Ways to approach 2026

As we start 2026, many game developers, publishers, new entrants, graduates, educators, job seekers and service providers as well as policy makers will be considering how best to prepare for the year ahead. The ‘survive til ’25’ slogan cast a long shadow over last year, but in spite of the turbulence, there were successes, new deals, investments and contracts secured and more announcements from Government of support for games and the wider creative industries.

In an attempt to strike a more positive note for 2026, In our review of 2025, we have suggested ‘new tricks for 2026’ as a better alternative to welcome the creativity, adaptation and new opportunities that will emerge – some of which we saw last year. Perhaps more straplines will emerge after our event.

On 28th January at 4pm – 100 game developers, investors, publishers, service providers and educators will gather for Game Republic’s first in-person event of the year ‘Trends and Opportunities for 2026’  in Manchester – big thanks to Manchester Metropolitan University for hosting this in their new and impressive Dalton Building. Importantly this is the first event of 2026 with our new Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven.

Forecast for game developers in 2026

Chris Dring, Editor-in-Chief of The Game Business will be leading the charge with a forecast for 2026. His talk will be followed by presentations from guest speakers and a panel of experts from publishing, investment, media will explore more opportunities that they believe are or will be emerging.

Ahead of the event, we asked a few of the panelists attending the event to share a brief insight into what 2026 will bring…

“2025 made one thing clear, investors won’t back what they can’t validate. In 2026, PR, influencers, and community should not be viewed as just marketing channels, they are important tools for validation. A strong strategic comms plan puts new games in front of players, captures real reactions, builds early traction like wishlists, and gives publishers the confidence they need to say yes.” Rebecca Attard, Boost Communications

“No getting away from it, challenges in certain corners of the industry will continue through 2026, catalogue remains king and discovery is difficult – but the indie sector will regularly deliver break-through IPs.

New studios and enterprises are emerging. Handheld and streamed gaming will continue to grow, new territories outside of mature western markets will thrive, from development to services. Overall growth is returning. This market never stops.”
Stuart Dinsey, Head of Curve Games

“As we see more and more games studio startups, there has been an incredible surge in original IP emerging from UK studios. I look forward to seeing even more of this in 2026, with the hope that some of these new IPs will truly cut through and make their mark.”
Elaine Dowman, (Head of Barclays Games and Creative and Board Member of IMRIT)

“I think we are seeing the start of another roll-up period, with private equity backing companies to acquire studios either by MBO or acquiring distressed IP and back catalogues. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything good for the wider industry, but it certainly points towards signs of life in certain areas. Friendslop or as I like to call them “games that are made quickly that provide instant gratification to groups of friends” will continue to be very popular in 2026 and I think the trend of buy game – play for a few weeks with friends – move on is becoming more acceptable.

More and more smaller publishers continue to get started, with similarly smaller budgets. If you’re trying to raise over 1m for a game, you might struggle, but if you can get into the position to only need up to 500k from publishers, or less, there is more funding in that range than ever before. However, larger games from established teams might struggle.”
Callum Underwood, UWU.biz