VGIM’s Video Games Year in Review: Part 2, 11/12/2025
Steam censorship, Saudis buy EA, and Trump goes Master-In-Chief
We look back at the second half of the year in video games
Paramount launches a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros (and its games biz)
Ultimate Sheep Raccoon provides party game perfection in the week’s releases
Hello VGIM-ers,
George here, welcoming you to the final full edition of VGIM for 2025.
I’m heading off on holiday from Friday 12th December, which means you won’t be receiving a fresh-off-the-presses newsletter until Thursday 9th January.
Never fear. There will be one final free VGIM newsletter next Thursday, when our Game of the Year post - featuring reviews from our team and fantastic readers - lands in your inbox.
And for Insiders, there will be two extra newsletters landing in your inboxes: the Playing Politics Awards, which arrives tomorrow, and my cultural picks of the year, which will drop towards the end of the month.
For now, I want to say a big thank you to all for supporting VGIM this year. 2025 has been brilliant for me. It has also been utterly, titanically exhausting.
That’s why I remain so grateful for everyone who has read the newsletter, backed it financially, or said a kind word about the work we’ve put out.
There have been times this year when keeping the newsletter going has felt like a bit of a battle. Your support helped me and the VGIM team (George Young, Tom Regan, and Anna Mahtani) win it.
We’ll be back in early January refreshed and ready to go again in 2026. But until then, enjoy the final full newsletter of the year and have a very happy end to 2025.
The big read - VGIM’s Video Games Year in Review: Part 2
July - Censorship games
Steam’s hot water: Steam and Itch.io sparked a summer of controversy after agreeing to censor thousands of games with sexual content, after heavy criticism and a concerted campaign from conservative think-tank Collective Shout to shut down games.
Itching for censorship: Both platforms were forced to delist or deindex reams of sexual content after Collective Shout successfully pressured payment providers to threaten to withdraw support for the storefronts over potentially inappropriate content, such as the controversial No Mercy. George Young, however, rightly argued that each platform was guilty of overreacting, inappropriately moderating reasonable creative content based on little to no evidence of harm.
Circumvention software: In other news, age verification provisions within the Online Safety Act came into effect in the UK. Enterprising video game players found their way around Discord’s robust age-verification service by using Norman Reedus’ lovely gob to trick the age verification service.
Most read VGIM: Introducing the UK Video Games Council
August - Slow days, fast launches
We’ll be back after this short break: August in the games industry was once again dominated by developments from gamescom, the annual consumer and trade event that draws 300,000 people through its doors every year.
Shadow dropped: Despite millions being spent on Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live showcase – which revealed Resident Evil: Requiem, CoD7, and Black Myth: Wukong – the big story from gamescom was Team Cherry dropping a trailer and rapid release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong. The announcement plunged Metroidvania maniacs into a frenzy, lining up a busy September of discourse in the process.
Continental success. While the Hollow Knight dust settled, VGIM’s Tom Regan unpacked the event’s continued success by interviewing the brains behind gamescom. In news that delighted readers of these hallowed pages, he also revealed how it has become a powerhouse for political lobbying in Europe.
Mirage homage: In non-gamescom matters, Ubisoft jetted off to Saudi Arabia to officially announce free DLC for Assassin’s Creed Mirage based on the country’s World Heritage Site of Al-Ula. It was keen to discuss the region’s genuine love of the Assassin’s Creed series. It was less eager to discuss whether it had done a commercial deal with the Saudi state to bring the DLC pack to life.
Most read VGIM: No Mercy for Censored Games
September - It’s in the power game
Transfer window opened: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought EA for an eye-watering $55 billion, in partnership with Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners and Silver Lake Capital.
Dodgy dealing?: The deal, which was backed by $20bn debt from JP Morgan Chase, surprised the industry and world at large, given EA’s potential as a soft-power asset. However, The Financial Times reported that Jared Kushner had played a major part in reassuring partners that he could remove regulatory barriers if his firm was involved in the deal. Great news for the ambitions of gamer Prince Mohammed bin Salman and for Kushner’s bank balance. Less great news for everyone else.
Carnage on the streets: In other alarming news, it was revealed that Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin had carved references to Helldivers 2 into bullets found at the scene of the shooting on 12th September. This sparked concerns that the ongoing ‘gamer-fication’ of violent extremism was increasingly spilling over into political violence.
Most read VGIM: The retro handheld gold rush
October - The Flood of propaganda
Pinching the Halo: Microsoft found itself in tricky political territory after the White House and the Department of Homeland Security brazenly used Halo’s intellectual property to promote its talking points.
Yes, this really did happen: In a chain of scarcely believable events, the White House’s social media accounts posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump in Master Chief’s power armour to celebrate the ‘end’ of the console wars. The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, used references to Halo’s parasitic alien race The Flood, within an advert aimed at recruiting ICE agents. Microsoft, in a somewhat odd move for a company keen to protect its intellectual property, said nothing about the misappropriation of its content for political means.
Sowing Discord: Meanwhile, in massively predictable news, Discord became the first company to admit that private information gathered by an age verification partner had been hacked and leaked online. The private information of 70,000 users, including identifying documents, was breached following the company’s rollout of age verification to comply with laws like the Online Safety Act. Few people were surprised to see it happen.
Most read VGIM: A Kushy Deal
November - Stealing another six months
Patience is a virtue: November’s biggest story was the not-entirely-unexpected reveal that Grand Theft Auto VI was being delayed again. Rockstar took to its social channels to announce that the crime-caper needed another six months in the oven, moving its release date to November 2026. It also sacked several staff members for allegedly leaking confidential materials online, a move fiercely opposed by British trade union IWGB.
