First-Person Shooter reports and market data
Documents
Why Destiny Died (RIP 2014-2026)
The Destiny franchise, which launched in 2014, is effectively concluding its active development cycle as Bungie transitions Destiny 2 into a maintenance-only state following a final update in June 2026.
- Bungie is ending development on Destiny 2 and initiating significant layoffs following the conclusion of the franchise's long-term content roadmap.
- The development of a potential Destiny 3 has been deemed financially unviable due to the exponential rise in AAA game production budgets, which now far exceed the $500 million investment Activision originally committed to the franchise in 2010.
- Bungie’s transition from an independent studio to a Sony subsidiary in 2022 for $3.6 billion occurred during a period of zero-interest rates, but the studio has since struggled to maintain player engagement as the market for live-service games became increasingly saturated.
Shooter Monthly #7: Marathon’s Collapse, Apex’s Comeback, & Disney’s Extraction Shooter
The extraction shooter genre currently faces a critical inflection point, characterized by a tension between hardcore design philosophies and the necessity of mainstream accessibility.
- The extraction shooter genre is currently struggling with a critical tension between hardcore mechanics and the mainstream accessibility required for player retention.
- Titles like Marathon are seeing significant declines in daily active users, driven by punishing gameplay loops and a lack of effective onboarding for new players.
- Apex Legends serves as the industry benchmark for longevity by successfully oscillating between casual and hardcore audiences through sandbox refinements and accessibility features like bot-filled lobbies.
Gamestop Bids on Ebay, Battlefield’s Preorder Battlepass, & The PS5 DRM Scare | Games For Breakfast
The gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant volatility characterized by aggressive corporate expansion, labor unrest, and shifting consumer rights.
- GameStop has proposed a $55.5 billion acquisition of eBay, a move widely criticized as financially reckless and disconnected from the company’s actual market valuation.
- The South Korean Supreme Court ruled against Iron Mace in an intellectual property dispute, ordering a $3.84 million judgment regarding the game Dark and Darker.
- Wizards of the Coast is facing significant labor unrest as employees organize over concerns regarding stagnant pay, the use of artificial intelligence, and declining quality control.
GI Podcast | Call of Duty, Game Pass, and the Mario movie
Microsoft is fundamentally restructuring its Xbox Game Pass strategy, pivoting away from the aggressive "Netflix for games" model toward a more sustainable financial framework.
- Microsoft is restructuring Xbox Game Pass to move away from a 'Netflix for games' model toward a tiered, segmented strategy that restricts day-one access to protect revenue for high-budget titles.
- The release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 caused a 71 percent surge in monthly active users, but engagement levels quickly reverted to historical baselines, indicating that the franchise's core audience does not drive long-term subscription growth.
- Gaming studios are increasingly pivoting toward Hollywood adaptations, driven by the box office success of franchises like Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, and are now scouting platforms like Roblox for future cinematic IP.
The Secret Trick To Instantly Make Your Game FUN
The primary objective is to demonstrate how to enhance the "fun factor" of a game through iterative, low-level adjustments to game feel and presentation, rather than altering core mechanics.
- Prioritize player movement feel early in development, as adjusting variables like bounce and speed can significantly enhance the 'fun factor' without altering core mechanics.
- Maintain consistent scale by ensuring the character controller height is exactly twice the size of a primitive cube to ensure platforming feels intuitive.
- Use animator trees to centralize control over movement states, jump animations, and sound triggers, allowing for iterative fine-tuning of game feel.
How To Make Your Game 10X Funner (Workshop Day 3)
Enhancing the core experience of a first-person shooter relies heavily on the concept of game feel, which is achieved through iterative visual polish and immediate player feedback.
- Game feel and 'juice'—such as particle effects, lighting, and screen feedback—can transform a boring, basic prototype into an engaging experience without changing the core mechanics.
- Developers should avoid multi-year gambles on a first project, instead opting for small, simple games that can be completed in approximately three months.
- A viable strategy for indie developers is to create a small-scale, hour-long game with limited scope, such as five enemy types and five weapons, priced at $5.
