2024 was a rough class for the game industry . It was dominated by layoffs , significant strategic shifts from some of the biggest companies in the industry , and gigantic unrecorded overhaul flops that demonstrated just how knockout that space is to break into . In last year’siteration of this article , I drop a line that it feel like I was encompass a “ television biz industry rebound to direct into an unmated 2024 that miss the sleep together quantity bombshells of this year and continue to swag from layoff . ” That certainly show to be straight .
That ’s not to say it was all dour . Some tremendous games were resign , with some surprise viral successes likePalworldandBlack Myth : Wukongshowing how the right games since have the potentiality to come across with millions of players . The telecasting game manufacture is hurt , though , and looking toward 2025 , the launch of Nintendo Switch ’s successor andGrand Theft Auto VIwill have to do a lot of heavy lifting to get the industry out of this rut . These newsworthiness stories shaped the video plot industriousness ’s tumultuous 2024 .
Layoffs did not slow down
2023 was historic when it came to the number of picture biz manufacture layoffs that took station during it . Somehow , 2024 surpassed it . troupe like Embracer cover their downsize go-ahead , but it was n’t the only major perpetrator this year . That in question honor go to Microsoft , which haslaid off virtually 3,000 Xbox developersthis year conform to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard . While there was hope that the settle purchase would lead to a positive hereafter for the employee of both companionship , the reality was that Microsoft had to cost - cut , guttingseveral parts of Activision Blizzardandshutting down Bethesda - own studioslike Tango Gameworks , Arkane Austin , Roundhouse Studios , and Mighty Dog Games .
Krafton preserve Tango GameworksandHi - Fi Rushand Crash Bandicoot developerToys for Bob bought itself outfrom Microsoft and Activision , but most other game developers were n’t so golden . Throughout 2024 , companies likeSony Interactive Entertainment , EA , Riot Games , Embracer Group , and more laid off developers , shut down studio apartment , and canceled video game in ontogenesis . “Survive until 2025”currently seems to be the mental capacity of many in the TV game industry ; hopefully , thing get respectable next year rather than getting bad .
Xbox starts becoming a multiplatform publisher
layoff were n’t the only thing that happen in the viewing of Xbox ’s learning of Activision Blizzard . Over the course of 2025 , the party also started to shift into becoming a multiplatform newspaper publisher . Throughout the first months of 2024 , it brought games likePentiment , Grounded , Sea of Thieves , andHi - Fi Rushto competing political program . Throughout the rest of the year , PS5 tone ending were also affirm for new game likeIndiana Jones and the Great Circle , Doom : The Dark Ages , andThe Outer Worlds 2.While some Xbox games likeSenua ’s Saga : Hellblade 2andMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024remained Xbox console exclusives , it ’s clean that the tides are shifting .
Microsoft may drop console exclusivity from its first - party game project even more in 2025 and beyond . Xbox leadership has been more wishy - washy when it comes to support how prevalent and widespread this initiative will be . But Microsoft is running advertizement that show how a spate of things other than an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S console can be consider , and Xbox and CEO Satya Nadella said that being an Xbox fan “ is about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your equipment . ” Those both mouth to theobvious shift taking station . We ’ll have to wait and see if games likeAvowedandFablewind up drop dead multiplatform in 2025 .
Xbox Game Pass got a lot more complicated
Xbox is not out of the woodwind just yet , as it also brought some major shake-up to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service in 2024 . Ahead ofCall of obligation : Black Ops 6’slaunch into Xbox Game Pass on daytime one , Microsoft decided to make all of itssubscription service tier more expensive . It raised the annual price of Game Pass Core to $ 75 , increase PC Game Pass ’ monthly subscription price to $ 12 , and Game Pass Ultimate to $ 20 a month .
Microsoft also replace Game Pass for Console with Game Pass Standard , a $ 15 - a - month subscription tier up that neither supports Xbox Cloud Gaming nor includes Clarence Day - one titles on the avail . Those who need to play games likeBlack Ops 6andIndiana Jones and the Great Circleon day one through Game Pass had to bear for the most expensive version of the gambling subscription . This split up Game Pass ’ allureas the best deal in gambling .
