Abstract
- The gaming business was financially profitable total, however noticed over 14,000 layoffs.
- Different indicators of turmoil included strikes, studio closures, and canceled initiatives.
- Balatro and EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer 25 had been among the many yr’s hottest titles.
The gaming business is so gigantic nowadays that it is truthfully tough to recollect all the things that occurred in a given yr. Your reminiscence may put titles comparable to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownin 2023, for instance, however each of these got here out in January 2024. And naturally, there are all the time certain to be business shakeups, this yr starting from the SAG-AFTRA voice actors strike to long-standing companies and publications being wound down — RIP Sport Informer.
The record beneath is nowhere close to complete, since there is no method it may very well be. I am additionally avoiding separating the successes and failures, or placing them in any explicit order. I am simply attempting to name consideration to a few of the extra vital factors of 2024.
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1 Large studio layoffs and closures
Pour one out for the dreamers of desires
Bungie
Whereas the gaming business did nicely as an entire in 2024, that wasn’t a lot consolation to the minds that truly make video games. In January alone, Microsoft’s gaming division laid off some 1,900 folks. Different well-known companies that put folks out of labor included Sony, Eidos, Epic, Bungie, Digital Arts, Riot Video games, Take-Two, and Ubisoft. By the top of the yr, over 14,000 folks had been affected.
There have been additionally some stunning studio closures, comparable to Arkane Austin and Volition. It appeared like nobody was secure — even Tango Gameworks went down, regardless of the recognition of Hello-Fi Rush. That one was rescued by PUBG homeowners Krafton, at the least.
What was behind all of it? The reply to that’s advanced, various from firm to firm, however some elements at play included costly budgets, business consolidation, and dangerous bets, comparable to “dwell service” video games that failed to attract gamers from stalwarts like Fortnite and Rainbow Six: Siege.

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2 The Harmony flame-out
One of the vital spectacular post-E.T. disasters
Sony/Pocket-Lint
Talking of dwell service tragedies, essentially the most notorious one this yr was Harmony. The hero shooter was developed by Firewalk Studios, and printed by Sony, which had ambitions of turning it into a serious new franchise. It took some eight years to develop, and had a price range within the lots of of tens of millions, partly to help elaborate CG cutscenes telling an ongoing story. That price range might have been as excessive as $400 million — which, if true, would put it above blockbuster motion pictures like Avengers: Endgame or Avatar: The Manner of Water.
Hassle started earlier than Harmony was even launched. A Could 2024 CG trailer produced a lukewarm response, with some critics evaluating it to an imitation Guardians of the Galaxy. In July, a beta check attracted few gamers, in addition to media feedback that the sport was little greater than high quality, at greatest.
Its August launch was bleak. In its first few days, it offered simply 25,000 or so copies throughout Steam and the PlayStation Retailer — lower than what many video games with its price range promote in a matter of hours. The product was quickly delisted, and by September 6, its servers had been offline. A month later, Sony nixed any likelihood of reviving the sport and determined to shut down Firewalk.
How a lot was Sony relying on Harmony? The corporate even managed to get an episode in Amazon’s Prime Video gaming anthology present, Secret Stage. At this time, that is the one remnant of Harmony you’ll be able to pay for.

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The most effective-selling sport of the yr
EA Sports activities
The web makes it doable to get caught in bubble communities that assume they symbolize the general public at massive, whether or not meaning gaming, politics, or anything. With regards to gaming, these bubbles may persuade you everyone seems to be taking part in titles like Astro Bot or Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 6.
These titles have executed very nicely, however within the US, the best-selling sport of 2024 (in keeping with Circana knowledge) was really EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer 25 — beating out not simply Black Ops 6, however Madden 25, the newest in EA’s decades-long NFL franchise. Sports activities are all the time common, however the sport might have been additional helped by the near-fanatic devotion some People have to varsity groups. Vital opinions have been largely optimistic as nicely, so it isn’t like each Longhorns or Crimson Tide fan was mindlessly scooping it up.

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4 The devilish unfold of Balatro
Deceptively easy, tremendously addictive
Apple / Balatro / Pocket-lint
Turning to the indie world, the sport everybody was speaking about this yr was Balatro. It is a vital darling, and promoting like hotcakes throughout a number of platforms. It is at the moment the top-selling game for iPhones and iPads, regardless of costing $10 — a value most cellular players appear to balk at until it includes subscriptions or in-app purchases. With Balatro, although, there’s only a one-time entry payment.
It would not appear to be it needs to be an enormous deal at first, no pun supposed. There are not any explosions, no million-dollar cutscenes. It is a card sport through which you play poker fingers to attain chips. It would not really play like poker, thoughts. The truth is, any sound technique facilities round exploiting its bonus playing cards, which might flip even a Two Pair right into a play that wins a blind in a single hand. It is that rush of feeling such as you “broke” the sport’s mechanics that retains folks coming again.

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5 Union actions making progress
A brand new hope for the business
Blizzard Leisure
A perpetual drawback in gaming has been working circumstances. Whereas the general state of affairs has improved over the many years, growth groups are nonetheless usually anticipated to place in “crunch” hours, working to exhaustion for little to no further pay. Even then, as 2024 has sadly demonstrated, executives will be all too prepared to put folks off when a venture is finished or would not hit as laborious because the C-suite calls for.
Unions gathered some steam this yr, Polygon notes, largely attributable to staff at manufacturers beneath the Microsoft banner. These included ZeniMax, Bethesda, and the World of Warcraft workforce at Blizzard. Group has additionally been underway at different companies as nicely together with Sweden’s Avalanche and Poland’s CD Projekt Purple.
Will unions proceed to develop in 2025? There is no telling but, however they’re more and more more likely to have some form of influence, even when that solely means difficult administration in fraught financial instances.

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