GDC 2025: Venatus' 4 Takeaways

It’s that time again! Earlier this month, the Venatus team packed up and headed to Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco for five full days of networking and learning with 30,000 of the industry’s best and brightest. 

Throughout the week, the team enjoyed catching up with old friends, making new connections, and learning about the future of gaming from a range of studio, developer and publisher perspectives. As well as buzz around the Big Industry Topics (TL;DR: AI is everywhere, and Web3 gaming is still ‘on the horizon’), the team attended sessions that dived into the power of gaming communities, shifting gamer types, and the evolving role of publishers, to name just a few.

Check out our 4 biggest takeaways from GDC 2025 below!

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1. A new dawn for AI in gaming? 

It’s fair to say that AI is a controversial topic in the developer community - so while we were interested to hear about developments in the space, we went into the conference expecting to hear all the usual critiques.

However, we were surprised to find that the sentiment at GDC was largely positive. While AI still has its fair share of naysayers, more people are coming round to the idea that it could benefit game development - allowing developers to utilize parameters like attention levels, emotional responses and other signals to challenge gamers, help struggling players and create unique paths through game play. We heard that AI is making waves in game design, too, via a new wave of AI 3D model generators that claim to enable developers to create game-ready models from a simple text prompt. It got us thinking - what could something like Meshy.ai mean for the rate (and quality) of game development, especially for indie publishers? Watch this space. 

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2. The browser gaming boom continues 

Native browser gaming continues to rise in popularity, driven primarily by its accessibility and ease of use. At the Google Web Summit, we learned that there had been a 26% YoY growth in search volume for browser games globally in 2023, and that 42% of gamers had played a web game in the past month - the majority on a console as opposed to a PC (Google & Kantar, 2023).

It’s clear that gaming audiences are becoming increasingly device-agnostic, and that the driving force when deciding which game to play is versatility. Does this mean the end for native apps?

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3. “Ad quality matters”, publishers say

When it comes to setting up a website, a publisher’s main priorities revolve around generating quality content, user experience and fostering a loyal community. Building a successful website takes considerable time and  effort, so it’s understandable that any  monetization setups have traditionally taken a backseat (at least, until revenue dips). But according to both large and smaller publishers we spoke to at GDC, we’re now seeing a shift in the way publishers are thinking about ads (likely tied to the rise in popularity of browser based games). We’re now seeing a necessary focus on ad quality and placement in order to remain competitive, due to factors like ad-blocker adoption and Google’s evolving quality signals. 

During the event, we heard about changing priorities for publishers, with a renewed focus on monetization setup, and the importance of partnering with an effective and transparent ad network. Think quality over quantity, higher standards for creative design, and more demand for transparent analytics - all things that should, in theory, lead to higher CPMs.

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4. Don’t underestimate the power of communities

‍The importance of gaming communities was a big topic at this year’s conference. We heard about how they are now viewed as essential to the success and longevity of a game, impacting everything from user retention and engagement, to marketing, to feedback and game development. Sessions about the impact of a dedicated community on the organic marketing of a big game release, among others, served to remind developers and publishers that they should dedicate time and resources to serving the needs of the people who play their games, as well as the game itself. 

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That’s a wrap for this year! As always, we loved our time in San Francisco and the opportunity to catch up with our friends and clients overseas. We hope to see you at GDC 2026! 

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Is your ad revenue not where you’d like it to be? We’d love to talk to you about effective monetization solutions for your site or app - speak to our team today. 

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