Alongside our very popular creative boost prescriptions, Game Republic’s first event of the year saw Jamie Sefton from GR chair a panel including Elaine Dowman (Barclays Games and Creative), Andy Kelly (Devolver), Callum Underwood (Uwu Biz) and Pamina Bou (Factortech). The panel focused on trends and opportunities for the year ahead. Many examples and insights were shared in the session. We have highlighted and summarised some of them here:
Current funding for game development
Callum Underwood explained that there are funds available for games, but they remain more difficult to obtain at the moment. However, if developers are needing less than $500,000 then there are more publishers available that offer that than ever. He added that the issue often is that developers just want money but there were less funds that offered money only – Callum had seen horror games pick up, and as he has done some work for publishers, could see that developers needed to show traction before publisher / investor interest might be shown… he cited an example of a game with 400,000 wishlists on Steam, securing support. Also if you are looking to meet new publisher game scouts, as well as traditional means, Callum advised looking at events in boutique locations where all the meetings might be in one place – such as Reboot Develop Blue in Dubrovnik.
Pamina Bou from Factor Tech shared that they fund game studios based in the UK, and are currently fundraising for their second fund with expected deployment starting in Q2 2025. Their approach from an investment point of view was more holistic and would consider the overall financial health, cashflow position and strategic vision of a game studio rather than the potential success of a given title. She also emphasised Factor Tech’s relationship led approach with its portfolio companies, flexibly offering funding in the form of debt as well as equity, based on the needs and stage of a studio. Pamina recommends developers attend the annual GDC event in San Francisco given the breadth of attendees but she is also a big fan of local classics such as Develop in Brighton and Liverpool and the Pocket Gamer Connects events.
Andy Kelly from Devolver Digital agreed that there was more complexity and that they would fund both small and big projects, but a critical component was if the idea of the game captured the imagination. Whilst some publishers had formal processes, at Devolver the process was not as formal. It could be that games were picked up through social media posts where they might see an interesting take on an established genre or it could be a first-person shooter – there was no real way to predict where a game could be found and signed.
Elaine Dowman from Barclays Games and Creative said that there was growing fatigue for smaller studios writing pitch decks and completing forms for small amounts of money. She also noted that new studios, large and small studios know how to make games but not always how to run a business. She highlighted free resources studio leaders could use through the Barclays Eagle Labs Academy to learn and improve those skills. When needing to diversify or scale, Elaine also highlighted challenges for small studios in being able to build a team at speed.
Managing industry challenges
Callum Underwood believed things were getting better, and co-dev was getting better but larger studios were still taking a hit. He emphasised the positive nature of the games industry “kindness is out there – there is a cyclical nature of helping people out and that is a key to survival”.
Pamina supported those points saying that the industry was tight knit and very friendly compared to other industries. She said companies should also consider brand activations as a potential source of work – for example working with Coca-Cola – noting that whilst it might be challenging to secure, was certainly a segment to think about for work for hire.
Advice for Game Devs in 2025
At the end of the session, each panelist was asked to summarise how to best approach 2025 to make the most of the opportunities.
Callum Underwood suggested succinctly, “make small things and ship them faster.”
Pamina Bou believed that developers should understand “there are many ways to make games, be creative and use AI tools responsibly.”
Elaine Dowman told developers “Don’t be afraid to ask!”
And Andy Kelly encouraged everyone to, “be shameless, spam and someone will see it!”
Alongside the panel, games industry professionals including developers, studio heads, publishers, researchers, investors, legal and financial experts and educators saw the announcement of two Official Partners for Game Republic’s event programme for 2025 – Barclays Games and Creative and Red Kite Games.
Attendees enjoyed networking and an expo with exhibitors IGGI, XR Stories, Pixel Research, Panda Cat Games, Slate Games and Otterweave Games Studio. The Expo also included three brand new game prototypes created by Game Republic Skills Bootcamp participants supported by NextGen Skills Academy in a programme supported by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, UK Government and the Department for Education.
Forecast for the Games Industry in 2025
Presentations started with Chris Dring formerly GI . Biz sharing his forecast for 2025 including 7 key trends that would impact the industry, including: that player time is a real problem, with new non-annual titles only making up 8% of the total gaming playtime in 2023 according to Newzoo; old games are now serious competitors (Fallout 4 sold a million copies in Europe last year); and the games market is very unpredictable with surprising hits (Warhammer: Space Marine) and failures (Star Wars: Outlaws). The console market will grow again after a disappointing 2024 with Nintendo Switch 2 released and PlayStation 4 owners upgrading to PlayStation 5 to play Grand Theft Auto 6, and while studio closures and layoffs will continue, investment will improve – and more opportunities will be available for game devs to sell their games direct to consumers, and via a growing number of stores and new types of platforms such as Roblox.
Meg Clarke, Senior Games Scout for Team17 did a fireside chat with Jamie Sefton sharing insights on what the publisher looked for, the kind of deals they provide (including recoup and revenue splits) and the kind of support available.
This was followed by a short presentation by Federico Szalkowicz from Google where he shared info on the company’s 6-month free App Growth Programme for mobile games, to boost revenue with in-app purchases and help with developing a business strategy.
To attend future events and get support from Game Republic, become a member of Game Republic. To find out more visit gamerepublic.net/join-us
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