Cell Professionals’ New Yr’s resolutions for 2026: Fewer bubbles, prevent doomsaying, and sustainable expansion

Because the 12 months involves a detailed, we have been looking again on the best video games and tendencies of the 12 months, reflecting on a 12 months of alternate within the trade.

As a part of our 2025 retrospective, we requested our Cell Professionals – a selection of video games trade mavens – a couple of questions concerning the 12 months long past by means of.

Right here we ask:

What is your New Yr’s solution and what solution would you put in force at the trade?

You’ll learn section one right here.

Know about the most recent trade tendencies and what is in retailer for the 12 months forward within the video games trade at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January nineteenth and twentieth. No longer on the town? Take a look at our different world occasions right here.

My private New Yr’s solution is that by means of 2026 I wish to have invested in an AI + video games corporate that may realistically succeed in a $1 billion valuation pushed by means of earnings, now not by means of hype.

Folks stay announcing the video games trade is the “checking out flooring” for AI, and we’re surely seeing that during our deal go with the flow. We’ve checked out a large number of AI tasks sitting on the intersections of video games, gear, UGC, and new content material codecs.

I’m intentionally preserving an open thoughts, listening in moderation, seeking to perceive those new trade fashions, and fascinated about the place AI can create actual, defensible price.

If I may just set one solution for the trade, it could be: by means of 2026, let’s have fewer bubbles and extra remarkable, successful AI-in-games case research.

As huge fashions proceed to iterate, I am hoping the trade shifts from chasing buzzwords to construction concrete merchandise and firms that may scale sustainably and end up that AI in video games isn’t just a story, however a trade.

Gil Tov-Ly

Leader Advertising Officer

at Appcharge

My solution is to shuttle much less for paintings and spend extra time with my spouse and youngsters. Optimistically this might be imaginable as we keep growing the staff and proportion the weight.

The trade solution I might put in force is to forestall doomsaying and performing like we’re in an enduring apocalypse. The marketplace is rising once more (good day D2C!), new fashions are operating, and gamers nonetheless love this medium.

Diana Korkina

Leader Industry Building Officer

at Most sensible App Video games

I’d love to look the video games trade put gamers first and be extra clear, particularly round monetisation and consumer acquisition. To my thoughts, if we center of attention on taking note of gamers and construction for long-term engagement, everybody wins – builders, publishers, and the gamers themselves.

Dmitry Kachmar

Founder

at Playgama

Check out new issues. And sure – occasionally “new” is solely the well-forgotten outdated (hi, HTML5).

Significantly: in case you’re in cellular video games and nonetheless underestimating cross-platform gaming, 2026 is the 12 months to catch up. There’s a large number of expansion sitting there in undeniable sight. And in addition don’t get comfy. Momentum is a entice in case you prevent pushing. That’s the only I’m taking individually, too.

Günay Azer

Co-founder

at Gamelight

In my opinion, my solution is to stick extra thinking about long-term pondering as a substitute of non permanent wins: fewer distractions, clearer priorities.

For the trade, I’d push for sustainable expansion: prioritising participant enjoy, blank monetisation and successful consumer acquisition that in truth rewards high quality over amount.

Christian Lövstedt

Basic Supervisor

at Midjiwan

2026 is the tenth anniversary of The Struggle of Polytopia, and we’re recently fascinated about how we have a good time that. So my New Yr’s solution for the sport is to make this birthday celebration, no matter we come to a decision to do, the most efficient it may be for our neighborhood.

As for the video games trade itself, I am hoping to look evaluations on cellular video games open up and alter for the easier. If it does, that are meant to expectantly permit for extra creatively motivated, smaller groups to search out good fortune.

Mainstream cellular gaming has develop into very caught in its tactics. The similar titles that experience ruled the charts for the previous five-to-10 years. Are living ops will unquestionably proceed to border how maximum cellular video games are designed and delivered.

With expansion around the cellular sector, there’s now greater area for sustainable niches that are meant to be capable to ship fascinating video games whilst rejecting competitive, intrusive monetisation strategies. That’s actually thrilling and I am hoping they in finding good fortune.

Kelly Vero

CEO and CTO

at NAK3D

Mine: Extra, extra, extra! How do you find it irresistible?

For the trade: Forestall worshipping your senior management groups (and their dreadful control specialists) and make investments to your communities as a substitute. They’re those preserving you alive. Senior control might be high-quality: they all the time are.

Vladimir Markov

CEO

at Most sensible App Video games

My New Yr’s solution is to stay making amusing, addictive video games, and, after all, proceed growing Ludus. I would like gamers to enjoy that “only one extra spherical” second with out feeling pressured.

For the trade, my solution is inconspicuous: prevent chasing income first and get started that specialize in the moments that really make gamers satisfied. When the enjoy is true, good fortune naturally comes.