Grand Theft Auto VI, the next mainline installment of Rockstar Games’ open-world action-adventure series, and the Nintendo Switch 2, a successor to Nintendo’s best-selling hybrid video game console, will play a huge part in driving the growth of the U.S. video game market in 2025, delivering higher results than what the industry saw this year, according to a new Future of Video Games report from Circana that includes several predictions from analyst Mat Piscatella, including what’s been described as the biggest entertainment launch in U.S. history. ELDEN RING, the fantasy action RPG from FromSoftware that now has an expansion in the form of Shadow of the Erdtree, was the most-played game on Steam in July, echoing its performance on Valve’s platform in June, according to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker.
Piscatella said:
- “The transition to the new normal in the video game market has not been painless. However, the long-term outlook remains optimistic, with 2025 in particular carrying significant growth potential.”
- “This will continue to be a difficult year for video game manufacturers and publishers, as an overall spending decline, albeit in the low single-digits, is expected.”
- “However, the anticipated first half debut of Nintendo’s next generation hardware platform should provide a significant boost, as should the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, which may just become the biggest entertainment launch in U.S. history.”
The GTA VI trailer, now at 206 million views:
Some of the most-played games on Xbox and Steam last month include:
July 2024 Top 10 Titles Played on Steam Ranked by U.S. Monthly Active Users (Source: Circana Player Engagement Tracker) pic.twitter.com/kVzzK5O5CK
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) August 21, 2024
Circana noted:
Following the trend of physical media diminishing, publishers will continue to increase focus on the digital delivery of content and services. While Nintendo is expected to support physical software for its expected new console in 2025, the future of physical software on the next Sony and Microsoft platforms is far less certain.