2025's Most Popular Games Raise Concerns for Sony, Microsoft (MSFT) & Nintendo (NTDOF)

Circana's Player Engagement Tracker has revealed data for 2025 and the gaming industry has a major problem. Stagnation is a problem for gaming companies, and that's incredibly prevalent in the list of top games from last year. Let's dig into that below.Claim 70% Off TipRanks PremiumUnlock hedge fund-level data and powerful investing tools for smarter, sharper decisions Stay ahead of the market with the latest news and analysis and maximize your portfolio's potential Fortnite — Epic Games Call of Duty — Microsoft (MSFT) Grand Theft Auto — Take-Two (TTWO) Roblox — Roblox (RBLX) Minecraft — Microsoft What's interesting is that these same five games/series were also the top five of 2024. This could be a concern for game developers, as it suggests that stagnation kept new games from gaining in popularity in 2025. That's despite the introduction of multiple new games that sold well last year. Part of the problem has to do with live service games, which all of these games on the list are. They offer continuous content updates for players, keeping the game fresh over long periods of time. However, that can only last so long, and the big three, Sony (SONY), Nintendo (NTDOF), and Microsoft, need to do more to keep players interested. Without game innovation, the industry could stagnate, or even worse, lose the interest of consumers. The AI Problem Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a sore spot for the gaming industry, as many are against its use. That includes creators and gamers. This resulted in controversy when The Game Awards' 2025 winner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was revealed to have used AI. It's not just moral issues that have made AI a problem for gaming. There's also concern that the demand for AI data centers will have a negative impact on the sector. This has led to speculation that Sony and Microsoft might delay next-generation video game consoles due to the ongoing RAMpocalypse. Console gamers aren't the only ones who might suffer due to AI. The demand for GPUs in AI data centers has also made it difficult for PC gamers to obtain new graphics cards. There have even been reports that Nvidia (NVDA) plans to revive its older RTX 3060 GPU to help meet consumer demand. Which Video Game Stock Do Analysts Prefer? Turning to the TipRanks' stock comparison tool, traders can see which video game stock analysts favor. Microsoft and Take-Two have the best analysts' consensus ratings at Strong Buy, compared to Moderate Buy ratings for Nintendo, Sony, and Roblox. However, RBLX has the highest upside potential at 75.87%, followed by NTDOF at 37.82%, SONY at 34.87%, MSFT at 29.6%, and TTWO at 12.84%.