🎮 GTA 6 financial projections, plans for Helldivers 3 and a new project from Devil May Cry Director...
GTA 6 is projected to earn billions during the first year, Plans for Helldivers 3, Devil May Cry Director has a new project, PlayStation is not ready to give up the Live-Service dream and more!
Hello friends,
Today is January 14th 2025 and I hope you’ve had a great week 🙌
In today’s news:
🎮 GTA 6 is projected to earn billions during the first year
🎮 Plans for Helldivers 3
🎮 Devil May Cry Director has a new project
🎮 PlayStation is not ready to give up the Live-Service dream
⚡ Lightning Round!
🫡 True Tribute!
😄 Personal Update
All of this is brought to you in a 5 min format ⏲️
Let’s dig in!
🎮 GTA 6 is projected to earn billions during the first year
According to Financial Times and multiple other outlets, GTA 6 is projected to earn a staggering $3 billion during its first year of sales.
Based on the analysis from a video game research group DFC Intelligence, GTA 6 will exceed $1 billion in pre-orders before it even launches. And then it will continue snowballing for some time, breaking all the records despite the fact that the video games industry has not been doing so well for the past few years.
To put that into context, 2024’s highest-grossing movie, Inside Out 2, made just shy of $1.7 billion. In 2013, it took Grand Theft Auto 5 just three days to surpass $1 billion in sales — the fastest to that figure in entertainment history.
I’m not a financial expert or an analyst, but I think that this prediction is very realistic. GTA 6 is shaping up to be the biggest release of 2025 and even judging by people reacting to a trailer that was released a year ago (231 million views at the time of writing), everybody is eager as hell to see the next big thing from Rockstar. Personally, I’m not as excited, but I definitely have it on my radar and maybe it will be the first GTA game that I’m going to play in years 😅
🎮 Plans for Helldivers 3
Arrowhead Studios recently shared some of the plans regarding the next instalment in one of the biggest games of 2024.
The developers recently introduced a new faction in the game, but nobody really knows what is going to happen next and no plans have been released for 2025. But in a recent thread on X, Arrowhead COO Johan Pilestedt confirms that the studio wants to "grow Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3" in response to a user claiming that “Helldivers 3, coming in 2032 will add 8 players and swimming”:
We are growing Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3.... so you may be correct. Except maybe swimming - I don't think its possible to swim in a heavy plate carrier with rifle and support weapons.
Also, all our games have had the thing about the protagonist not being able to swim.
The answer was quite vague, but it confirms the fact that the company is not done with their highly successful live-service phenomenon. I’m yet to try the game after all the patches and updates. The last time I played it, I had quite a polarizing experience because of all the bugs and weird interactions with objectives and the environment. But according to my friends, the game plays a lot better now and has much more content. And it looks like the company is not ready to pull the trigger on a full-fledged sequel just yet, so I might as well give it a try in its current state.
Have you played Helldivers 2 after all the updates? Do you think it’s indeed better than it was say last spring?
🎮 Devil May Cry Director has a new project
Game Rant recently shared some exciting news from Hideaki Itsuno, known for his work on Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma, who is now a part of LightSpeed Japan Studio and teasing a new project.
Actually, “teasing” in this context is a bit of a strong word 😅 Essentially, he just confirmed that his new project is underway without sharing any details whatsoever:
A new project has already started. We will do our best to announce it to everyone as soon as possible. We are also looking for people to join us in developing the game!
After leaving Capcom in 2024, Hideaki said that he would continue making games and in November 2024, it was announced that Itsuno would lead LightSpeed Japan Studio, a new branch of Tencent's LightSpeed Studio dedicated to creating original triple-A action games.