Black Myth: Wukong and more become viral hits
The biggest games of 2024 were n’t the single that could be easily predicted heading into the year . In January , the Pokémon - with - guns survival gamePalworldrocketed to successwhen it hit former access due to its ridiculous concept . Helldivers 2followed suit in February , thanks to its unique bombastic take on the co - op shot formula . EA Sports College Football 25even managed to outgrossCall of responsibility : Black Ops 6 . While the virality of all those games was nothing to balk at , the most democratic game of the year wasBlack Myth : Wukong . This adjustment ofJourney to the Westbecame a ethnical phenomenon in China and impressed worldwide audiences with beautiful visuals and Soulslike armed combat .
According todata from SteamDB , Black Myth : Wukongpeaked at a concurrent player reckoning of 2,415,714 on PC alone just two days after its liberation . Black Myth : Wukongsold10 million copiesin its first few days on the market , and that number of copies sell seems to bewell over 20 millionat this compass point , although data on it has not been shared of late . It mouth to the top executive international food market still hold in the game industriousness and how massive achiever can be found when embracing those studio and the culture of those countries . In a grim twelvemonth for the video biz industry , it ’s important to remember successes like this .
Concord becomes one of the biggest game flops of all time
With the mighty successes also come the noble-minded failures . Suicide Squad : Kill the Justice Leaguestarted 2024 off on a rocky note , but thefailure ofConcordgot even more attention . This hero torpedo from Sony Interactive Entertainment and former Destiny developers at Firewalk Studios was positioned by the PS5 maker to become the next bountiful thing . It was the headlining reveal of May ’s State of Play , had aSecret Levelepisode green - lit ( and several other hebdomadal cutscenes animated ) prior to its release , and reportedly had a evolution budget somewhere between$200 million and $ 400 million dollars . When its launch rolled around , it was disastrous .
Launching just a few days afterBlack Myth : Wukong , SteamDB showsthat this multiplayer game could only attract a measly 697 concurrent players all - sentence high on PC . Within two weeks of its release , Sony took the biz down from saleto reevaluate its hereafter . In October , Sony confirmedConcordwould not returnand would shut down Firewalk . Just a couple of weeks afterConcord , Sony would release theGame of the Year - winningAstro Bot , which it promoted a lot less but got a lot more adoration for . Concordis a uncommon cock-a-hoop - budget misfire from PlayStation and has been brought offline , never to be play again .
Nintendo sues the developer of Palworld
Palworldmay have become a viral success upon its launching in January , but that achiever did not go unnoticed by The Pokémon Company . In February , The Pokémon Company put out a program line confirm that it wasaware ofPalworld’sexistenceand would “ investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property right relate to the Pokémon . ” In September , Nintendo and The Pokémon Company confirmed they wouldsue developer Pocketpair . “ This suit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damage on the grounds thatPalworld , a biz developed and released by the Defendant , infringes multiple patent rights , ” their statement on the topic mentioned .
While Nintendo ’s statement did n’t go into specifics , Pocketpair eventually discover that threepatents were at the centre of the lawsuit . They had to with how players could actively throw a ball - like twist to catch creatures and transition from walk to sit or fly on said fauna . Interestingly , the causa does not speak any Pal plan that look eerily alike to Pokémon . Asclone game become trend again , the outcome of this case will likely set up parameters for how much developers can simulate plot they bask .
PS5 Pro is finally revealed and released… for $700
After over a year of surmise , Sony finally let out and released thePlayStation 5 Proin 2024 . It boast a honorable GPU than the basis PS5 and used political machine learning technology to upscale games throughPlayStation Spectral Super Resolution . On PS5 Pro , more console games can consistently hit 60 frame - per - second flesh pace at high resolutions . Games likeMarvel ’s Spider - Man 2andRatchet & Clank : Rift Apartlook fantastic when play on Sony ’s new ironware . The PS5 Pro was not a slam dunk for Sony , though , principally because its visual advance were incremental , and the console table itselfcost $ 700 .
The saltation from PS5 to PS5 Pro is less recognizable than the difference between a groundwork PS4 and PS4 Pro . On top of that , some games wererunning worse on PS5 Pro . Plus , PS5 Pro does not come with a disc drive or stand for the console . Considering that it is already $ 200 more expensive than a veritable PS5 , those were some pretty massive caveats PlayStation sports fan had to deal with . The PS5 Pro still stand as the biggest gaming hardware release of 2024 , considering we did not get a new Nintendo console . Its lofty cost tag is make us start to think about how much Nintendo ’s Switch successor and future PlayStation and Xbox console will cost , too .
