Some years, games news is dominated by what we play. Late 2025 is increasingly about where games live platform rules, storefront economics, and how players actually spend time. If you want to understand the next wave of winners, stop asking “What’s the next big game?” and start asking “What’s the next big distribution advantage?”
Steam’s quiet truth: players don’t actually spend most of their time on new games
A striking stat circulating this month: a report about Steam Replay 2025 indicating players spent only 14% of their time on games released in 2025, favoring older titles instead. GameSpot also highlighted Steam Replay as a major year-end feature, reinforcing how platforms now package player behavior into shareable identity content.
Even if you debate the exact percentage, the implication is powerful: the “new release spotlight” is smaller than marketing suggests. Players live in back catalogs live-service games, comfort games, evergreen multiplayer, long-tail RPGs.
That shifts strategy. Launch is still important, but retention is often more valuable than hype.
Steam sales leadership is tilting toward certain genres
Coverage of Steam’s top-selling games in 2025 emphasized how RPGs and multiplayer-heavy titles dominated the revenue conversation. That lines up with the replay stat: players spend time where social loops and long-term progression live.
This is why studios keep chasing “forever games” even when many fail. The reward for success is enormous because platforms amplify retention.
Mobile distribution rules are changing again now in Brazil
On mobile, the platform story is turning into government policy. Reuters reported Apple agreed to allow third-party app stores and alternative payment options on iOS in Brazil as part of a settlement with the antitrust regulator CADE, with changes required within 105 days and potential fines for noncompliance. The Verge covered the same development, noting the shift aligns with regulatory pressure seen in other regions.
For mobile games, this is huge. Payments and storefront access are the core of monetization. If alternative stores and payment rails expand, developers might gain pricing flexibility and better margins but also inherit more complexity: fraud risk, customer support burdens, compliance, and discoverability challenges.
Mobile trends are being reshaped by economics, not creativity
Meanwhile, the mobile games business is still searching for stable growth patterns. PocketGamer’s year-end trends piece framed 2025 as a shaping year for mobile, discussing shifts in revenue dynamics and the continued search for scalable business models.
The subtext across mobile coverage is consistent: user acquisition remains expensive, ad markets shift quickly, and only certain monetization loops survive platform rule changes.
Loot boxes: regulation pressure is rising in Europe
Monetization also faces legal scrutiny. A report on proposed changes in Poland described draft amendments that would create a formal framework regulating loot boxes, putting the issue directly onto the legislative agenda.
Even if you don’t play mobile games, loot box law matters because monetization norms tend to spread across platforms. If a major region tightens rules, global publishers often standardize policies rather than maintain a patchwork.
What this means: distribution is becoming competitive advantage #1
Put these together and the pattern emerges:
- On PC, players spend most of their time in evergreen libraries, not new releases.
- On mobile, store rules and payment options are becoming legal battlegrounds.
- Monetization mechanics face growing regulatory pressure, pushing studios to redesign business models.
That’s why “platform news” is now “games news.” A great game can still lose if its distribution costs are too high or its monetization becomes legally fragile. A good game can win if it’s positioned on the right platform at the right moment with the right retention loop.
In 2026, expect more headlines that look like tech policy, not game reviews because the places games live are increasingly deciding which games get to thrive.