The gaming industry in 2025 was a year of growth, development, and innovation, nevertheless, it also had its fair share of rollercoaster events that sparked heated debates across platforms, communities, and corporate boardrooms. Technological boundaries were pushed, new creative paths were experimented with, and gameplay experience shifted for many players.
All these showcased the modern gaming industry's energy and global importance. However, the industry is navigating some of its most major issues this year, whether it is about AI usage, technological shifts, and major changes in behavioral patterns. Let’s take a closer look at the biggest gaming scandals of 2025.
Top 10 Gaming Company Controversies of 2025
Monster Hunter Wilds: From Ambitious Launch to Fractured PC Reality
Monster Hunter Wilds, developed by Capcom, was released in early 2025 to revitalize the long-running brand. Most console reviews were good, but the PC version received widespread criticism. Players noticed stuttering, crashes, and major optimization issues, even on high-end systems.
Months after its release, community conversations continued to highlight these issues, leaving the game to gain mostly "mixed" and "overwhelmingly negative" responses from players. Engagement also fell behind for previous releases, such as Monster Hunter World.
Capcom published several patches in the later months of 2025, including content and performance improvements. However, users reported frame pacing difficulties, instability, and a limited endgame. The franchise, which was once a regular Game of the Year contender, has now underlined the disconnect between ambition and execution in current AAA production.
The Grand Theft Auto VI Delay: The "Empty Hole"
Grand Theft Auto VI is arguably the most eagerly awaited game in the gaming industry for a while. Originally planned for late 2025, Rockstar Games postponed the debut date to May 26, 2026, and then again to November 19, 2026. The company also gained scrutiny for its sudden layoffs, which garnered relevant political attention in the UK due to accusations of reported union busting.
The overall impact of these delays was not just fan discontent, but also a significant shift in the industry's end-of-year schedule. Analysts and publishers alike suggested a shift in release timetables, as GTA VI's omission from the 2025 holiday slate left a significant gap in expected income and customer interest.
Rockstar Games
The MindsEye Implosion
MindsEye was launched in June 2025 by Build a Rocket Boy, a studio led by former GTA veterans, notably Leslie Benzies. The game, dubbed "GTA Killer," claimed to redefine the open-world genre. Instead, it was filled with defects, performance difficulties, and ineffective optimization. Player feedback was scathing, soon resulting in one of the lowest aggregate scores among significant releases that year.
Layoffs & The Games Awards Protests
The wave of mass layoffs that began in 2023 has continued into 2024, indicating a lengthy era of uncertainty in the video game industry. Major publishers and studios, notably Ubisoft and BioWare, reduced their workforces significantly as part of broader restructuring initiatives, despite parent corporations reporting continuous income.
Video game workers and union activists led protests outside The Game Awards in Los Angeles in December 2025, bringing industry anger to the public's attention. Demonstrators carried symbolic "tombstone" signs to depict closed studios and lost workers, emphasizing the real cost of the industry's glossy image. The demonstration showed a stark contrast between the joyous spectacle of The Game Awards and the insecure reality of many workers, reigniting concerns over labor standards in gaming.
Nintendo Switch 2 Pricing Shock
Nintendo officially introduced the successor to the Switch, however with a system price of about $450 USD and a new standard of $70+ for first-party titles, the brand's "family-friendly" affordability was questioned. Many fans accused Nintendo of misreading the economic situation, particularly because the hardware specifications were viewed as simply "catching up" with the previous generation rather than creating something new.
Despite the criticism and concerns about growing first-party game prices compared to the first Switch era, the pessimism subsided quickly. The system went on to become Nintendo's fastest-selling hardware launch in history, selling over 3.5 million units in its first four days, confirming the brand's long-term market appeal despite pricing issues.
www.nintendo.com
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Campaign
Activision launched Black Ops 7 in November 2025, only a year after Black Ops 6, increasing player fatigue with back-to-back entries. The campaign received harsh criticism and was called out for a poorly designed game. Long-time players dissed the game for always needing an online connection even during solo play, and lacking a stop button.
While some appreciated features of co-op and multiplayer, the overall reaction was unfavorable, with player reviews ranking it as one of the lowest-rated Call of Duty campaigns in recent memory. The release also stirred debate regarding in-game calling card imagery that appeared to be AI-generated, adding to the impression of rushed development and series fatigue.
The Avowed "Scale Down"
Obsidian's Xbox exclusive, Avowed, was originally described as a gigantic, Skyrim-style open-world RPG, but the final version followed a more focused approach, featuring large, zone-based locations rather than a continuous universe.
While some players praised the game's brighter, more colorful art style and first-person fighting mechanics, critics generally liked it, awarding it a rating of approximately 80. The discrepancy between early marketing hype and the game's real breadth generated debate online, but general feedback was positive. Reports of dramatic declines in player counts were limited to specific platforms such as Steam, while broader statistics are yet to be made public.
Sony & The Ghost of Yōtei Firing
A senior staff member at Sucker Punch Productions, the company behind Ghost of Yōtei (the planned sequel to Ghost of Tsushima), was let go after he reportedly made a social media post joking about a conservative political figure, causing trouble for Sony. The incident generated an online debate regarding corporate responses to employee speech and the larger culture-war argument, with some gaming groups advocating for a boycott of the game.
Sony / Sucker Punch Studios
The Wuchang: Fallen Feathers "Propaganda" Patch
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, a Souls-like set in a dark, mythical late Ming period, became contentious after Patch 1.5 changed gameplay and storylines. Several bosses and historical characters can no longer be defeated, and new dialogue has been added to reflect these changes. Many regarded this as censoring in response to Chinese player anger, with critics claiming that it softened the storyline and disrupted the game's original concept. However, the company has provided very little public information.
AI Voice Acting & "The Replacements"
In 2025, AI use for NPC voicing and asset generation became a hot topic in games. Arc Raiders, for example, experimented with AI voices and assets, which drew heavy criticism from players regarding quality and immersion. The issue overlapped with labor concerns, as SAG-AFTRA's 2024-2025 video game strike highlighted the need for AI rights, including consent and transparency for voice and motion capture. Reportedly, a settlement was reached in mid-2025; nevertheless, it exposed both ethical and technological issues with AI in games.
What Does These Major Gaming Industry Scandals 2025 Indicate?
Looking back, 2025 was a watershed moment in the gaming industry, highlighted by high-profile gaffes, daring experiments, and harsh criticism of corporate standards. The top gaming controversies of 2025, ranging from technical failures like Monster Hunter Wilds on PC to corporate and labor disputes and AI discussions, highlighted the fragile balance between ambition, ethics, and execution.
These major gaming industry scandals in 2025 highlighted both the risks and constraints that developers and publishers face, demonstrating that player expectations, corporate decisions, and technical progress are more inextricably linked than ever. As the year ends in 2025, it serves as a reminder that these gaming company controversies were not simply news events but pivotal moments determining how games will be made, sold, and received.
