© 2025 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The video game industry at a crossroads

Screenshot of gameplay in "Beatdown City Survivors"
NuChallenger
Screenshot of gameplay in "Beatdown City Survivors"

The video game industry is huge. Last year alone it generated an estimated $187 billion dollars in revenue.

But it's also facing a host of serious issues: massive layoffs, the advent of A.I., games that take years to be released, and a schism between big and small developers.

This week's Reporter's Notebook takes us inside this evolving industry with NPR's Vincent Acovino, who recently covered the annual Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.