The Debrief, February 2025
Pokemon Go(es on sale), EU/US competition tussle to start and Steam Next Fest demos go under the microscope
Niantic set to sell its games business to Scopely
EU and US on collision course over digital competition rules
Polygon picks out 15 of the best from the Steam Next Fest
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Hello VGIM-ers,
Welcome to the second Debrief of 2025, where I summarise the biggest news, major policy moves, top deals, most intriguing slices of data and key critical commentary on the games biz for your reading ease.
This month, I highlight the sale of a beloved mobile games business to a Saudi backed powerhouse, a forthcoming competition rule tussle and the best games from everyone’s favourite demo event of the year.
I also provide readers with an early heads up about the return of a popular VGIM event, free tickets to an event during London Games Festival and first dibs on supporting a new content series I’m working on.
And the good news is that you can get access to all of this - as well as access to more VGIM content, first access to all our events and 10% off the cost of everything we sell (including sponsorships - be becoming a VGIM Insider.
Hit the button below to become an Insider for £6 a month or just £50 a year. I promise you can sneak it through on expenses without anyone noticing.
And if you can’t sign up as an Insider right now, then never fear.
Here’s easy access to every free VGIM newsletter from February instead to give you something to pore over.
Five video game newsletters worth reading (link)
Why politics is obsessed with Civilization (link)
Games industry finance cheat sheet: Winter 2024 (link)
An awkward AI silence (link)
Let’s get on with the Debrief.
The top stories
Pokemon Going, Going, Gone to the nearest bidder
Gotta sell ‘em all: Niantic is reportedly set to sell its games division - including the mega mobile hit Pokemon Go - to Scopely for $3.5bn.
Evolution: The outline deal, which was first reported in Bloomberg, would see the Saudi owned Monopoly Go hit maker swallow up all aspects of the company’s games business while allowing Niantic to retain its geolocation and mixed reality tech business.
Gameswashing?: The move makes a lot of sense in the context of Scopely’s domination of the mobile games space following the stonking launch of Monopoly Go. But with the company supported by Savvy Games, the publisher chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman, it’s likely that the acquisition will also be used to advance Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical agenda in games.
‘Pokémon Go’ Maker Nears $3.5 Billion Deal to Sell Games Unit, Bloomberg
NetEase’s less than Marvellous lay-offs
Boo, hiss: The North American development team who supported the development of NetEase’s hit multiplayer FPS Marvels Rivals - were rewarded for all their hard work building a live service hit game with 300,000 concurrent…by being laid off. Yikes.
Structural failings: The move, which was announced by NetEase earlier this month, was roundly criticised in the video games industry, forcing the company to issue a statement that the studio was closing not due to a lack of quality but due to a wider company restructure. So that’s alright then.
Withdrawal methods: But while the move was certainly heartless, it also illustrated a bigger trend too. NetEase and its main rival Tencent have both publicly and privately withdrawn significant support for developers outside of China, redoubling their efforts at home as Xi Jinping encourages tech businesses to push the domestic growth agenda. Expect this retrenchment to have wider repercussions across 2025.
NetEase celebrates Marvel Rivals success by sacking director and staff, The Metro
Warner Bros topples its own Monolith
Not very Wonderful: Finally, Warner Bros capped a rather dispiriting month for the games industry by announcing the closure of three studios in the US.
Nemesis from within: The company pulled down the shutters on legendary developer Monolith (responsible for the Nemesis system, which was reportedly being used in its forthcoming Wonder Woman game), Warner Bros San Diego and Player First Games (creators of the recently canned MultiVersus) as part of what it called “a strategic change of direction.”
Executive error: The decision follows the recent departure of the games division’s President David Haddad after the company suffered flop after flop in 2024 (hello Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Harry Potter Quidditch Champions). It also suggests that the company’s attempts to sell its games business as reported by the FT last year have either stalled or been shelved. Eep.
Warner Bros. reportedly cancels Wonder Woman, closes Monolith and other studios, Eurogamer
Playing politics
Trump administration aggressively backs Big Tech, threatens everyone else
Bully for us: The EU and the US are on a collision course over digital competition rules, following some aggressive sabre rattling by the Trump Administration.
Testing the right of might: In a statement released on Friday 21st February, the White House stated that American businesses subjected to measures such as digital sales taxes, laws regarding data flows and regulations governing digital services are measures that “violate American sovereignty” - threatening tariffs on nations who impose such burdens on Big Tech businesses.
