Leveraging Black Hole Games
Matthew Ball’s amazing report, The State of Video Gaming in 2025, highlights the critical impact of “Black Hole Games” — massive franchise titles like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox that dominate player engagement, time, and spending. These games are juggernauts, absorbing attention and resources, and making it increasingly difficult for new titles to break through.
Key Insights from Ball’s Report
- Unmatched Player Engagement:
- Black Hole Games account for 40% of playtime on PC and 43% on consoles like PlayStation and Xbox.
- Despite billions spent on development and marketing, new games in 2023 captured only 6.5% of total playtime.
- Economic Disruption:
- Entrenched franchises monopolize spending, leaving little room for new games.
- On Steam, 80% of new releases in 2024 generated less than $5,000 each, underscoring the uphill battle for discoverability and success.
- Network Effects:
- These games thrive on Metcalfe’s and Reed’s Laws, where massive player bases drive exponential engagement and loyalty, creating ecosystems that are nearly impossible to disrupt.
- These games thrive on Metcalfe’s and Reed’s Laws, where massive player bases drive exponential engagement and loyalty, creating ecosystems that are nearly impossible to disrupt.
IF YOU CANT’T BEAT ‘EM JOIN ‘EM
Instead of viewing Black Hole Games as competitors, what if game companies embraced them as platforms for IP distribution. Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite Creative offer unprecedented opportunities to reach massive audiences at low cost.
Why?
Low Development Costs: Mini-games or experiences for these platforms are faster and cheaper to produce than full titles. You can make some pretty impressive games in Fortnite in three weeks or less. That is less time than most ad agencies take to make your launch trailer!
Massive Reach: Roblox boasts 350–400 million monthly active users, rivaling the entire AAA ecosystem and generating huge engagement.
Brand Awareness: Games or experiences tied to your IP on these platforms can spark interest and cross-pollinate audiences across other media.
As Matthew Ball’s report emphasizes, Black Hole Games are monster hogs of player time spent. But they don’t have to be seen as obstacles. By leveraging these platforms as distribution channels, game companies can generate awareness, engage new audiences, and turn industry challenges into opportunities for growth. Sure this doesn’t work for every game but for a lot it can be a great strategy.