GIES | W40 | 2025

Games Industry Executive Summary | October 3, 2025

⚠️ Big news: GIES Weekly is now on Instagram & TikTok!
We’re bringing the same sharp, no-nonsense gaming industry insights you read every week — now in a faster, more visual format.

📸 Follow us on Instagram for snapshots of key headlines & trends: instagram.com/giesweekly
🎥 Catch us on TikTok for bite-sized takes on the stories shaping gaming: tiktok.com/@giesweekly

👉 Same mission, new channels: keeping you ahead of the curve in gaming.

🎧 Want a deep dive into the week's biggest stories? Check out our podcast on YouTube & Spotify

🎯 Highlights

• The End of the Publisher Wars?

• Microsoft revamps Xbox Game Pass plans and hikes Ultimate to $29.99 a month

🆕 News

• New EA Owners Hoping AI Will Cut Costs And Boost Profits, It’s Claimed

• Aspyr Media’s Deus Ex Remastered immediately blasted for vile overhauled graphics riddled with typos

• Deep Rock Galactic Survivor gets 1.0 update and immediately jumps up Steam Deck charts, only beaten by Hollow Knight

• Destiny 2 Steam Player Count Drops Over 80% Since Edge of Fate Launch as Players Say the Game Is “Punishing” and “Ridiculously Hard”

📈 Industry Trends

• Former Microsoft Executive Acknowledges PlayStation As A Successful Console Business & Xbox As “Dead”

• Avalanche Studios Group to close UK Studio, and restructure elsewhere

• Splash Damage breaks away from Tencent

• Wizards of the Coast opens game dev hub for up to 200 in Montreal

• VR Headsets Are Better Than Ever and No One Seems to Care

• GDC founder says the event is “rapidly becoming a dinosaur”

🤫 Rumors

• New Rumors Point to ‘Prototype’ Remaster or Sequel Coming Soon

🔢 Numbers

• SILENT HILL f hits 1 million sales one day after launch

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