Is Western Science Fiction dying?

[JulesVerneATV]

Which Rama would be best ?

Dennis Villeneuve Rama ?
Christopher Nolan Rama ?
Alfonso Cuaron Rama ?

I ask because I loved Gravity, Interstellar and Arrival all the same.

Rumors say Denis Villeneuve is doing it

If I give you a list of Top 30 fast food chains, this won't necessarily tell you how healthy their menu offering is, or even what state of health of their franchise is in.

Here's a thing though while the population is increasing in parts of the world, in parts of the world where it is increasing people are buying less books, reading less. So what are they doing, watching social media?  drinking beer, smoking something?
maybe they are painting, they are kicking a ball, writing poetry, learning the Cello or Viola...maybe knitting pairs of gloves, doing the garden, fishing...
or playing video games?


Audio books are increasing
..however human readers and voice actors will probably be replaced by AI soon

Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment in digital publishing
https://goodereader.com/blog/audiobooks/audiobooks-are-the-fastest-growing-segment-in-digital-publishing

this time SKorean outsells Japanese toons
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/59106/full-year-2024-circana-bookscan-top-20-author-superhero-graphic-novels

Marvel / DC is losing out to Japan Manga and Anime


info from the gaming market

Best Selling Video Games: France 2024
https://data40.com/articles/best-selling-video-games-france/

Paper Mario and Ghost of Tsushima were May’s best-selling games in Canada
https://mobilesyrup.com/2024/07/11/best-selling-games-canada-may-2024-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-ghost-of-tsushima/
Nintendos classic GameCube RPG is still going strong, even 20 years later

British gaming market, best-selling video games of 2024
https://metro.co.uk/2024/12/20/full-list-2024s-best-selling-games-brutally-depressing-reading-22229951/
    EA Sports FC 25
    Hogwarts Legacy
    Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
    EA Sports FC 24
    Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
    Super Mario Bros. Wonder
    Minecraft
    Nintendo Switch Sports
    The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
    Super Mario Party Jamboree




The comicbook cashcow seems dead now, is that a good thing? and what will they replace it with ? replacing it with movies of 'Toys' like Barbie or Hot Wheels or GI-Joe or Pokemon or Beanie Babies or HeMan, a movie about a Rubik’s Cube? ...Toys it seems very 'silly' would they make movies on next Stretch Armstrong? yeah they have Fantastic Four again, Russian Matryoshka dolls? maybe Fidget Spinners?...but then again people liked 'Toy Story' and Transformers did sell well but Transformers films are not seen as 'High Art' people kind of see the Michael Bay style as mindless explosive trash entertainment.
or maybe replace the old dying comicbook genre with Video Games like Minecraft a Warner Bros product but that's not a true Hollywood product it also owned by a Swedish guy and Swedish video game developer, Sonic and Mario and many other video game products seem to be global owned or Japanese owned


Here are some of the Top10 Box office from other years


2023
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2023

1      Barbie    
2    The Super Mario Bros. Movie    
3    Oppenheimer    
4    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3    
5    Fast X    
6    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse    
7    Wonka    
8    Full River Red (满江红)    
9    The Little Mermaid    
10    Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One

2022
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2022

1    Avatar: The Way of Water    
2    Top Gun: Maverick    
3    Jurassic World: Dominion    
4    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness    
5    Minions: The Rise of Gru
6    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever    
7    The Batman    
8    Thor: Love and Thunder    
9    Water Gate Bridge  (长津湖之水门桥)
10    Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

2016
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2016

1      Captain America: Civil War    
2    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story    
3    Zootopia    
4    Finding Dory    
5    The Jungle Book    
6    The Secret Life of Pets    
7    Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice    
8    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them    
9    Deadpool    
10    Suicide Squad

2008
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2008

1    The Dark Knight    
2    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull    
3    Kung Fu Panda    
4    Hancock    
5    Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa    
6    Quantum of Solace    
7    Iron Man    
8    Mamma Mia!    
9    WALL-E    
10    The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2007
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2007

1    Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End    
2    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix    
3    Spider-Man 3    
4    Shrek the Third    
5    Transformers    
6    Ratatouille    
7    I am Legend    
8    The Simpsons Movie    
9    National Treasure: Book of Secrets    
10    300

1998
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1998

1    Armageddon    
2    Saving Private Ryan    
3    Godzilla    $376,000,000    
4    There's Something About Mary
5    A Bug’s Life    
6    Deep Impact    
7    Mulan    
8    Doctor Dolittle    
9    Lethal Weapon 4    
10    Shakespeare in Love

1997
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1997

1    Titanic    
2    The Lost World: Jurassic Park
3    Men in Black    
4    Tomorrow Never Dies    
5    Air Force One    
6    As Good as it Gets    
7    Liar Liar    
8    My Best Friend's Wedding    
9    The Fifth Element    
10    The Full Monty

1996
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1996

1    Independence Day    
2    Twister    
3    Mission: Impossible    
4    The Rock    
5    The Hunchback of Notre Dame    
6    Ransom    
7    The Nutty Professor    
8    Jerry Maguire    
9    Space Jam    
10    Eraser

