Weekly News Digest - 17th January 2025

Welcome to the Bastion Weekly News Digest in which, every Friday, we provide an overview of the biggest news and stories affecting the video game industry.

Business Booms for Games Workshop Amid Major Deals – Independent Games Workshop has reported a significant surge in profits, fuelled by lucrative video game partnerships and a major licensing deal with Amazon for a Warhammer TV series. The company’s recent financial success reflects a growing demand for its fantasy and sci-fi properties.

Sony Donates $5M to LA Wildfire Relief Efforts – GamesIndustry.biz Sony has pledged $5 million to support relief operations for communities affected by wildfires in Los Angeles. The funds aim to aid emergency response and recovery initiatives in impacted regions.

Leadership Change at Super Evil Megacorp – Pocket Gamer Ian Fielding has been appointed as the new CEO of Super Evil Megacorp, succeeding Kristian Segerstrale. The leadership transition marks a new era for the company behind popular mobile games like Vainglory.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 Raises Over $2.5m for Cancer Charity – TechRaptor The popular charity speedrunning event, Awesome Games Done Quick, has raised a staggering ￡2.5m for Prevent Cancer Foundation. A charity which advocates for cancer prevention and early detection.

In other news…

Players of the mobile game Longleaf Valley have contributed to the planting of over 2 million real-world trees through in-game actions tied to reforestation initiatives. This eco-friendly partnership showcases how gaming can promote positive environmental change.

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Dean Barrett - Executive Chairman

So, here we are. It’s ’25, and we survived. So now what?

Halfway through January and there’s little evidence of the mass return of dormant players or the munificence of investors replacing last year’s scepticism. New year, same deal so far. So where do we look for hope??

Yesterday’s Switch 2 announcement is a decent start. It brings some energy into our sluggish market and the ongoing speculation, and even criticism of Nintendo, all adds to the hype and heat that we need to build momentum. Nintendo are the masters of the drip feed game, so demand will grow as the tour progresses, culminating in a June release.

Maybe we’ll hear more about other new portable devices from Sony and Microsoft this year to fuel the play wherever demand.

A larger big game release schedule in ’25 will undoubtedly get players spending, and the trickledown of that activity hopefully helps the wider industry and not just the big five. However, we must remember that the games industry doesn’t exist in a bubble.

We’re impacted by world events, the global economy as well as the help and hindrance of national governments. In the UK, government ministers are regularly citing games within the cultural element of their national growth plan. Thanks to an effective trade association led by Nick Poole, who seems to have the ear of Westminster, the UK government is aware of what we need as an industry to succeed and is making the right noises about facilitating that, in part at least.??

Who knows what impact a Trump presidency will have on our industry but just the fact there is a change in president has sped up peace talks in Gaza and maybe, in time,? Ukraine. We all need a calmer more peaceful world in which to live and prosper.

So congratulations to making it here.

Here’s hoping in ‘25 player numbers begin to grow, investors’ confidence returns, and we break new boundaries in creativity and innovation. Who wants to just survive? This is the year we get our collective mojo back and begin to thrive once again.

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