Fight, fight, fight?: And while this puts the Trump administration at odds with just about every major nation operating across the world, the EU is likely to be the first bloc to test the wrath of the new President - with Teresa Ribeiro, its new competition chief, pledging to wrap up investigations into Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act by the end of March. Buckle in, everyone…
Trump Tariff Threat Tests EU Resolve to Hurt Apple and Meta, Bloomberg
Make It Fair Campaign launches in the UK (without games included)
Don’t be a copycat: And finally in policy corner, the UK creative industries kicked off a campaign called Make It Fair on 25th February to try to convince the Government to change its mind on a proposed tweak to copyright rules that massively favours AI businesses.
Opt in/out and shake it all about: The campaign argues that the Government’s belief rights holders should “opt out” of having their copyrighted content scraped by AI models is deeply unfair, favours AI developers disproportionately and puts creative businesses at risk. It favours an “opt in” model where copyrighted content could only be scraped if a rights holder gives permission (likely via a licensing agreement).
Awkwardly silent: And with the battle lines drawn between tech companies using AI businesses and creatives doing cultural stuff, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the games industry kept its head down while the bullets flew. But based on what I’ve heard in the past few days, expect the industry to provide some handy context to Government about the actual relationship between AI and the creative industries quietly in the months ahead.
News titles from Guardian to Daily Mail unite in opposition to AI copyright grab, Press Gazette
UK trade bodies call for expansion to Video Games Expenditure credit
United voice(ish): Ukie and TIGA, the UK’s video games industry trade bodies, have both called for Government to expand Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) as part of their submissions to the Spending Review.
Copying their homework: While each framed their requests ever so slightly differently, the meat of the requests were the same: an ask to boost VGEC to 39% effective relief to all games companies qualifying in the UK and a plea to create a new 53% rate of relief for games with budgets less than £10m.
Balancing act: There’s a solid argument for pushing through the proposal. Ukie research with Nordicity suggests it could create 6,000 new jobs and add the best part of £500m to the economy, while bringing the relief in line with the rate available to other creative industries. But with cash tight in Whitehall, it may be a tough ask at this moment in time.
Ukie Submission to the government spending review 2025, Ukie
Investments, acquisitions and business launches
MTG completed its acquisition of Raid: Shadow Legends creator Plarium for $620m from Aristocrat Leisure.
AppLovin hasn’t done any deals yet, but it is selling off its $900m games business including companies like Machine Zone, PeopleFun and Magic Tavern.
Mobile studio MadBox has opened a new studio in Annecy with the intention of expanding its workforce by 15%. Hiring? It’ll never catch on…
India’s first dedicated PC and Console publisher 1312 Interactive has successfully closed its pre-seed founding round.
And in an intriguing move, user generated content house Voldex acquired popular Roblox experience Brookhaven for an undisclosed fee.
Data dive
GameDiscoverCo’s recent look at the PC games market discovered that there are on average only two PC games released per week at a $40+ price point - with the vast majority of games pitched for a comparative pittance.
MIDiA Research forecasts that the global games market's revenue will reach $236.9 billion in 2025 - a 4.6% increase that, unfortunately, will not be felt equally by the sector at large.
Guides, reviews and funny stuff are the major reasons why players love to discover new games on YouTube, according to intriguing polling from marketing bods and VGIM fans Big Games Machine.
The critical conversation
Steam’s Next Fest is currently underway and Polygon has picked 15 fantastic games to try from the PC demo extravaganza (First person football game Despelote, pictured above, is absolutely my jam).
Richard Wakeling runs the rule over Capcom’s Monster Hunter: Wilds at GameSpot, providing a solid summary of how the latest entry in the series builds mostly successfully on its winning formula.
Luke Plunkett explores how Avowed, Obsidian’s latest fantasy RPG, forces you to make decisions that are terribly flawed (and explains why that’s a good thing) on Aftermath.
The Insider Track
Chow down: The VGIM Business Breakfast is returning to Develop: Brighton on Wednesday 9th July. Insiders will get first dibs on tickets when they drop at the end of next month. But if you’d like to sponsor the event - and help me shape a great panel topic to entertain 60 newsletter fans over brekkie - email george@videogamesindustrymemo.com so we can talk more (and use your Insider discount to get 10% off the sponsorship rate, natch).
Free stuff: There are four free tickets available for VGIM Insiders to the indie focused Game Dev Local Expo in London on Saturday 12th April. Use the code VGIMXTRA to get the freebies here or get 10% off using the code VGIMGIFT if you don’t quite nab a freebie in time.
Busy Learnin’: Finally, I’m exploring hosting a little exclusive live interview series for VGIM Insiders and paying punters later in the year. If you’d be interested in joining me for a live chat or helping me generate some pocket money to get it started, let me know.