1993
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1993

1    Jurassic Park    
2    Mrs. Doubtfire    
3    The Fugitive    
4    Schindler’s List    
5    The Firm    
6    Indecent Proposal    
7    Cliffhanger    
8    Sleepless in Seattle    
9    Philadelphia    
10    The Pelican Brief

1991
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1991

1    Terminator 2: Judgment Day    
2    Beauty and the Beast    
3    Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves    
4    Hook    
5    The Silence of the Lambs    
6    JFK    
7    The Addams Family    
8    Cape Fear    
9    Hot Shots!    
10    Sleeping with the Enemy

1983
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1983

1    Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi    
2    Flashdance    
3    Octopussy    
4    Never Say Never Again    
5    Staying Alive    
6    Terms of Endearment    
7    Trading Places    
8    Jaws 3-D    
9    Superman III    
10    WarGames

1982
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1982

1    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial    
2    Rocky III    
3    Tootsie    
4    An Officer and a Gentleman    
5    Gandhi    
6    First Blood    
7    Poltergeist    
8    Porky's    $
9    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan    
10    Das Boot

1977
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-1977

1    Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope    
2    Close Encounters of the Third Kind    
3    Saturday Night Fever    
4    The Spy Who Loved Me    
5    Smokey and the Bandit    
6    The Goodbye Girl    
7    In Search of Noah\'s Ark    
8    Oh, God!    
9    A Bridge Too Far    
10    The Deep

scifi and real life LA burnings



Katee Sackhoff radio internet show, Brent Spiner lost his home in the L.A. fires.


the Fires burned from the 7th day of January to the 30th day of January 2025

the Jan 2025 destructive wildfires damaged a lot of California and affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area where a lot of classic films and scifi tv shows have been made, the fires seem to get worse every few years but this fire was particularly bad, causes of the fire are still Under Investigation, .

[Joris]

what will they replace it with

I feel a bit lost in the point you're trying to make w.r.t. western science fiction dying. People still make scifi movies and tv shows, probably even more than before becuase there's a lot more industries making them and the market is bigger. There's several hit TV-shows about scifi video games right now, the new season of Foundation is airing in less than 2 weeks. Several of the biggest hits of recent times were scifi's, like Severance or TLOU. A ton of succesfull videogames are scifi and it's easy to miss them by only looking at the best selling games of each year and seeing sportsball '25. People liking sports does not mean scifi is dying either.

not seen as 'High Art' people kind of see the Michael Bay style as mindless explosive trash entertainment.

There are only two types of movies that typically get critical acclaim. They have to be about people dying tragically, or they have to be about writers, actors, directors, or something else that is related to the movie-industry. It's because people like what they know, and the panels that vote on the oscars are composed exclusively of those professions. This does not actually impact what gets made, or how well it does in the box-office, nor does it mean hollywood is the only entertainment that matters.

Here are some of the Top10 Box office from other years

There's a lot of nitpicking by going with specific years and not actually doing any analysis on whether there are scifi movies at the top, nor whether they are actually scifi. You seem happy that superhero movies are dying out, but the average superhero movie of recent times had more scifi elements and less magic than the starwars movies.

[Cheapchips]

Which Rama would be best ?

Dennis Villeneuve Rama ?
Christopher Nolan Rama ?
Alfonso Cuaron Rama ?

I ask because I loved Gravity, Interstellar and Arrival all the same.

Rama was on Fincher's slate at one point. I think that would have been interesting.

[JayWee]

I think a more accurate observation w.r.t. scifi shows is that they stopped being nonepisodic, in my opinion this makes them better TV-shows, although it does make them different and people don't always like fundamental change to something they liked before. In the past you were usually relegated to watching what was on TV, which means tv-shows couldn't rely on their viewers having seen everything that came before. This meant that stories couldn't really progress as much and it gave them a sitcom-feel to it, where nothing they did mattered and they always ended up with the same main characters in the same situation.

Yeah, that's the case with all TV fiction series, and not just sci-fi. The episodic way allow  the episodes to be kept more compartmentalized, as compared to a continuity.

There was an important aspect of episodic 24-per-season TV:  training grounds of new writers.
New authors could pitch a story for an episode, work with seasoned producers/writers to polish it and if the audience liked it, they could come back for another and eventually the studio would listen to their pitch for their own show (they had the CV).

Much harder (for both authors and studios) to do in the current serialized streaming era.

[JulesVerneATV]

There's a lot of nitpicking by going with specific years and not actually doing any analysis on whether there are scifi movies at the top, nor whether they are actually scifi. You seem happy that superhero movies are dying out, but the average superhero movie of recent times had more scifi elements and less magic than the starwars movies.

I should clear a few things up, everyone is free to have their own choice. The motion picture and your freedom to enjoy or dislike is part of what makes movies interesting.

