Gaming has had an incredible year in 2025, from brand new releases to further updates on existing projects. We have seen many trends emerge throughout this year, as well as some that have been around for a while but continue to thrive in the current gaming landscape. Let’s explore some of those trends and what they have done for the community.
The battle royale craze
You will likely have been privy to the battle royale craze; it burst into the industry a few years ago, but it’s going stronger than ever, with one of the genre’s forerunners, Fortnite, having generated billions of dollars in revenue.
Originally, this idea came from the classic Korean movie of the same name, but it lived in the dreams of gamers for a long time, until a modder who goes by the name PlayerUnknown created a mod for ARMA 3 and later developed their own title, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. This put a lot more eyes on the genre. It was quickly followed by games such as Fortnite, and the rest is history, to be cemented into gaming culture for eternity.
This is certainly all still relevant today, as it laid the groundwork for a lot of modern online gaming. It pioneered the tense, high-stakes gameplay, but you don’t have to commit your life to it to stand a chance of winning a game.
Online casinos
Online casinos have changed a great deal in recent years, with a stronger focus on responsible gambling tools and a wider range of payment options to suit different preferences. For the players who are interested in the latest new online casinos, there are platforms that have been reviewed by industry professionals and designed with player safety in mind, allowing them to explore new games and features with greater peace of mind.
The extraction shooter
This is a genre I expect we will see much more of in 2026, as it has only really gained mainstream popularity in the latter part of the year, almost entirely thanks to the release of Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders. This proved to be more of a hit than anyone was expecting, with a concurrent player base of over 250,000 – and that’s only on PC.
For those who don’t know, an extraction shooter revolves around the idea of going into an arena and collecting loot and extracting. Then you can use that loot to help you on your next run, with the caveat being that if you die, you lose everything you are carrying. With matches lasting between 10 and 30 minutes, this type of game is great for those who enjoy short bursts of tension.
Of course, this genre wasn’t born this year; as a matter of fact, it has been around for a long time. One of the oldest examples is Escape from Tarkov, which was publicly available back in 2016. This title also saw its full 1.0 release this year, thanks to advancements in technology.
Overall, the extraction shooter plays off of a cultural gaming shift we have seen lately, where players have been less interested in long, single-player games in favour of shorter bursts of online fun. That’s not to say the single-player narrative experience is dead – far from it, but the industry as a whole has expanded.
The live service game
Again, it may be something we have seen in the past, but it has gained considerable popularity during the past year. This kind of game, often referred to as a “forever game”, is of a type that is meant to be played for a long period of time. Instead of focusing on multiple different games one after the other, with a live service game, developers can focus on updating one game, adding small amounts of content much more consistently, so the player has a constant stream of things to do.
These are often free-to-play games, such as the aforementioned Fortnite or the recent skate. from Electronic Arts. You may be thinking: “This sounds perfect! A constant stream of content for the price of nothing, where do I sign!” You can play for free, but this is a business at the end of the day, and it needs to make money. So, while you will get a lot of content, you will likely be marketed to, rather aggressively, to buy their in-game currency so you can load up on cosmetics.
But regardless of some of the negative features, live services have become incredibly popular in the gaming community; everyone wants a slice of the pie, so players have many options to choose from. This feels like less of a trend and more of a cultural shift, and I expect we will see a lot more of it in the coming years.
