Whilst the games industry has continued to face challenges, 2024 has been a year full of creativity, passion for games and talented people making great things.

As we close out the year, some of our subject experts from across Sumo Digital share their highlights, achievements and what they’re looking forward to in the year to come.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | Licensing, Engine Development & Nostalgic Gaming

With more game-to-screen adaptations, gaming partnerships, merchandising opportunities and collaborations than ever before – it’s been a huge year in the world of licensing.

Director of Licensing and Business Development at Sumo Digital, Ben Godwin, says it’s been particularly great to see the industry embracing licensing in new ways: “With the wider challenges of the games industry, we’ve seen that licensors are more open to experimenting with unique, innovative and creative ways. Historically, working with a license has been largely restricted to larger games but it’s been very exciting to see licensors open  to support a wider variety of experiences they can see their communities will love.

“We’ve also seen a new wave of eco-system licensing in 2024,  with IP-holders and publishers bringing their franchises together – like World of Warcraft’s Eternal War crossover which saw Diablo Immortal and WoW colliding. This, if you can achieve it, is a efficient way to engage fans of both titles, and promote different worlds within your portfolio as well as your studio or publisher brand as a whole.”

In his role, Ben has also toured the world attending events, conferences and expos to meet with partners and get the scoop on the latest trends. In March, he headed to GDC and got to hear from Rose Li and Rebeca Polo Garcia from Behaviour Interactive at the event: “In their talk “How to Craft an Ever Expanding Franchise: The ‘Dead by Daylight’ Horror Universe”, Rose and Rebeca discussed strategies for licensing within Dead by Daylight, and it was particularly interesting to hear about how they managed to process internally to ensure experts were always leading conversations around licensing rather than being led. This streamlined process has been highly effective for them and means the game is able to continue to evolve and innovate.”

As the games industry continues to evolve, so does the games it makes. On the industry in 2025, Ben said: “The landscape of AAA gaming is shifting, as a result we’re seeing some publishers pivot to funding a wider variety of smaller projects than normal –  I have seen particular innovation in smaller developers using their own engines to achieve incredibly creative results. Developers behind games like Tiny Glade (Pounce Light) and Noita (Nolla Games) are doing really interesting things in their games by creating their own proprietary gaming engines. Furthermore, the creation of your own engine seems to be an additional business development opportunity – with developers open to license their own engines and innovation for your next creation.”

Speaking of engines, Ben says 2024 has seen him get hands on with game development: “When Business Development people are able to increase their knowledge and understanding on how games are made and what goes into making a great one, the company as a whole benefits. I’ve loved getting to work more closely with our developers this year on pitches and have even tried my own hand at making a game using Unreal Engine 5! It was a great challenge to learn how games are created, and I loved getting to gain further context and build skills in development, and feel it’s enabled me to better support, champion and appreciate the amazing work of Sumo’s developers.”

On his top game of the year, Ben said: “I loved playing World of Warcraft Hardcore Self-Found mode. I think taking a game that has evolved over so many years back to its content lifecycles starting point and adding new twists is a really effective way of tapping into their nostalgia and allows players to connect to their core gaming memories. Self-Found mode is for the players who want a slower experience, and want to inhabit the journey rather than just arrive at the destination – and I think especially now when we all have long lists of games we want to play, it’s really nice to be able to take your time and turn every tiny quest into an epic journey.”

Looking ahead to 2025, Ben says there’s an exciting year on the horizon: “I’m looking forward to experiencing more events next year, including physical shows like GDC, G-Star and Tokyo Game Show, and getting to experience more digital showcases. It’s been great to see the industry uphold the showing of digital events, and create an accessible way for fans to access brand new trailers, reveals and content. The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest are just a couple of the digital showcases and events I’ve grown to love being able to stream and tune into from home.”

Ben concluded: “We’ve seen more solo developers emerging with creative, unique and innovative titles in the last 12 months. The games industry has long had the reputation of being DIY and scrappy, and as technology, tools, resources and tech for the games industry becomes more accessible, I’m excited to see what next year holds and what new ideas games will have to offer.”

LIVE OPS | Automation, Challenges & Refreshing the player experience

It’s been a big year for Live Service Games, the conversation around them has continued to be a hot topic and it’s been a year of sink or swim for new releases.

Laine Baker, Studio Live Operations Director for Sumo Sheffield, has been keeping a close eye on all things live and said: “The main challenge Live Service games are facing at the moment are for those utilising a brand-new IP – it can be really difficult to build and develop a community, engage with players and innovate on new content being added to your game that can fill the gap for your players. We’ve seen a couple of games this year that have failed to find their audience, and it’s a huge shame to see the hard work of development teams going to waste when their project doesn’t have the chance to get off the runway.