I personally feel Movies have changed a lot, the movie experience is now an international one the products are in demand fast. Maybe it was easier to make money less competition and in the past if a movie did ok it could pick things up in DVD sales, before DVD it was making money by VHS.
That DVD market is gone, DVD sales are not the same and while 'streaming' has generated income for studios it also comes with its own curse. The mood has changed, people like gaming more, the mood of movie they have got more dark, more short slastick vids on feeds on the groups of facebooks or tiktok feeds, there is the 'Cyberpunk' genre or dystopia even the Grimdark trenches of 'Warhammer' scifi the video games and toons of scifi wars has become more popular genre again where as in the past scifi was often uptopian, bright and 'optimistic'. The new Fantastic Four seems to go back to some of those bright optimism colors of the 60s and its marketing is selling it as a family movie. I can not say if the new Fantastic Four will work and it might not have much 'science' in it, the genre is comic book so don't expect hard-scifi physics. I don't really care how Hollywood award ceremony ranks a film, sometimes 'Oscars' etc are an indication of a good movies sometimes they are not. At the Oscars they regard Nolan's Batman as a product that should be recognized as high art, I agree there is something special about the films, I also liked Captain America Winter Solider, Logan was a very good movie and I enjoyed the first Guardians of the Galaxy a lot.  I do agree the comicbook genre is 'over-done'. The new Superman is doing ok I don't regard these films as scifi at all, its a cartoon fantasy about a superhero from another planet that can fly with no propulsion at least Batman swings by a wire or the Tony Stark Ironman suit has some form of 'thrusters'.  There are movies that Hollywood has given 'Oscars' to that I do not like, maybe I find them pretentious or self-indulgent or just wont like an Award winning movie for whatever reason. It is fine to dislike something or like something, everyone is allowed have your own taste.

People like to be 'entertained' at the movies, its escapism where they can turn their brains off and enjoy the spectacle like The Avengers, LOTR, Pirates of the Caribbean, people can enjoy whatever film they wish. Hard scifi or hard-ish can be a difficult sell, you do have scifi like Revelation Space, the Artifical Gravity in Babylon-5, 2001 Space Odyssey, The Three-Body Problem, Blade Runner...just because the science is more real doesn't mean people will be more entertained.


Budgets are 'nuts', they need to get under control again and there are lots and lots of great movies made for less than 20 Million Dollars. The new Snow White had a Budget 270 million it is outrageous, people often say you need to double those costs with distribution and advertising to get the true number. An outrageous budget can doom a movie from day one, they need to keep budgets under control. In the past a Hollywood film with a low budget could depend on the domestic market alone in the USA to be successful and all extra sales of T-shirts or comicbooks or DVDs and baseball caps was just extra profit. These days the movies depend great on international takings, they can not succeed without overseas numbers. Added on top of all this is a difficult political climate leftism vs rightism, right media vs left media and anything too politically controversial can turn people away from the seats. People say its spreading everywhere, you can watch a BBC item and they try to put as many diversity boxes into an old film, its no longer an English man or English woman or Welsh or Scottish, its a Lesbian Buddhist Hindu Black Yellow White Brown Gay Disabled Transgender to tick as many 'boxes' as possible. People will think this is fine if they know the original and William Shakespeare’s Othello for example which already features a Moorish North African Black...but if they made Batman who the audience expects to be a certain person, Batman Bruce Wayne an old money family using gizmos to fight crime vigilante style, an old money elite family and change 'Batman' into someone else for the sake of 'diverse' it can be very jarring and alienate the audience. Some people don't care so much for casting quota and just tell their story, Black, White, Yellow, Brown a story is just a story. Some don't care to cast for the sake of casting 'Sinners' for example is said to be a post-CivilWar movie with mostly Black African Americans and some White characters with Vampires but they say its casting didnt feel 'forced' it was its own movie and people seemed to enjoy it. The Max Max remake took a risk 'Furiosa A Mad Max Saga' for whatever reason some of the audience said they felt they were going to be lectured with 'Feminist Propaganda' so some people avoided the film entirely. Reviews said it was an ok movie even good but the gossip of it being bad and the negative rumors already went around, people who watched it enjoyed it but in this political climate it was a box-office bomb.

Cinema and tv arrives from all over the world very fast, again its hard to define what 's 'Western' when the production teams are so international. I'm not sure any Trump sanctions or tariff to save Hollywood can win here. People also complain that trying to have the big guys in Hollywood will damage small indie US film makers in their own states doing their own independent movie ideas. Competition from Germany, China, Japan, Spain etc was always there, overseas comics, books or animated toons, video games. Now its huge, South Korea outsells on Netflix and  China's 'Ne Zha 2' movie has almost made Double what the next highest grossing movie has made, Disneys 'Lilo & Stitch'  South Korea and Spain are selling high on streaming sites,  One Piece a Live Action show based on a Japan toon about Pirates was the most-watched Netflix show,  and nations China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have movies in the Top60 world wide. Yes countries did have their own strong domestic markets, France, India but you would almost never see a foreign movie take on 'Hollywood' in the Top10 before, they certain never would arrive in the USA and beat them in their own backyard.

Much harder (for both authors and studios) to do in the current serialized streaming era.

I enjoyed Love Death Robots, it was episodic no long story arc. I was enjoying the episodes and thought it was very good until suddenly the writing changed or something about it changed and suddenly it wasnt very good.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9561862/

[sanman]

Star Trek Discovery gets a spiritual successor:

[Blackstar]

This thread has been all over the place.

