Console wars and a Cork shoot-em-up: 10 talking points from video games in 2025
Nintendo's Switch 2 has been a huge success since being released in May 2025.
Finally. After years of speculation, Nintendo released the Switch 2 in May 2025. As of November, over 10 million units have already been sold, making it the fastest selling console of all time. What does the Switch 2 do differently? Not much at all, in truth. This machine is ultimately just a more powerful version of the original console, but that will keep Mario, Link, Pokemon and countless others in gaming households for years to come.
Most games fail. They cost time, money and the market is gobbled up by the biggest releases. is the nigh-on miraculous exception to that rule. Created by a small team of French developers, cobbled together by a visionary producer, it has sold millions of copies and redefined what storytelling and maturity looks like in the JRPG genre. Destined to be remembered.
The ‘console wars’ have been part of gaming lexicon since the 1980s, but that may have changed for good this year. Microsoft announced a strategy that will see them effectively cede ground to become a publisher first and foremost, with their flagship Xbox consoles unlikely to compete with Sony and Nintendo in future. They even announced that Xbox icon Halo would be coming to PlayStation. Raise the white flag!
The term ‘friendslop’ surfaced this year, meaning silly, smaller games to be played co-operatively with other people. No game fit that description better than Peak, where players work together (or not) to ascend a mountain in the centre of an island. It’s an experience meant to create hilarious, stressful, triumphant moments with friends organically – and it does a great job of that. Peak gaming? Maybe not. Peak fun? Definitely.
Anyone following the sporting and business landscape in recent years will have noticed Saudi Arabia’s many investments globally, as the region looks to expand their economic interests. However, it was still a surprise when their Public Investment Fund (PIF) spent $55 billion to acquire Electronic Arts (EA), the company who make and among others. Whether this huge acquisition will have an impact on culturally sensitive topics in EA’s video games remains to be seen.
Seven years after it was initially announced, indie sequel was released in September after years of delay, briefly taking over the gaming world. delay and the lack of communication from its two-man team had long become an internet meme. Many people speculated it was in development ‘hell’ and would never emerge. Instead, Silksong not only released on just two weeks’ notice, but crashed digital marketplaces due to demand. It also became one of the best-rated games of 2025.
Over the years, online shooters have become something of a metaphorical battleground themselves, with gamers struggling to connect with the ‘live service’ model that prioritises player spending over simple fun. So, it was refreshing to see EA listen to their audience and release in a form that harks back to the series roots. isn’t perfect, but its huge success shows that sometimes the best approach is one that simply gives gamers what they want.
What’s another 12 years? was delayed not once, but twice in 2025. Originally announced for a release this November, that was pushed to May 2026 and once more again to November 2026. Take Two CEO Straus Zelnick said they have "never regretted delaying a game’" in order to release the best version, but if another delay is announced next year dark clouds may start to gather around the biggest video game release of the decade.
This was the year of remakes. From Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, to Metal Gear Solid Delta, to Silent Hill 2 on Xbox, to Trails in the Sky, to the announcement of yet another full Halo Combat Evolved remake, what was old became new again. Games first released 20 years ago are now perfectly primed for a graphical update that ravenous fans are more than happy to purchase. Delta sold 2 million copies and Oblivion saw 9 million players within a few months of release, so this trend is only likely to continue.
The big Irish story of 2025 continued to be Ready Or Not, the online shooter developed in Cork. Ready Or Not saw a very successful launch on consoles this year, taking overall sales to an estimated 13 million. Indie hit developed by Galway team Spooky Doorway, was released to rave reviews in October. Meanwhile, Irish luminaries Sean Murray and Brendan Greene continued to work on their next games, and respectively, with the latter now in early access. Go on the Irish!
