Sony is shutting down Dark Outlaw Games, a first-party game studio led by former Call of Duty producer Jason Blundell. The studio was announced in 2025 and was still in the early stages of making its first game.
The past year also saw the announcement of Valve's newest Steam Machine, the industry's first $80 game in decades from an unexpected source, EA announcing a take-private deal with Saudi Arabia, the retirement of a longtime Nintendo executive, Microsoft putting its games on rival platforms, the return of Game Informer magazine, and a voice-actor strike. Beyond big news and announcements, 2025 saw a continuation of trends from previous years, including ongoing mass layoffs, along with consumer behavior continuing to shift away from buying new games.