[JulesVerneATV]

JUNE 2025 CIRCANA BOOKSCAN - TOP 20 ADULT GRAPHIC NOVELS
https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/60070/june-2025-circana-bookscan-top-20-adult-graphic-novels
Manga Shows Staying Power

Viz Media in California while it is selling it seems to be doing reprints of Japanese comics,  Dark Horse is a 'United States' publisher but almost all of the publishing again is Asia intellectual property. Some publishers reprint other peoples art and books, even if it is 'DARK HORSE COMICS' a US compnay the martial seems to or Asian or Japanese. You don't see much British or Spainsh or French comicbooks on these lists anymore, the first truly Western comicbook seems to be 'SPENT: A COMIC NOVEL' Mariner Books owned by HarperCollins  quote 'Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, “Spent,” is a domestic comedy about ethical consumption under capitalism' then you have TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES by IDW, almost all of the comics sold seem to be Japanese Manga or some China Manhua Animation inspired comic or something based on South Korean webtoons or Japan 'Anime'

Television studios seem kind of frantic and thristy for any material or medium to repackage and resell, the tv and movies, they seem desperate for material now, a video game 'Wolfenstein' what seems to be like a Doom Shoot 'Em Up, a Mix of Fallout video game and 'The Man in the High Castle' an alt timeline history novel by Philip K. Dick so Wolfenstien will have these cyborg zombie robot versions of 'Hitler' going around.

Amazon Studios Developing TV Series Adaptation Of The Wolfenstein Franchise
https://boundingintocomics.com/tv-shows/tv-show-news/amazon-studios-developing-tv-series-adaptation-of-the-wolfenstein-franchise/

I also realize this type of 'Is Scifi Dying' question probably gets asked every 5 years - 8 years, another 'Is scifi dying' blog.

Others say it peaked, there was somewhat of an artificial 'science fiction economic bubble' these past years now its just 'cooling off', people's tastes in books and cartoons have changed. There is also the Comicbook Genre, the Video Game to Movie Genre, the Shoot Em' Up Action Genre, the Kungfu Samurai Medieval Period Martial Arts Genre, Adventure Genre, Comedy Spoofs, Drama Soap Genre, LOTR style Fantasy Genre, Horror Thrillers, Musical Dance Music Genre, Mystery Paranomal Whodunit Movie Genre, Romance Genre, Sports Racing Genre. As the entertainment industry goes scifi was just one of many 'genres' it might rise and fall and return again like Comicbook movies or the Western.


However I think the question has been asked a lot more in recent years

'Science Fiction is Dying…Again'
https://amazingstories.com/2023/05/science-fiction-is-dying-again/

But in doing some research for this piece, I discovered that this is not the case at all.  In fact, what I have discovered (not uniquely) is that we’ve been predicting our own demise almost from the very beginning of science fiction’s coherence as a “thing”.

Is Sci-Fi Dying a Slow Death? Can our Beloved Genre be Saved?
https://medium.com/@geektogeek/is-science-fiction-dying-a-slow-death-the-end-of-innovation-as-we-know-it-5b295b593c34

The demise of Sci-Fi (behind a paywall for subscribers)
https://rollieatkinson.substack.com/p/the-demise-of-sci-fi
Are we all stuck in a time with no future?

The End of an Era: Why Hollywood as We Know It Is Over
https://www.mironline.ca/the-end-of-an-era-why-hollywood-as-we-know-it-is-over/

Ultimately, it has not been production costs, streaming services, or episodic series that have driven the final nail in Hollywood’s gold-plated coffin, but rather the institution itself.

[Coastal Ron]

As a fan of science fiction since the 1960's, it is my humble opinion that NO, Western science fiction is NOT dying, and has not really been in danger of dying at all.

If anything we have MORE fiction that is getting published because of the distribution system of the internet. Hugh Howey is a great example of this, where he published his first short story "Wool" thru Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing system. The short story "Wool" is part of the book series called "Silo", which as it turns out has just finished showing season 2 on Apple + (the final 2 seasons have been announced too).

For "TV" watching, there is FAR MORE science fiction being produced today than there was many decades ago, so I don't see any decline.

[sdsds]

https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+sf+fanzines

[JulesVerneATV]

Superman and Fantastic Four is doing ok but not great numbers in Asia or Europe. The comicbook genre might be coming back a little, however like I said before I don't really class them as 'scifi' but I guess Batman is more scifi attempting at gritty realism the vigilante rich guy in a Batsuit swinging on wires and using smoke bombs. Marvel I don't really consider scifi but Ironman is a lot more based on realism or science than magic powers or Fantasy. During Covid there was a drop in books sales but a market change a growth online movies, online social media pdf jpeg type comics download growth in e-book supply

Audiobooks Statistics
https://www.sci-tech-today.com/stats/audiobooks-statistics-updated/

2023 And 2024 Data Analysis

    2023: The global audiobook market was valued at USD 5.3 billion. North America maintained the largest market share at 45%, while Europe and Asia-Pacific saw notable growth.
    2024 Projections*: The market is expected to continue its upward trajectory. With advancements in technology and an increase in diverse content offerings, the market is projected to grow by 20%, reaching approximately USD 6.36 billion by the end of 2024.

