DFC: Nintendo Switch 2 will be "the clear winner" of next-gen consoles

2025 is set to be a bumper year of growth for the games industry due to the long-awaited launches of Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6.

This is according to DFC Intelligence, which released its annual market report and forecast last week (via VGC).

The firm predicted that Nintendo would be "the clear winner" in comparison to Sony and Microsoft and that only one of those firms would be able to compete with the console.

"There isn't room for more than two major consoles," the report said. "Sony or Microsoft will struggle mightily in a distant third place – largely depending on which of those companies can gain early momentum."

It suggested that Sony has the upper hand due to a "loyal base and strong Sony IP". In contrast, Microsoft will become "the world's largest software publisher" following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023.

Elsewhere, DFC Intelligence predicted that the number of players worldwide will increase past four billion by 2027.

"Over the past three decades, the video game industry has grown more than 20 times, and after two years of slumping hardware and software sales, it's poised to resume growing at a healthy rate through the end of the decade," said DFC Intelligence founder and CEO David Cole.

"While 2025 will mark the beginning of that upward trajectory, some huge questions remain, including who will lose the next-gen console war and who will win the game software distribution battle.

"And with the large publishers focused on live services around evergreen franchises, opportunities for smaller studios will be plentiful."