Not a ringing endorsement: Saudi Arabia’s esports-washing strategy also suffered an unexpected setback in November. The International Olympic Committee released a warmly but confusingly worded statement confirming that it had ended its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s National Olympic Committee to run the Esports Olympics in 2027.
Creative accounting: And to wrap up, Ubisoft finally confirmed that its new Vantage Studios subsidiary was set to receive plenty of cash from Chinese games giants Tencent. In return for €1.16 billion, Tencent has landed a 26.32% stake in the new company that houses IP such as Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry. And the fact that the amount of money just so happens to exactly cover Ubisoft’s €1.15 billion hole in its finances? Neato.
Most read VGIM: How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government
December - Russia Rocks Roblox
Road Blox: Rounding off the year with censorship shenanigans, Russia blocked access to Roblox for platforming extremist materials, which justify “terrorism” and “LGBT propaganda”, according to communications watchdog Roskomnadzor.
Rocky reception: This makes Russia the 17th country that has introduced a ban on Roblox and the 8th country to do so this year. However, the majority of countries that did so, such as Iraq, Nepal, and Kuwait, cited child safety concerns. Roskomnadzor, on the other hand, focused on concerns around ‘non-traditional relationships’ as it has done on platforms like Steam.
Let us brain rot in peace: A spokesperson for Roblox responded to the ban by telling Reuters that they “respect local laws and regulations” and believe that “Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation, and meaningful connection”. Nonetheless, in November, Roblox introduced age checks to stop children from talking to adults on the platform.
Beating a dead game: Roblox wasn’t the only game business affected by censorship. Horses, a small indie game, gained international attention when Steam banned it from the platform with little justification. The arthouse game, which made distributors go “AAAAH” and critics go “eh”, was accused of breaking platform guidelines due to the supposed presence of sexual content relating to minors (something the developer refutes).
GOGing for it: As a result, players stampeded towards GOG, one of the few game distributors still selling the game. But even with the bolstered audience, having lost two of the biggest PC game distributors, developer Santa Ragione’s future is murky.
Most read VGIM: VGIM’s Video Games Year in Review: Part 1
News in brief
Notflix?: Paramount Skydance has launched a $108.4bn hostile takeover of Warner Bros, just days after Netflix had agreed to buy the business for $82.7bn. Paramount argues that its all-cash offer would offer better value for shareholders through a smarter culture fit and a better chance of overcoming regulatory scrutiny. It would also mean that Trump’s billionaire allies, David and Larry Ellison, could find themselves owning several leading game studios with the support of an investment firm VGIM readers will know well: Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. Huh.
MENA from Heaven: The Asia and MENA games market reached a valuation of $88.97bn in 2025, according to research from Niko Partners. Stronger than expected performance across PC and mobile games saw revenue grow across the region by 2.7%. Player count also exceeded expectations, with Niko estimating that 1.7bn people now play across the region. The market is forecast to breach the $100bn valuation mark by 2029 if it continues to grow at this pace.
To Kingdom of Gaming Come: Speaking of MENA, a brand new business conference called Kingdom of Gaming will be heading to Riyadh next year. Taking place in December next year, the event is being described as a “gathering point” for developers, creators, and investors. The conference is being organised by Tahaluf, a joint venture between Informa and the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP). The natural partners for a video game industry conference, you’ll agree.
Freed Press: Chris Kerr at Game Developer has pulled together a great feature about the emergence of new independent games media outlets. Kerr shows how independent media has formed, how it feels freer to report a wider variety of stories than traditional games press, and the ways it has built sustainable relationships with its readership. But he also alludes to the precarious position many of these publications find themselves in, especially regarding personal well-being and economic risk.
Game Awards Season: And finally, The Game Awards takes place later today in Los Angeles. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the field with 13 nominations and is strongly tipped to pick up Game of the Year. There will also be the usual panoply of game announcements, including the reveal of a brand new Tomb Raider game.
Moving on
Nick Clegg (yes, that one) has joined Sir Ian Livingstone’s venture firm Hiro Capital…David Penelle has been appointed Director of Operations at Windup Games…Katsuhiro Harada, the Game Director known for his work on the Tekken series, is leaving Bandai Namco at the end of the year…Former PlayStation London vets James Brace, Ciarán Daly and Etienne Jabbour have announced their new studio, Twisted Works…And Emily Villate has become Chief Financial Officer at Stillfront Group, a month ahead of schedule…
Jobs ahoy
Bad Robot Games is recruiting for an Executive Producer…2K Games wants a Senior Director of Community and Digital Content Strategy, Core Games in California…Maximum Entertainment is hiring a new Senior Game Scout…Kwalee is also hiring a new Senior Game Scout too, in big news for scouting enthusiasts…And Sumo Digital has a role going for a Creative Director…
Events and conferences
The Game Awards, Los Angeles - 11th December
Pocket Gamer Connects, London - 19th-20th January 2026
DICE Summit, Las Vegas - 11th-13th February 2026
Guildford Games Festival, Guildford - 14th February 2026
devcom leadership summit, Lisbon - 24th-26th February 2026
Games of the week
Ultimate Sheep Raccoon - A new party game from the makers of Ultimate Chicken Horse? Get it bought, people.
Microsoft Flight Simulator - Flight sim becomes a lot less Microsoft as it lands on PlayStation 5 for the first time this week.
Mutant Football League 2 - Blood Bowl mixes with Madden in the sequel to the popular arcade game.
Before you go…
When the Fallout TV series first launched, millions of people downloaded the hit games to play them for themselves. But one man is definitely not doing that when season 2 arrives next week: Walton Goggins.
In an interview with PC Gamer, Goggins was asked whether he’d played the game to research his role as a Ghoul in the universe.
“No, I haven’t sat down to play the games,” he said. “And I won’t. I won’t. I won’t play the games. I’m not interested.”
A reminder that honesty isn’t always the best policy.
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