Analysis: In 2025, the total budget for new releases on Steam exceeded $27 billion, setting a record
This conclusion was reached by the analytical platform HushCrasher*.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
As noted by the analysts, just two years ago, the discussion was about a much smaller sum—$20 billion. If we go back to 2015, the total budget of games released on Steam was only $5 billion. In other words, over the past 10 years, developers’ production expenses have grown 5.4 times.
According to HushCrasher, this spike is largely explained by the increased number of games themselves, and global inflation has also impacted budgets. Analysts also mention that we should not forget the competition among developers for audience attention, which leads them to spend more on improving graphics and increasing content volume. This primarily affects teams in the AA and AAA segments.
Some more observations by HushCrasher:
- In percentage terms, the creation of AA games has become the most expensive over the decade. Last year, the budget for AA new releases averaged around $20 million per project—250% more than for 2015 releases;
- At the same time, the average budget for AAA games rose by 224% to $300 million, games from mid-sized teams rose by 166% to $1 million, and games from small teams and indie developers increased by 156% to $100,000;
- Among specific game categories, VR games showed the most rapid growth. Until 2021, their average budget remained roughly the same, but then surged sharply amid the metaverse boom. As a result, over the past seven years, the budget for new VR releases on Steam increased 4.3 times;
- Action-adventures took second place in budget growth, and the top three were rounded out by free-to-play games;
- Meanwhile, the development of certain games has become cheaper—for example, Point & Click genre titles.
*For assessing game budgets, HushCrasher considered the experience of game teams, the number of professionals mentioned in the credits, the number of supported languages, and “dozens of other variables.”