Shooter Monthly #5: The Marathon Revelation, Overwatch Reborn & The Death of Highguard
The modern shooter landscape is currently defined by a tension between the volatility of community-driven spectacle and the necessity of sustainable, systems-based design.
- The collapse of Highguard demonstrates that relying on negative community sentiment and 'hate-playing' is an unsustainable strategy that fails to generate long-term player engagement.
- Bungie is positioning Marathon to disrupt the extraction shooter genre by combining high-stakes tactical gameplay with the accessibility and streamlined objectives typical of battle royale titles.
- Overwatch has successfully reclaimed market share by pivoting back to its core identity and implementing fundamental gameplay updates, validating the effectiveness of nostalgia-driven re-launch strategies.
High Guard's Downfall, Marathon's Release, Xbox's Future | Roundtable News 370
The modern video game industry is currently navigating a period of profound instability, marked by the failure of high-budget live-service titles and a broader crisis in North American development.
- Wildlight’s HighGuard failed due to inconsistent art direction, poor performance, and a lack of public playtesting, resulting in significant layoffs and a drastically reduced team size.
- Modern live-service shooters are struggling due to post-COVID overfunding, leading to a market saturated with failed projects and a disconnect between long development cycles and shifting player interests.
- Bungie’s Marathon playtest demonstrated strong gunplay but highlighted critical issues with UI readability and the need for clearer art direction, underscoring the importance of early public feedback.
Shooter Monthly #4: The World's Biggest Shooter May Surprise & The Thing Highguard Needs to Learn
The global shooter market has reached a state of equilibrium dominated by a duopoly of Battle Royale and tactical genres, creating a challenging environment for new entrants.
- The global shooter market is dominated by mobile-first titles like Free Fire and PUBG Mobile, which command significantly higher monthly active user counts than traditional premium PC and console shooters.
- Modern shooter success is increasingly driven by experiential gameplay and high-frequency engagement loops rather than strictly competitive, high-stakes outcomes.
- The 'shadow drop' launch model is no longer a viable strategy, as modern players have little tolerance for the technical instability and lack of tactical depth seen in recent failures like Highguard.
Interview: Highguard developers on dealing with the hostile reception to its ambitious shooter
Wildlight, an independent studio founded by industry veterans from the Apex Legends and Titanfall development teams, recently launched its debut title, Highguard.
- Wildlight, a 100-person studio founded by Apex Legends and Titanfall veterans, is positioning its debut title 'Highguard' as a 'raid shooter' that blends base-raiding, open-world exploration, and tactical combat.
- To mitigate the risks of the saturated live-service market, the studio launched with a full year of content already in development and a pre-planned roadmap.
- The studio utilized a surprise reveal at The Game Awards followed by a six-week quiet period to manage community anticipation and finalize development.
GoldenEye and TimeSplitters creators return: “Maybe this isn’t what we should be doing”
The modern gaming industry is currently defined by a fundamental tension between the instability of large-scale production and the enduring dominance of legacy content.
- Over 50% of all current gaming activity is dedicated to titles that are at least six years old, highlighting the market's heavy reliance on legacy content.
- New game releases, excluding annualized sports franchises, are struggling to capture even 1% of the active player base.
- Major publishers are increasingly pivoting toward remakes and established live-service ecosystems to secure revenue as consumers prioritize massive backlogs over new, full-priced titles.
Shooter Monthly #2: Call of Duty Flops, Battlefield Hops, and Arc Raiders Pops
The shooter genre is currently undergoing a significant structural shift as established franchises face declining engagement while newer, innovative titles capture market share.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is underperforming significantly, with European sales dropping 63% compared to Battlefield 6 and falling over 50% below its predecessor.
- Arc Raiders has emerged as a market leader in the extraction shooter genre, generating over $300 million in gross revenue from 7.7 million units sold.
- Player fatigue with futuristic settings, ineffective marketing, and the lack of cosmetic carry-overs are identified as the primary drivers for the decline of established shooter franchises.