Carve It Up

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
The global game industry is currently characterized by flatlined console growth, a reliance on mobile for growth, and a market where players increasingly consolidate their time into established titles like Fortnite and Counter-Strike.
02
Electronic Arts has lowered its fiscal year net bookings forecast to just over $7 billion, down from an original projection of $7.5–7.8 billion, citing a holiday-season revenue slump in EA Sports FC 25.
03
Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has agreed to a $20 million settlement with the FTC regarding deceptive loot box practices and child privacy violations, despite the game being on track to reach $10 billion in global revenue this year.
04
Sony continues to reduce its live-service portfolio, most recently cancelling the NCSoft-developed Horizon MMO.
05
Roblox stock has risen 62% over the past few months, despite a previous report from Hindenburg Research that characterized the platform as an 'X-rated paedophile hellscape'.
06
Insomniac Games co-founder Ted Price is retiring after 30 years, with the studio moving to a new leadership structure featuring co-heads Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider, and Jen Huang.
07
Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner is seeking a new publisher and moving services in-house following a temporary US service outage caused by the government's attempted ban of TikTok, which is owned by the game's current publisher, Bytedance.

Summary

The provided text serves as a critical review of a comprehensive industry analysis titled The State Of Video Gaming In 2025, a 220-slide presentation authored by venture capitalist Matthew Ball. The primary thesis of the critique is that while the presentation effectively aggregates existing data to illustrate the current stagnation and fragmentation of the global gaming market, it fails to provide actionable solutions or accurate foresight for the industry’s ongoing challenges.

Key findings highlighted in the analysis include the observation that gaming growth is increasingly concentrated in the mobile sector, while the console market has largely flatlined. The industry is characterized by an oversaturation of new releases, yet consumer engagement remains heavily tethered to established titles like Fortnite and Counter-Strike. Furthermore, the analysis notes that growth in the Chinese market has minimal impact on international performance, and the industry’s attempt to treat itself as a singular, monolithic entity is increasingly disconnected from the reality of its diverse and fluctuating sectors.

The critique adopts a skeptical tone regarding the industry's proposed "growth engines," such as user-generated content platforms like Roblox, which are described as investor-focused rather than sustainable. It also dismisses the notion that a potential increase in retail prices for major titles, such as a move to $100 for Grand Theft Auto VI, represents a viable industry-wide solution. Ultimately, the analysis concludes that the gaming industry must abandon the pretense of being a unified, monolithic global force comparable to music or film, as the current economic climate and market fragmentation necessitate a more nuanced approach to understanding success and failure across different segments.