Strategic Intelligence: Gaming Sector Scorecard Q2 2025 Update

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming the engine for game development. Developers are designing AI-native games where worlds, non-playing characters (NPCs), and storylines adapt to player choices in real time. For example, Sony is experimenting with memory-persistent NPCs that can remember a player's choices across sessions.

Meanwhile, gaming companies are scrambling to adapt to the Trump tariffs. These tariffs are hitting gaming companies hard since most gaming hardware (e.g., consoles and accessories) is manufactured in Asia, particularly China. For instance, in May 2025, Sony and Microsoft raised console and accessory prices to offset rising costs. Sony expects tariffs to cost it JPY100 billion ($682 million) in its next fiscal year, and is reportedly considering relocating manufacturing to the US and raising costs for consumers.

Scope

• This sector scorecard provides a top-down, comprehensive outlook for the key players in the gaming sector over the next two years, based on the key themes set to transform their industry landscape.

Reasons to Buy

• Companies that invest in the right themes become success stories. Those that miss the important themes in their industry end up as failures.
• The analyst's thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition and secure that all-important competitive advantage.
• The analyst has developed a unique thematic methodology for ranking all major companies in all major sectors based on their relative strength in the big themes that are impacting their industries.
• First, we identify the top 10 themes transforming a sector across four categories (tech, macro, industry, and ESG). We also rank themes in order of priority by examining activity levels across 200 million alternative data signals, including patents, jobs, deals, filings, social media, and news.
• Second, we research each theme in detail, examining the value chain, key players, and trends. Additionally, we examine the impact of each theme across the 20 industries we cover. Our 200 million signals help identify the leading adopters of a theme in each sector.
• Finally, using our sector scorecards, we rank the companies most likely to succeed in a sector over the next five years.