“The market finally entered a phase of hypercompetition”: Digital Vortex’s Inna Gosteva about the situation as of the end of 2025

We continue our 2025 wrap-up together with top managers and experts from the games industry. Up next is an interview with Inna Gosteva, CBDO at Digital Vortex Entertainment.

How was 2025 for your business? What achievements stand out? What are your key takeaways?

Inna Gosteva: 2025 was a very important year for us: we continued to build our portfolio and fine-tuned our game evaluation process, while also strengthening our interaction with developers.

One of our key achievements was signing DREADMOOR.

DREADMOOR

We implemented a systematic model for supporting studios, built around the principles of an individual approach. Each game is treated as a unique project with its own goals, audience, and marketing strategy. This flexible format has essentially become our calling card: it allows teams to receive not just funding, but comprehensive support, from creative positioning to community engagement and player feedback.

How has the publishing market evolved in your view?

Inna Gosteva: 2025 was a turning point for publishing: the market finally entered a phase of hypercompetition. Several hundred new titles are released on Steam every week, and even good games find it much harder to find their audience. This requires publishers to take a systematic approach rather than just targeted marketing, namely, building recognizable positioning and long-term contact with players.

At the same time, generative AI has accelerated development, but it has also exacerbated the need for curation. The number of mediocre releases has grown, and it is publishers who now act as a quality filter, helping strong games stand out.

Virality remains one of the key factors in the spontaneous growth of a title’s popularity: short videos, streams, and community moments often determine the fate of a release. In these conditions, the publisher is no longer just a distributor, but a strategic partner who helps the game not get lost in the flow, formulates its value, and builds a community around it.

2026 will be the year when publishers who are able to maintain a balance between technological capabilities and the genuine creative value of each game will win.

Have your practices with developers changed? Is collaboration becoming easier or harder?

Inna Gosteva: Working with developers has really changed and become much more meaningful. A couple of years ago, you could come to a publisher with an idea and a prototype “in words,” but now, in most cases, the conversation only begins when the team already has a working build or at least a vertical slice with a clear game cycle. This has raised the bar, but it has also simplified the dialogue itself. Now, both sides clearly understand what product they are talking about.

For our part, as a publisher, we have become more deeply involved in the process, from testing features and analyzing initial metrics to forming positioning and exit strategies. The market is overheated, competition is fierce, and without joint analytics and honest conversation about the chances of success, it is simply ineffective to move forward.

Overall, it has become more difficult to get into the “funnel,” but easier to build long-term relationships. When teams come with a well-thought-out product and are ready to discuss risks and accept criticism, a real partnership emerges, where the publisher adds not only resources but also expert support.

How was the year for the niche in which you typically release games?

Inna Gosteva: A record number of titles were released on Steam (almost 20,000 in a year), and even good games now risk simply getting lost in the flood. Simplified development tools and the widespread use of AI have accelerated the process, but at the same time have exacerbated the problem of “content noise.”

Players have become more cautious: many prefer to stay in familiar worlds and return to proven projects because time and attention have become catastrophically scarce. In such conditions, strong gameplay hooks and competent promotion are everything.

For us, this was a signal to take action. We strengthened our filter for incoming projects, refined our selection criteria, and built a more structured onboarding process for studios. Now we are focusing only on games that demonstrate potential in terms of mechanics at an early stage. This has allowed us to concentrate on projects with real viability and lay a solid foundation for confident growth in 2026.

What lessons from 2025 should developers heading into release keep in mind?

Inna Gosteva: The main lesson of 2025 is that the market has become incredibly crowded. Even an excellent game can simply disappear in the noise if you don’t start communicating with your audience in advance. Don’t wait for the release: test your hypotheses, conduct playtests, gather feedback, and build a community while still in the demo stage. This not only helps refine the game but also gives the publisher time to prepare marketing and support campaigns.

Nowadays, an idea alone does not sell a project. Talks with publishers or investors only begin when there is a working build with a clear gameplay cycle and retention potential. Without this, interest quickly fades.

Players have become impatient: if the first few minutes don’t hook them, there won’t be a second chance. Those who create gameplay that “sells itself” in 30 seconds win, especially in the age of clips and streams.

A separate piece of advice: don’t rush to participate in big festivals like Steam Next Fest without serious preparation. 2025 showed that if a demo doesn’t have a good marketing plan and media momentum, it simply gets lost among hundreds of others. In this regard, a publisher really adds expertise and helps convert attention into wishlists.

And perhaps most importantly, transparency is key. Sincere and open dialogue with the publisher accelerates the development of the project. We look at dozens of games every day and see market patterns; this outside perspective helps make the product stronger. When trust develops between the developer and the publisher, the most notable and vibrant projects emerge.

What trends in your niche do you expect to see grow or emerge in 2026?

Inna Gosteva: In 2026, I think the trends we saw in 2025 will simply become more noticeable. Viral content will become an absolute must-have. Games that are easy to consume in a short format (whether it’s a stream, clip, or short video on social media) will have a decisive advantage. Today, TikTok and Reels algorithms often have a stronger influence on sales than traditional reviews.

AI is a more complicated story. Yes, it helps speed up prototyping and visual production, but audience trust in it remains fragile. The story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was stripped of its Indie Game Awards for using AI textures, showed that this topic is still very sensitive. In 2026, the winners will be those who find a balance between technology and live creativity, where technology enhances the idea rather than replacing it.

What are your company’s plans for 2026?

Inna Gosteva: In 2026, we plan to focus on gradual but steady portfolio growth. The main emphasis will be on projects with a strong gameplay foundation and instant hook, because the market is still oversaturated and player attention is the scarcest resource. We are looking for games that can be promoted through viral formats, streams, and short content. These are the things that help a project gain visibility even before its release.

With our current projects, including DREADMOOR, we are moving into a more active phase: we are stepping up our marketing efforts, focusing on working with the community and content creators, and laying the groundwork for long-term support after release. We see that players are increasingly returning to games that are supported by events, updates, and content, and this strategy yields much more sustainable results than a short release spike.

Overall, 2026 will be a year of adaptation to a new, unified ecosystem of platforms and channels for us. Our goal is to remain a publisher that helps games not only launch, but also find their audience and keep them interested for a long time.