2025 has been a very up-and-down year for video games. HHW Gaming is here to break down the year’s biggest stories and share what game is taking home our Game of the Year honor.
The year is up, and there were plenty of pivotal moments (good and bad) that went down in the gaming industry, and of course, there were many games played this year, so without further ado, like Skillz and Uncle Murda do every year, let’s wrap up those moments.
Video Game Sales Were In The Toilet In November, Thanks To Trump Tariffs
2025 turned out to be one of the worst years on record for video game hardware sales in November.
That is honestly shocking, as November is usually when gamers do their most video game-related shopping ahead of the holiday season, thanks to Black Friday.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with Circana’s Matt Piscatella, who reported it was the worst November for video game console dollar sales on record since 2005.
According to the report, the big three, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo, all felt the sting. Xbox console sales were down an abysmal 70%, PlayStation 5 sales were down 40% and the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 sales dropped 10%.
Console Prices Jumped
The main culprit, of course, is Donald Trump, and his blatant abuse of tariffs, plus other market conditions. Xbox was the first company to raise the price of its console.
The Xbox Series S jumped to $400-$450, depending on the model, pushing the price of the lower-power console about the cost of a base-model PS5.
The Xbox Series X price, which has ballooned to $600-$800, which is hilarious because the console now costs more than a PS5 Pro.
Sony raised the price of the PS5 by $50 in October due to Trump’s tariffs. Still, unlike Xbox, it cut $100 off the console during the holiday shopping season, which also likely helped it become the best-selling console, even ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Speaking of the Nintendo Switch 2, it didn’t see a price increase; it launched at $500, much higher than the original Nintendo Switch’s $300 launch price.
Despite the higher price, the Switch 2 was still the fastest-selling console of all time.
Games were also affected, with titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 seeing a double-digit percentage decline in full game dollar sales compared to November 2024.
Yeah, 2025 was a rough one financially for the gaming industry, and honestly, 2026 is not looking like it will be any better, unfortunately.
Xbox Had Another Bad Year
Xbox had another bad year, but at least we know the company is all in on being a multiplatform company.
While that was a good business decision for the company, it also had Xbox Series X and Series S owners looking at their consoles and wondering why the hell they own them.
In 2025, we saw Xbox finally wave the white flag in the so-called console wars and begin porting its beloved console exclusives, such as Forza Horizon, Halo, Gears of War, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, to the PS5.
That wasn’t the only bad sign for the company; reports of Cotsco yanking the big black box off the shelves and no longer selling began to circulate, leading many to believe the whole “This Is An Xbox” campaign, pushing the narrative that anything that utilizes Xbox Game Pass is now an Xbox, also led to the console’s poor showing.
Microsoft’s ROG Xbox Ally & ROG Xbox Ally X Both Arrived
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Microsoft-owned company; they still had the new handheld devices they partnered with ASUS on, the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X.
Both devices sold well, and we had the opportunity to review the ROG Xbox Ally, the cheaper of the two, costing $599, which sacrifices some power for affordability. We were not disappointed with the experience, but felt it still needs more time to live up to its full potential.
In our review, we wrote:
It has decent battery life, a nice screen (even though it’s not OLED), and the ability to jump right into the Xbox app is a welcome feature, along with a button that takes you to your library of games from the Xbox, as well as the other storefronts featured on the device.
We are intrigued to see what Xbox has in store for 2026.
We Lost Two Giants In The Industry
In even more sad news, the gaming industry lost two giants.
The gaming world was shocked to learn about the tragic passing of the co-creator of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, and the current head of the Battlefield, Vince Zampella.
Zampella and an unknown passenger perished in a car accident after losing control of his Ferrari when coming out of a tunnel on California’s Angeles Crest Highway. Zampella died on the scene, while the passenger passed away at the hospital.
The news of his passing sent shockwaves through the gaming world, as everyone, from the companies he worked for to the people he worked with, fondly remembered their interactions with Zampella over the years.
We’re gonna miss you, Vince. Your legacy will live on forever through your contributions to the gaming industry.
The same can also be said about the legendary Tomonobu Itagaki, who passed away in October. Itagaki was best known for bringing us the Dead or Alive fighting game franchise and for reviving the Ninja Gaiden series, which, ironically, saw two new entries this year with Ninja Gaiden 4 and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound.
Everyone from Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon to Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada paid their respects to Itagaki.
RIP to both of them.
Generative AI Is The Growing Steriods Issue For The Video Game Industry
Artificial intelligence or AI, as it’s commonly referred to, is here, and it’s not going anywhere. The video game community resoundingly denounced studios’ use of generative AI to make their favorite titles. Still, it’s starting to seem like video game studios aren’t on the same wavelength regarding the technology.
As video games become bigger and push the boundaries of the consoles they live on, they are also becoming more expensive and taking longer to make, which understandably is something gamers hate to hear. Just look at how long it takes to make a Grand Theft Auto game.
Some studios have begun using generative tools to streamline workflows and, in the process, cut the development time of their titles by handling more tedious work.
While on paper, that sounds like a good use of generative AI, some people are balking because they feel it’s taking away jobs from talented game developers and other artists in the industry.
Now, if you’re a studio that happens to get caught using it, you will get called out and, in some cases, stripped of accolades, reminiscent of athletes who get caught using steroids or other performance enhancement drugs.
A Bad Precedent?
One studio that f**** around and found out was indie Sandfall Interactive, developers of what is easily called the best game of the year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The Indie Game Awards (IGA) gave Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Debut Game and Game of the Year awards on Dec. 18, only to announce two days later that it would be stripping the title of those accolades.
In an announcement on BlueSky, The Indie Game Awards elaborated further on its decision, citing its rules stating that games “developed using generative AI are strictly ineligible for nomination.”
While they have the right to their decision to take back the awards, this is a slippery slope because Sandafall Interactive is not the only studio using generative AI; other legends in the game like Hideo Kojima are seemingly embracing it by stating that it’s here to stay and that “we can’t go back.”
We definitely agree and are intrigued to see how this will play out in 2026.
HHW Gaming’s Game of The Year: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
2025 turned out to be the year of the ninja, and we have no complaints regarding that. We picked up the sticks and handheld gaming devices for a bevy of titles featuring ancient Japanese warriors, all of them good. Still, one game stood out from the pack, and it’s none other than Lizardcube’s take on Sega’s iconic video game franchise Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, which has earned our annual game of the year honor.
In our initial review of the game, we wrote:
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is an exceptional six-hour experience from Lizardcube that is an absolute joy to sit down and get lost in. For fans of Shinobi, this is the game that you have been longing for, and for those who have never played a Shinobi game before, it will be the definitive experience for them. It’s gorgeous, and we don’t use the word lightly. Joe Musashi has never looked this good since 1993’s Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master on the Sega Genesis console. The gameplay has no flaws, the action is incredibly satisfying, the controls are seamless, and the story rocks. You would be hard-pressed to find another $29.99 game so well-developed outside of The Game Kitchen’s Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. Lizardcube snapped, understood the assignment, and has a STRONG contender for Game of the Year with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.
That continues to be the case; we felt strongly about this game since the moment we previewed it, and it didn’t let us down once we got our hands on the final product.
Lizardcube put out a game with few if any flaws, and that can be enjoyed by players multiple times, and the best part, it only costs $29.99.
Congrats to Lizardcube and Sega.
There were other games we enjoyed this year as well, or as you would call them, honorable mentions.
You can see them below.