News Roundup - May 2025

The gaming media landscape saw significant tremors this month, underscoring a trend toward new ownership models. After a contentious period, Giant Bomb has returned to its independent roots, now owned and operated by its own creative staff—a move celebrated by its community.

In a different but equally impactful shift, Vox Media sold Polygon to Valnet, a company known for its large portfolio of sites like Game Rant. From our perspective, these changes create both new opportunities and questions for marketers. An independent, creator-led Giant Bomb could offer highly authentic, community-driven partnership possibilities, while Polygon’s integration into Valnet’s network may provide broader, scaled advertising solutions.

It’s a key moment to re-evaluate where specific audiences are and how the editorial voices of these major outlets will evolve under new leadership.

Microsoft has confirmed a significant price increase across its Xbox hardware, accessories, and upcoming first-party games, citing market conditions and development costs. While console prices are rising globally, new marquee games are set to hit the $79.99 mark. This move follows similar industry trends and puts even more pressure on the consumer’s wallet.

For game marketers, this reinforces the need for campaigns that aggressively demonstrate value. With higher entry costs for both hardware and software, the justification for a purchase becomes paramount. We see this shift making subscription services like Game Pass an even more crucial part of the value proposition and a key talking point in marketing efforts moving forward.

Amazon is further expanding its Prime Video offering by introducing three innovative ad formats. The rollout includes AI-driven contextual “pause ads,” directly shoppable ads for products sold on Amazon, and interactive ads for off-platform brands. This is a deliberate and powerful move to make streaming TV a full-funnel marketing tool.

For our clients, this opens up more sophisticated ways to engage viewers, from building brand affinity with contextually relevant creative to driving direct conversions from the living room couch. Amazon is leveraging its massive trove of user data to make TV advertising more addressable and transactional than ever, presenting a compelling new set of tools for performance-focused campaigns.