Science Fiction Book Sales Statistics 2023
https://wordsrated.com/science-fiction-book-sales-statistics/

Along with fantasy, the science fiction genre ranks no.8 on Amazon’s most competitive categories list.

Audiobook Sales are Soaring in 2024 – Audiobook Statistics
https://goodereader.com/blog/audiobooks/audiobook-sales-are-soaring-in-2024-audiobook-statistics

Piracy is also a concern for the industry. 47% of those who listened to an audiobook last year say they got one for free through YouTube or another file-sharing website.

Movies can do well post Covid you had 'Barbie' and Oppenheimer and Minecraft the ridiculous looking movie based on a video game, made money in Europe and Asia but for some reason Superhero stuff isn't selling like it used to in Europe and Asia.

2023 article

Are we really experiencing ‘superhero fatigue’?
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/are-we-really-experiencing-superhero-fatigue/

So, with Marvel and DC pumping out repetitive movies which rely on the majesty of long-deceased characters and storylines, is the long-prophesied concept of ‘superhero fatigue’ now finally setting in?

Outside of the US/Canada market, a Japanese cartoon called 'Demon Slayer' is doing good and a Chinese Wartime Drama 'Dead to Rights'

‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ Shatters Record For Fastest Film To Hit ¥10 Billion In Japan
https://geekculture.co/demon-slayer-infinity-castle-shatters-record-for-fastest-film-to-hit-10-billion-yen-in-japan/

China Box Office: ‘Dead to Rights’ Opens on Top as Local Films Dominate, ‘Fantastic Four’ Debuts at No. 5
https://variety.com/2025/global/asia/china-box-office-dead-to-rights-fantastic-four-1236471634/

For "TV" watching, there is FAR MORE science fiction being produced today than there was many decades ago, so I don't see any decline.

I agree the market has changed and tv and streaming depending where you look the market is doing very good.

From over 10 years ago when Box Office was doing great

Steven Spielberg predicted an “implosion” in the film industry 10 years ago
https://www.nme.com/news/film/steven-spielberg-predicted-implosion-film-industry-10-years-ago-3468348

He said: “That’s the big danger, and there’s eventually going to be an implosion – or a big meltdown. There’s going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen megabudget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that’s going to change the paradigm.”

[Coastal Ron]

Superman and Fantastic Four is doing ok but not great numbers in Asia or Europe.

I would not consider Superman to be "science fiction", more fantasy, but there is plenty of gray areas in fiction, so whatever.

The comicbook genre might be coming back a little, however like I said before I don't really class them as 'scifi'...

What is your definition of "science fiction"? This one from Wikipedia is pretty good for me:

Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative, futuristic and scientific concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances.

In other words, there needs to be "science" for there to be "science fiction", since the fiction is imagining science and/or technology that does not yet exist. Maybe it could (that would be along the lines of "hard science"), or maybe it actually is outside the realm of possible (like just about every science fiction movie these days).

The best science fiction, in my opinion, uses the science and technology as a way to tell a story about what humans are experiencing. Exploring the "human condition" using different settings allows the consumer to see things they can experience today in a new light.

For "TV" watching, there is FAR MORE science fiction being produced today than there was many decades ago, so I don't see any decline.

I agree the market has changed and tv and streaming depending where you look the market is doing very good.

Not just online, but actual reading too. Do you read science fiction "books" of any sort? There is a HUGE variety to choose from, and I have a couple that I'm waiting on.

Science fiction is alive and well... 

[JulesVerneATV]

I think we have still yet to see the full effects from the Trump tariff and sanctions movie to save Hollywood. The film making system is complex with the whole international nature of movie and tv productions. I did see news on Singapore and crowdfunding. News on a tv movie maker not every well known but I think this trend will be one of many, people will also use AI for sound and visual production.

Despite cinemas closing, this Singaporean debut director is defying the odds with a new indie sci-fi comedy
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/cheng-chai-hong-we-can-save-world-movie-5224361


Movie studios are also getting very hungry to buy up whatever 'video game' scifi material is out there.


a controversial link

'10 Classic Sci-Fi TV Shows That Are Unwatchable Today'
https://www.cbr.com/classic-sci-fi-tv-shows-unwatchable-today-list/

a sub-genre is not dead? could they remake something like Outland a 1981 science fiction thriller film?

Taylor Sheridan Claimed This Genre Was Dead but Harrison Ford’s 44% RT Thriller Just Proved Him Wrong
https://collider.com/taylor-sheridan-sci-fi-western-comments-harrison-ford-cowboys-and-aliens-peacock-streaming-success-august-2025/


Not just online, but actual reading too. Do you read science fiction "books" of any sort? There is a HUGE variety to choose from, and I have a couple that I'm waiting on.

Science fiction is alive and well... 

