In the new year, we continue to sum up the results of 2025 with gaming (or gaming industry-related) teams and experts. Up next is a column by Pavel Raikkonen, the CEO and founder of WN Media Group, reflecting on the outcomes.
The year 2025 was a period of prolonged and often painful transformation for the gaming industry. While by the end of 2024 it seemed like the market had hit its lowest point of correction, the past year demonstrated that the processes were far from complete. Moreover, pressure only increased in the second half of the year.
Key Market Trends
Correction as the New Norm
Market turbulence has ceased to be a short-term factor and is increasingly perceived as a baseline state. Companies are reconsidering their strategies, eschewing excessive risks, cutting down on ineffective areas, and seeking more sustainable development models.
Automation and AI—A Response to Market Contraction
In 2025, the active integration of AI and automation ceased to be experimental or mere hype. It became a pragmatic response to budget, deadline, and competition pressures. Those who leverage technology for efficiency and faster decision-making rather than for hype are coming out ahead.
The Rise of Micro-Teams and Solo Developers
We are witnessing a steady shift towards small teams and individual developers. Modern tools enable the creation of high-level products without cumbersome structures. The focus is on ideas, vision, and the ability to quickly bring products to fruition, not scale.
Our Achievements and Focus in 2025
Emphasizing Resilience in Development Logic
Throughout the year, we purposefully strengthened the business foundation: optimized operational processes, increased project economic transparency, and focused on areas demonstrating resilience and potential for further growth. For us, resilience is not about standing still but rather about efficiently moving forward.
WN Talents—A Leader in Complex Recruiting for the Gaming Industry
Amidst turbulence in the staffing sector, WN Talents delivered strong results. Today, we confidently lead in filling vacancies within the gaming industry, particularly in complex and atypical segments. Our experience, expertise, and well-established processes allow us to find the right specialists where standard approaches fail.
On one hand, there are many specialists; on the other, there is a growing deficit of truly strong and versatile professionals. Companies increasingly seek not just executors but individuals with comprehensive experience and mature thinking. In such conditions, quality recruiting becomes a growth point in itself.
We often receive requests from companies that delegate hiring of mid-level and above specialists to us: they don't have HR/Recruiter in their staff, as they strive to keep a small team and find that position redundant.
We also actively worked on staffing with companies in the iGaming sector, where recruitment is always a pressing issue. Interestingly, some top specialists are migrating from game development to iGaming in search of new experiences and opportunities. Here, we act as a bridge between the various segments of the gaming industry.
In 2025, our recruiters reviewed over 6,000 candidates. In 80% of cases, we handle complex searches: non-standard stack and experience requirements, budget constraints with high expectations, specific locations, or scenarios where the company couldn't find a suitable candidate on its own.
We work with both large studios on executive-level positions and indie teams, for whom it's critical to find that senior developer within a startup budget. The key is not the company's size but the complexity of the task.
WN Media—Expanding Media Formats and Engaging Audiences
In 2025, we launched the App2Top Premium subscription in response to audience demand for deeper, analytical, and professional content. This format seamlessly complemented the existing ecosystem and proved its viability.
A significant step was launching the "Gaming Industry" almanac. The first issue showed that the market is ready for more thoughtful, structured, and enduring media products. We plan to continue developing this format across different regions and markets.
WN Events—Consolidating What Works and Seeking New Growth Opportunities
Over the year, we held more than 20 events in various parts of the world—Europe, the Middle East, Turkey, China, and the CIS.
Such results are generally typical for us; we worked more on content. We experimented with new formats.
We focused on increasing the effectiveness of participation. This is a comprehensive approach. The online platform (based on wnhub.io) allows for scheduling important meetings before the event. New participation and discussion formats engage far more participants than traditional on-stage presentations. We help large partners set up targeted meetings or find a beneficial audience for their business. In summarizing, we can't list everything we do; the main thing is the active work on delivering value to participants.
We have several locations where our events are already considered "native." We will continue to maintain and expand our presence there. And as always, we will also try something new.
We also organized partner events in different parts of the world. These involve a partner joining us to host an event targeted at a specific audience in a designated location. Often, the partner's main business is far from organizing events and gathering participants. We handle this component ourselves. It works well.
WN Academy
This year, we tried various formats. Although the educational direction doesn't show significant growth or financial results yet, this area is crucial for maintaining the development trajectory of both individual specialists and companies overall. We will continue to seek growth points and offer business-demanded products.
What Was Most Challenging This Year
For me personally, despite having veteran experience in the industry for over 20 years now, it was not easy to make a number of difficult managerial decisions: canceling interesting development directions and maximizing focus on the most important areas, optimizing staff. Nevertheless, these changes made the company more resilient and—crucially over the long haul—strengthened the team.
Looking Ahead
We are entering the next year by preserving the footholds that have already proven effective while also allowing room for maneuver. Plans will be actively adjusted depending on emerging opportunities and market changes. In the current reality, flexibility, speed, and the ability to assess the situation objectively are more important than strictly fixed scenarios.
2025 was not easy. However, such periods lay the foundation for the next stage of growth—more resilient and mature.