As a big fan of Devil May Cry, I was kind of sad when Hideaki Itsuno left Capcom. This potentially means that every game after that will be somewhat different from what they already were (and they were great!). But there’s hope that with this new studio, a talented Game Director will be able to bring new amazing games to the market! So, here’s to hope that the next project of LightSpeed is going to be just as great 🍻
If you haven’t subscribed yet, this button is just for you ⤵️
🎮 PlayStation is not ready to give up the Live-Service dream
Well, it looks like even after a Concord disaster and the closure of Firewalk Studios, Sony is still committed to making live-service games work. In a recent interview with Japanese outlet Famitsu, PlayStation Co-CEO Herman Hulst said that the company still believes in the model.
The game business is constantly changing due to various factors, including technological advances, new genres and ways of playing. However, one thing that remains constant is people’s desire for great entertainment experiences, and attention to games continues to grow. However, this has also created competition, and like many companies in the industry, we have had to make changes to our business to solidify a more sustainable operating base.
For me it makes sense, Sony is looking to make a profit and live-service games tend to do just that. But also, it’s extremely hard to make a compelling game that will satisfy its players and not only be a money-grabbing factory for the publisher. And over the past decade or so, we’ve all seen the army of projects coming and going while only a few of them really caught our eyes. For now, I’m eager to see what kind of lessons have Sony learnt from all the missteps in 2024. If only people wouldn’t have to pay the price of this greed…
⚡ Lightning Round!
1…2…3…Go!
🎮 Final Fantasy 16 Director teases a new project
Another Game Director recently shared an update on upcoming projects and this time it’s Hiroshi Takai from Square Enix.
In a series of end-of-year interviews with Japanese game developers by 4Gamer.net, Final Fantasy 16 Director Takai stated that he was busy working on FF16 in 2024, but 2025 will see him work on something different. While Takai was unable to share specifics about the project, he assured readers that he would continue to work hard in the year ahead and was confident that it would lead to something that fans would enjoy in the future.
Another Final Fantasy maybe? 😅
🎮 Apex Legends disappoints fans (again)
Do you remember how in July 2024 EA announced changes to the Battle Pass system and how players were furious? Shortly after that, the CEO announced that Apex Legends will “expand beyond the traditional battle royale universe” later in 2024.
Well, guess what, 2024 is already over and nothing has changed…
Cheaters, weird balance and terrible monetization are still ruining the game. And that just shows how little some executives care about fulfilling their promises to the community. We’ll see what happens in 2025, of course, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.
🎮 Switch 2 might not be as powerful as you’d think
With everybody patiently waiting for the newest game console, some are still sceptical. In particular, a new rumour has begun spreading after The Verge’s Senior Editor, Tom Warren, highlighted that the Nintendo Switch 2 could be as powerful as the PS4 Pro.
And on the opposite end of this, according to Game Rant, some developers shared that the new console is much more powerful and that more AAA projects are going to find their way to this handheld in the coming years than it was for the first model.
Well, now I’m completely confused as to what to expect and I’ll just wait for the official announcement and the specs 😅
🫡 True Tribute!
Today I wanted to salute
and !
If you are an avid reader of
, this article provides a great overview of what to expect from in the coming months. And all I can say is good luck and I’m personally looking forward to everything that you have in store!😄 Personal Update
With our game being near its next milestone, the work is a bit overwhelming, so I didn’t get any chance to do anything 😅
Also, I recently found out that I can’t leave Canada while I’m getting my work permit stuff done, so there goes my vacation plans. So, all in all, quite a lot of things happening.
On the bright side, I’m getting more involved in areas of the project that I have no experience with. For example, marketing isn’t my strong suit and I’m getting a ton of exposure to it right now. Can’t wait to tell you what I’ve learned so far 😁
This is all the news I have for you folks today.
Thanks for making it this far! 🙌
If you feel like supporting me and my work, consider Powering-Up GameDev Relay 🎮
Have a great week!
Alex from Gamedev Relay.
There's a new faction in Helldivers? Took them long enough...
Thanks so much for the plug, Alex, I really appreciate it
I hope your journey into the world of marketing goes well!