“In contrast, there are some Live Games that are able to not only survive, but thrive. Sumo Sheffield has had the opportunity to work alongside the team at Digital Extremes on Warframe this year and it’s so refreshing to see a 10-year-old title not only engage its players through new characters, missions and modes, but to be refining the new player experience. They do great work of engaging their players in the game, and in real life – with two fans even enveloping the game into their proposal story during Warframe’s annual fan event.”

Warframe is not the only game that has continued to blossom in Live Service, Laine says that despite a bumpy year, there have been Live games that have made their way onto top-played and top-grossing games list: “Games like Space Marine 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Baldur’s Game 3, Helldivers 2 have all had an exceptional year in terms of player count and maintenance (not to mention the many awards they’ve collectively scooped up). Fortnite, unsurprisingly, started the year off on a high note, with Fortnite OG, Lego, Rocket League and the Fortnite Festival all offering players a lot of exciting new activities and game modes to get involved in, not to mention its countless, fruitful licensing deals which continue to delight and engage players.”

Laine also weighed in on the hefty debate around AI’s place in the games industry and concurred that, while it will never be a replacement for creativity, it’s able to support with optimisation and efficiency: “We’ve seen more Live Ops team utilising AI to support optimisation of processes this year – and seen how it can be used to great effect in advertising (to create and optimise campaigns based on performance) and for in-game experience personalisation. I firmly believe that its place should remain in automation and never dip into creativity, and find that it can be used well to take large blocks of data and content, and find the right combination to service the user.

Laine believes this focus on player experience will be a key focus for Live Ops teams in the future: “Player experience and community development ahead of release are going to be pivotal in a game’s success moving forward. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a shining example of what can happen when you take the time to lay the groundwork for your game; its early access and alpha periods really paid off when it was time for full release.

“With more games entering the market every month, it’s vital now more than ever that we as an industry respect the time and preferences of our players, and stop trying to achieve ‘the perfect game’ in a vacuum.”

Laine concluded: “Here at Sumo, there’s plenty to get excited about for the world of Live Service in 2025. Our teams have been hard at work on unreleased projects, ensuring they build the foundations for great player experiences in the future.”

PUBLISHING | Audience Insights, Niche Gaming and Surprises for 2025

It’s never been more important to create games that will capture the enthusiasm, the interests and the hearts of players. In a world of growing to-play lists, lots of competition for attention and a never-ending stream of content to be consumed; publishers have a tall order on their hands to work with games that players will not only love, but return to.

James Schall, Vice President of Publishing Strategy at Secret Mode says that 2024 has been the de-masking of the viral title, saying: “The games industry has always been looking to chase the next big thing: games emerge seemingly out of nowhere, take over social channels, enter the zeitgeist and pretty soon, developers and publishers alike are looking to mine upon that popularity.

“But how long can this strategy prove successful for? This year, we’ve seen game makers looking to build on the success of viral titles by homing in on a topic or theme and turning out new titles quickly to not miss the goldrush. This approach to game development often means a lot of titles miss the mark and are unable to perform among their peers.”

Instead of chasing industry trends and virality, James says there are four key areas that have stormed the publishing sector in 2024, and that we should be on the lookout for in the year to come:

Second Screening | Players are connecting with games while working, learning, watching TV shows or even playing other games at the same time. Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck are the most likely platforms to see this kind of audience behaviour, and, interestingly, a recent report by Midia Research revealed that on average, gamers are spending more time consuming games-related media than they are actually playing the games. This fascinating insight into player behaviour will present publishers with new challenges next year as they continue to strive to keep people engaged.

Flow-State | Games that reach a level of simplicity that enables the player to play without too much focus or twitch-response play. Clicker Games are a great example of games to achieve a feeling of flow state, and ones that are able to take this simple mechanic and combine it with incredible deep systems, rich stories and sandbox play are able to stand out.

Hyperlocal | Still Wakes the Deep is a shining example of how leaning into locality, time and place can be key to success. In the game, players are transported to an oil-rig in the middle of the North Sea during the 1970s, and every detail was captured with dazzling accuracy by the team at The Chinese Room, and the game has been praised for its commitment to authenticity in everything from dialect to decoration. Global audiences are loving experiences that take them somewhere new, with another example being Thank Goodness You’re Here which captures Yorkshire’s vibrancy and spirit by using the everyday. Celebrate the location, the voice acting and the culture and you might be onto a winner.

Popular Niche | Leaning into increasingly niche hobbies is also a way to capture the hearts and attention of players. Whatever niche you choose, there’ll be a pile of games just waiting for fans of it to explore. From trading cards to trains, gardening to cooking – whatever your players enjoy in the real-world presents a great opportunity to offer them a new experience in digital.

