The blockbuster paradox
The video game industry is teetering on the same precipice as the book publishing industry, but is it really a downhill slide that signals the end of the blockbuster, or is it the start of a new age in gaming?
03 February 2025
Thanks to the pandemic, 2020 was fire for the gaming industry. Spend on digital gaming increased by 21% globally, with games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Cyberpunk 2077 and Roblox taking huge slices of the gaming pie. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 13.4 million units in its first week, with 32.6 million lifetime sales. To date, it is the most successful Nintendo Switch title. The industry scored a $179.7 billion win in 2020 as people turned to gaming to shut out the chaos of the world. It was, according to MarketWatch, bigger than the movie and sporting industries in the US combined.
The videogame blockbuster – known as the AAA game – dominated the market, with titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal, Ghost of Tsushima, Call of Duty Warzone, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Marvel’s Avengers. Until it didn’t. Over the past two years, the industry has shed jobs and companies. More than 23 000 jobs have been lost since 2023 and over 30 studios have closed their doors.
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