In 2025, the industry will face challenges just like in the previous year. This is the core statement of a post by EGDF President Hendrik Lesser, giving his conclusions about the latest discussions within the association, which held a call with its members about the state of the industry at the beginning of the year.

Right at the beginning, Hendrik Lesser gets to the point: "2025 is in many ways the new 2024. Unfortunately, the situation of the European industry has not changed much in a year," writes the president of the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF), the umbrella organization of the game developer associations across Europe.

In his blog post, Lesser summarises the discussions that the association had with its members in response to a call for the State of the European Games Industry at the beginning of the year. "So the key mantra continues to be to keep calm and survive until 2026 and beyond while preparing for new challenges."

In the following paragraphs, Lesser addresses the numerous challenges facing Europe's game developers. These include industry-specific challenges but also geopolitical developments, such as Donald Trump's trade wars or the attack on European values by extremists of all kinds. With regard to Donald Trump, Lesser urges being prepared for the possibility that the free flow of data could be hindered, as could the freedom of movement for business travelers.

"We must be ready for the erosion of the rule of law in the USA and rising exchange rate risks globally. We must be prepared for the financial systems going wild and Technolords using bullying tactics to get their way," Hendrik wrote. He also appeals to unity within Europe and pleads for teaming up with allies. "We will not abandon the European idea of cooperating communities," he promises.

The industry-specific challenges include, for example, the still difficult access to financial resources, according to the EGDF president. Whether on the stock markets, at venture capital firms, or in private equity—European developers are having a hard time everywhere. The industry also has an "old game problem." By this, Lesser means that many gamers play old games or remakes, while new games sometimes fall by the wayside.

These challenges are just the tip of the iceberg. Markets are becoming increasingly fragmented, discoverability is becoming more and more difficult, and the big AI revolution has not yet taken place in game development.

"Our members also agreed that challenging times come with new opportunities, side paths, and secret shortcuts," Hendrik continues. From the members' input, he summarises ten instructions for action:

  • Go back to basics!
  • Go niche!
  • Get new allies!
  • Go to new markets!
  • Build & own tech & data!
  • Disrupt other sectors!
  • Go small!
  • Invent new business models!
  • Go multi/cross-platform!
  • Go bro(ish), not broke!

More on this can be found in the full text of the EGDF President's article on the EGDF website. Hendrik aptly concludes his article with the words: "But now is not the time for grand visions overall. Now is the time to focus on the daily hustle and grind. There will be winners, and the rest of us have to keep our shit together to see the light again in the hopefully not so distant future."


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Written by

Stephan Steininger
Stephan is Editor in Chief