I read some more recently but my scifi reading can be a little broken at times, I might also read escapism swords and 'magic' stuff or a history book or a language book or a fictional thriller

I do enjoy most scifi books lived by the mainstream audience, the general consensus of good writing...but there have been some I have not been able to 'get into' a few are known for writing science fiction space opera, I wont name names because I have a few books in a box or sitting on a shelf that I might try again but I found some books a bit 'tiresome' to read. Others that people were fans of I might not agree with I might have trouble with 'word painting' the scene looks too retro or gets a bit dated and less relevant, use of old music cassette tapes, the Soviet Union still around, people still using VHS it can make a work feel dated or less relevant. With writing and art it is fine to 'dislike' an artistic product everyone is free to have their own tastes. I have also made personal mistakes, the mistake of randomly buying for example the third book in a Trilogy while just looking around shopping and it can make enjoying a book a lot more difficult. I find myself more drawn to foreign works these days, translated of Spanish Latin American stories, the Chinese, Japanese "Science fiction" Books they just do it better these days but I feel they can't compete with Western 'Classics' for example, that age of optimism during Apollo etc

What is your definition of "science fiction"?
This one from Wikipedia is pretty good for me

Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative, futuristic and scientific concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances.

I mostly agree with this definition but I think scifi can change over time as 'science' debunks speculation, perviously imagined scenarios can be dismissed as mere fiction stories or dreamy or fantasy. Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally during that period of time in human history about alternative possible worlds or futures, Manbats on the Lunar surface and "Great Moon Hoax" or Tripod Giant Martian Alien Machines from 'Mars' were very relevant scifi for their time, maybe even Flash Gordon comic strips.

but we know today 'Flash Gordon' and Manbats on the Moon and Martian invasions like War of the Worlds are impossible events.

maybe this is why the genre is now divided into 'Soft scifi' for these comicbook like scenes and Hard-Scifi for the scifi more based on 'science'

War of the World s and Flash Gordon are still legitimate scifi even if the science is not there and the old products of the genre is more in the realm of 'fantasy'

[JulesVerneATV]

Comicbook sales, they used to have huge variety at one time but then two stuidos dominated, the 'Big Two' Marvel and DC

now that has changed

https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/60281/july-2025-circana-bookscan-top-20-adult-graphic-novels

almost everything is Japanese Manga or a Western comicbook studio doing a reprint of Japan cartoon

Superman arrived in 6th place but the rest is some Anime/Manga brand

Viz Media an American entertainment company could probably see the Marvel/DC crash coming and got ahead of the trends



some other online thoughts

The demise of Sci-Fi
https://rollieatkinson.substack.com/p/the-demise-of-sci-fi
unfortunately for paid subscribers

Are we all stuck in a time with no future?

What some review sites class as Good Adult Comics
...but people have not been buying them instead it was Marvel/DC dominating and then Manga/Anime brands beating Marvel/DC

Best Sci-Fi Comics Of All-Time (Ranked)
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/best-sci-fi-comics-of-all-time-ranked/


the end of Retro-Scifi the Steampunk Genre

The Sci-Fi Genre Being Abandoned By Movies And TV
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/steampunk-abandoned.html


Why Has Sci-Fi TV Stopped Imagining Our Future?
https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/why-has-sci-fi-tv-stopped-imagining-our-future/
Once, shows like Star Trek predicted new tech and a boldly going future; now, Severance, Silo and even Trek are looking to the past.

1    Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海)    Eastern Fantasy
2    A Minecraft Movie    Western Science fiction
3    Tang Tan 1900 (唐探1900)    Eastern detective
4    Captain America: Brave New World    Western Superhero Science fiction
5    Sinners    Eastern detective, drama
6    Thunderbolts*     Western Superhero, Science fiction
7    Disney’s Snow White    Eastern fantasy
8    Creation of the Gods II: Demonic Confrontation  Eastern Fantasy
9    Dog Man    Western Superhero
10    Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy    Western drama
11    Mickey 17    Eastern science fiction
12    Boonie Bears: Future Reborn (熊出没·重启未来)…        Eastern science fiction superhero
13    A Working Man Western action
14    The Amateur    Western thriller
15    Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants
16    The Accountant 2    Western thriller
17    The King of Kings    Western drama
18    The Monkey    Western horror
19    Den of Thieves 2: Pantera    Western thriller
20    One of Them Days    Western comedy
21    Operation Hadal (蛟龙行动)    Eastern thriller
22    Final Destination: Bloodlines    Eastern horror
23    Until Dawn    Western horror
24    Flight Risk    Eastern thriller
25    Black Bag    Eastern thriller
26    Volshebnik Izumrudnogo goroda  Eastern fantasy? 
27    Companion    Western science fiction
28    Wolf Man    Eastern horror
29    Novocaine    Eastern comedy
30    Heart Eyes Eastern horror comedy


So, from this, Western science fiction hardly seems dead.  Genre movies have, it seems, taken over the cultural landscape.

an update on this list

I think Fantastic Four is still scifi but Thunderbolts/Superman is not really scifi but more 'comicbook' genre
Superman has been doing better than Fantastic Four globally, most movies seem to be remakes these days.