This year, Secret Mode has launched a plethora of new titles spanning a wide range of genres, including Still Wakes the Deep, DEATHSPRINT 66, Stampede: Racing Royale, Critter Café, Parcel Corps, Oil Strike ’75, and released updates and new platforms for countless others including Make Way, Loddlenaut and A Little to the Left. Most recently, the publisher announced Empyreal – an ambitious and high-quality action RPG –  and James says this latest reveal sits firmly in Secret Mode’s strategy of publishing games that its teams fall in love with: “At our core, we want to bring great games to the world. Our team is packed with diverse and interesting people, and we aspire to host a portfolio of games that reflects players of all demographics, interests and playstyles. Looking ahead of 2025, there’s a lot to be excited for: whether that’s bringing Auroch Digital’s hotly anticipated strategy sim Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life to the world, or for [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] which we just know people are going to be surprised and delighted by!”

Reflecting on 2024, James said: “It’s been a year of achievements and firsts for our team at Secret Mode this year; we launched on new platforms, hosted events, supported all our titles with content and news, grown communities for our games, and the thing I’m most proud of was seeing Secret Mode win the Best UK Publisher at the Ukie Video Game Awards – it was a wonderful moment to see our hard work being recognised by people outside of our own walls.”

Heading into the holiday season, James is looking forward to some well-earned time off to  play his game of the year, Balatro, saying: “It’s focus on audience and depth is just perfect.”

MARKETING | Developer Insights, Great Causes and Educating the Next Generation

Sumo’s Director of Communications and Marketing, Christina Haralambous, says that despite turbulent times, games industry media continues to innovate and evolve: “It’s been an interesting year for the landscape of games industry media; we’ve seen staff changes at some of the biggest games industry outlets, and have noticed a shift towards direct mail comms as a reliable way to keep everyone in the loop of the latest games industry news.”

With several Sumo own-IP titles plus numerous co-developed games in the market this year , Christina says it’s been a good opportunity for developers to share their stories: “With more games, comes more stories. We’ve loved speaking to developers about their game-making journeys, getting their unique and expert insights on a range of topics, and drilling down into the details of our development services.

“We’ve worked closely with our teams this year to bring a behind-the-scenes look at a number of our biggest titles. Some of my favourites include:

Making Waves – Water Mechanics in Still Wakes the Deep | This piece dives deep into how The Chinese Room created realistic, menacing and effective water to be used throughout the oil rig in Still Wakes the Deep, using Unreal Engine 5. Programmer Joe Wheater shares the tools, techniques and some top tips for devs looking to create a similar experience.

Psychology of Horror Games | Developers at Sumo Nottingham and The Chinese Room brought tricks and treats to this feature, in which they explored what makes a good horror game, the ways they create good horror in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Still Wakes the Deep (respectively) and what scares them.

– Lessons in Porting | We’re proud to have ported a number of games to new platforms this year, and amongst our studios who sit as experts in this area are Leamington-based Lab42. In this article, they broke down the process of taking on a new port, what makes a good port that is sure to be beloved by both fans of the original and new players alike, and gave a sneak peek into the porting process of Game Award-nominated, Metal: Hellsinger VR.

– Crafting Worlds Apart | It’s been a busy year for the team at Sumo Newcastle. This year, the studio released two brand-new IP projects which sit within vastly opposing genres: cosy and carnage-racing. Developers at the helm of each from the studio sat down and discussed how they created these diverse games, how each pays homage to its genre and how they created a little bit of Sumo Synthesis up in the North East.

Christina continued, “It’s also  been fantastic to see how our games are resonating with the world. Titles like Still Wakes the Deep received praise for its ability to connect with global audiences while using very specific local culture, voice actors and storytelling. It’s commitment to authenticity saw it contribute to wider industry conversations, like this one from BBC News which explains how hyper-local stories are winning over players.”

In 2024, Sumo has been able to continue to support some of its long-standing charity and Inclusion & Belonging partners; including SpecialEffect, Solving Kids’ Cancer UK, GamesAid, Women in Games, Code Coven and Limit Break. Christina says Sumo’s teams’ willingness to give back continues to impress: “Whether it’s getting behind the wheel of a go-kart, streaming their favourite games, delivering talks or workshops, being a mentor to someone or volunteering for a local charity; Sumo’s people are incredibly kind and generous with their time, supporting worthy causes both in their local communities and in the wider games industry.”

Finally, 2024 saw a pivotal year for the learning and development in the form of Sumo Evolve – a free career development programme where experienced devs external to Sumo receive leadership and management training – a third Sumo Developer Conference where our teams delivered talks and workshops on everything from Unreal Engine, to building culture in a studio and beyond (which are now available to watch for free over on YouTube), and the Sumo Digital Academy continuing to grow. Of the Academy, Christina said: : “Since starting out in 2020, the Sumo Academy has gone from strength-to-strength and this year released two new titles – both of which riff-on familiar IP from throughout Sumo’s studios and heritage. Oil Strike ’75 – which exists adjacent to Still Wakes the Deep – and Snake Party – an evolution of our 2017 hit, Snake Pass – are both a testament to the Academy’s exemplary educations and the passion of the cohorts within.”

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