if not for the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact. Living under quarantine was a weird and scary time, but if you were already entrenched in video games, your favorite hobby prepared you for a world in which socialization happens at a distance.