1    Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海)    
2    Lilo & Stitch    
3    A Minecraft Movie    
4    Jurassic World Rebirth    
5    How to Train Your Dragon    
6    F1: The Movie    
7    Superman    
8    Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning    
9    The Fantastic Four: First Steps    
10    Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie 名探偵コナン   
11    Tang Tan 1900 (唐探1900)
12    Captain America: Brave New World    
13    Thunderbolts*    
14    Sinners
15    The Conjuring: Last Rites    
16    Dead To Rights (南京照相馆)    
17    Final Destination: Bloodlines    
18    Weapons    
19    Disney’s Snow White    
20    The Bad Guys 2    
21    Creation of the Gods II: Demonic Confrontation …
22    Elio    
23    Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback
24    28 Years Later    
25    Freakier Friday    
26    Dog Man    
27    Mickey 17    
28    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina    
29    Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy    
30    Nobody (浪浪山小妖怪)

Although Mikey-17 is a South Korea product I would not class it East or West but maybe 'global' more of an 'East meet West' film, this Mikey-17 has a lot of Hollywood names but it was not a hit.

it has fallen to 27th

a Japanese comicbook toon or anime has entered the top 10


The Budgets
Japan the current Demon Slayer a very small production Budget only $20 million
the studios of Japanese are known for being good on spending ...Godzillia was also cheap
the Japanese movie has a current Box office $462 million and it will go far beyond

Flops?
the Snow White remake from Hollywood had a Budget   $270+ million
its box office was $205 million, a huge loss

[JulesVerneATV]

new Tron remake is getting bashed by fans

The culture seems to have changed. I'm not sure Donald Trump's tariff or sanctions to save Hollywood can work, a Japanese cartoon Demon Slayer 2025 just beat Superman and Fantastic Four at the Worldwide box office, it did ok against Hollywood movies on the US home turf but it really did good with international numbers.

https://x.com/Demonslayer9660/status/1976690915013280126#m

Movie Comparison: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) vs. Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infinity Castle (2025) vs. Borderlands (2024)
https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/custom-comparisons-extended/Fantastic-Four-Rise-of-the-Silver-Surfer/Demon-Slayer-Kimetsu-no-Yaiba-The-Movie-Infinity-Castle-(2025-Japan)/Borderlands-(2024)#tab=day_by_day_comparison

The comicbook genre doesnt seem to be totally dead, movie Fantastic Four First Steps 2025 has been doing much better at the US box office and has a strong overseas showing.

However culture has changed, new comicbooks, new video games, the kids these days dont listen to Blues or Rock n Roll or Reggae or Pop or Jive or Country, they are now listening to South Korea pop songs or ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ enjoying global domination

Real-life 'KPop Demon Hunters' band to make musical debut on Jimmy Fallon
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2025/09/29/kpop-demon-hunters-huntrx-jimmy-fallon/86416443007/

KPop Demon Hunters isn't just Golden - it's platinum!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/clyledxdm94o


'Listening to the Spotify Top 10 So You Don't Have To'

Rick Beato


How Animation has COMPLETELY Shifted



Saudi Arabia buys EA: What does it mean for the future of gaming?
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-buys-ea-does-110010090.html

At Saudi Comedy Fest, American Free Speech Becomes the Punchline
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/world/middleeast/saudi-comedy-festival-riyadh-free-speech.html

Stephen King seems to have sabotaged his own movie after remarks about a 'Political Assassination' he later apologized for his comments but it seems people can be pushed away from movies easily with divisive politics. The damage was already done to the box office brand 'The Long Walk' but it might not be a huge loss, the Budget was already low so it might not be a big loss for Veritgo/Lionsgate

Lionsgate used to be huge with The Twilight Saga, Rambo films but now it struggles with a John Wick flop remake, Megalopolis, Borderlands video game to film franchise.


remakes

‘Tron: Ares’ Crashes and Burns in Massively Disappointing Rotten Tomatoes Debut
https://collider.com/tron-ares-rotten-tomatoes-score-is-it-good/

Jared Leto-led Tron: Ares isn't good enough to hate
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tron-ares-review-9.6933888

[JulesVerneATV]

October Box Office Plunges to Three-Decade Low as Flops Like ‘Tron: Ares,’ ‘Smashing Machine’ Pile Up
https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/october-box-office-record-low-ticket-sales-smashing-machine-tron-ares-flop-1236567987/

Twilight of the Spotlight: The Fading of Hollywood
https://www.kairospublications.com/blog/g4v2pgfs1fa5vh77phbisox46l14rq

another critical commentary I see is a criticism of how US media has lost its value as the Hollywood culture took over, it used to have some message even as silly as those messages could be fighting aliens, a history lesson, beating monsters, defeating Communists or Fascist, pure escapism or horrors or wonder, the family values messages or fighting for freedom but over time any kind of 'Spiritual' message vanished and the message became 'nothing' and the best movies these days are the smaller indie film guys outside of Hollywood. There was always a contest with Hollywood and other philosphy for example the overseas movies like Japan's Seven Samurai, which is not a commentary with a current message about culture but an exploration of the Japanese folklore and historical past, it is also an artform of cinematography and story telling.  Citizen Kane 1941 was way ahead of its time a political commentary also warning of media power, William Randolph Hearst personally 'Hated' Citizen Kane, a different political environment when Liberal and Conservative agree on entertainment and nobody today Leftwing or Rightwing would want the movie shutdown and banned.  Jaws 1975 and Alien and Terminators and the Star Wars and Star Treks were highly entertaining, they can be fantasy or scifi or jump scare movies and entertain without insulting the viewer, entertain without alienating an audience. Some movies are watched for the stage craft the script writing, the performances by actors, the atmosphere of sound and stage and performance in greats like The Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Some movies are seen for the never done before level of intense film making and dazzling shocking product, the scenes in Avatar or Saving Private Ryan or Lord of the Rings, Gladiator a nostalgia visit back to the movie epic periods . A movie does not have to be complex or adult, Toy Story is a great film, it was a successful display of kids imaginative entertainment being successfully turned into a full motion 3d animation picture, the original ideas for these animations were very adventurous for the time and they probably werent even thinking about long term franchises.  The Dark Knight easily ranks up there among great movies, what is the message? its difficult to say what exactly the message is as Nolan doesnt bash you over the head with politics and let's you make up your own mind.  Then as Hollywood budgets got more and more ridiculous with their budget spending along came Godzilla Minus One 2023 from Japan to show you can still make box office block busters on tiny budgets, something Hollywood has lost the ability to do.

