2025 will be an extraordinary year of growth for the gaming industry due to the long-awaited releases of Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6.
This is according to DFC Intelligence, which published its annual market report and forecast last week (via VGC).
The firm predicted that Nintendo would be “the clear winner” against Sony and Microsoft and that only one of those firms could compete with the console.
“There is no room for more than two major consoles,” the report said. “Sony or Microsoft will have a hard time taking a distant third place, depending largely on which of those companies can gain momentum early on.”
He suggested that Sony has the advantage because of a “loyal base and strong Sony intellectual property.” By contrast, Microsoft will become “the world’s largest software publisher” following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023.
Furthermore, DFC Intelligence predicted that the number of gamers worldwide will exceed four billion by 2027.
“Over the past three decades, the video game industry has grown more than 20 times, and after two years of declines in hardware and software sales, it is poised to resume growth at a healthy pace through the end of the decade. “said the founder of DFC Intelligence. and CEO David Cole.
“While 2025 will mark the beginning of that upward trajectory, some big questions remain, including who will lose the next-gen console war and who will win the gaming software distribution battle.
“And with large publishers focusing on live services around permanent franchises, opportunities for smaller studios will be plentiful.”