there was also commentary 'Why Hollywood Will Never Get Its Soul Back'

also wrote a criticism

Why “Science Fiction” and “Fantasy” Are Dead

It’s one of those truths that everyone suspects but few dare say aloud: The terms “science fiction” and “fantasy” are dead.

Not just dead in any quaint, nostalgic sense, but utterly irrelevant, useless, and unfit for purpose.

Worse still, they were never meant to be anything other than inventory tags for publishers and booksellers—crude labels slapped onto bookshelves and warehouse bins, designed to corral products; not communicate literary content or reader tastes.

[sanman]

Paul Chato gives his take on Stranger Things Season 5




My own 2 cents:

It felt less than thrilling to see the same Season 4 villain being recycled/extended for the new Season 5. His previous introduction back in Season 4 to replace the original Mind Flayer monster represented a switchover from the Cthulu genre of monster horror to the Freddy Kruger genre of horror. By bringing "Freddy" back again, it's now feeling like "Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5" level of B-rated horror crap. They don't care, because this is their last season, and they don't intend to make any more (how could they, when their original cast of child stars are now all in their 20s?)

Meanwhile Netflix has recorded over 60 million downloads in the week since their Volume 1 episode drop -- just like everyone tuning in to see the Gilligan's Island castaways finally get rescued.
Note that they've split this Season 5 into 3 distinct volumes -- 3 separate episode drops -- for revenue optimization.
Volume 2 episodes will be dropped just near Christmas, and Volume 3 episodes will be dropped for New Year's.
The holiday timing is suited for watch party viewing that maximizes revenue potential.

[sanman]

Starfleet Academy 90210 for all your future YA needs

[JulesVerneATV]

Netflix faces consumer class-action lawsuit over $72bn Warner Bros deal
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/09/netflix-consumer-lawsuit-warner-bros-deal

Paramount's Larry and David Ellison might look to Middle East petrostates to help finance a deal for WBD. That's tricky.
https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-warner-discovery-larry-ellison-saudi-arabia-qatar-wbd-deal-2025-12

Paramount Skydance’s Bid For WBD Said To Be Backed By Middle Eastern Funds, Following Initial Denial
https://comicbookmovie.com/dc-studios/paramount-skydances-bid-for-wbd-said-to-be-backed-by-middle-eastern-funds-following-initial-denial-a225284

Netflix offer challenged after Saudi, UAE & Qatar back Trump-linked Paramount bid for Warner Bros
https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/netflix-offer-challenged-after-saudi-uae-qatar-back-trump-linked-paramount-bid-for-warner-bros/cid/2137163

Zootopia 2 is probably up there as the biggest movie this year in the USA and it has a strong overseas in China and Europe, Zootopia is a kids animation featuring talking animals. If not Zootopia the next biggest movie is maybe 'A Minecraft Movie' based on a video game. Ne Zha 2 did excellent, a huge box office mostly in a single overseas market China making it the biggest movie of 2025, Lilo & Stitch also did excellent in various international markets with a huge overseas box office. All comicbook movies are starting to struggle, Thunderbolts, new Superman, new Fantastic Four, they are also very expensive products. Horror movies Paranormal Activity, Halloween, 28 Days Later the horror slasher genre typically has the highest return on investment, it does not always have to be horror it can have elements of fantasy or crime or scifi “Mad Max” and Alien leading to the Aliens franchise are successful 'Low Budget' films. Japan showed how it could be still be done a Godzillia scifi with a Low Budget $10–15 million
I'm not sure what the story of the year is maybe how Video Game movies are now a huge thing or maybe China movies exploding on the global stage or maybe the story was Trump Hollywood support and tariff  Donald Trump stating on social media that Voight would serve in a new role as a Special Ambassador to Hollywood and save the Us movie industry? or maybe its Japan anime toons making a comeback 'Demon Slayer' going to US theaters and beating them at their own entertainment game.

its been an eventful year in entertainment, if you count 'The Fantastic Four First Steps' as a scifi movie, a movie with very upbeat Jetsons utopian aestheticss and not count Fantastic Four as a Fantatsy or a comicbook film. Yes they do have cartoonish magic 'physics' super powers but overall it seems no more mystical than 'Star Wars' for example, its is based on a comic but Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic does 'science' they fly in a rocket and they have a space ship so I personally would class it as 'scifi' even if it is not 'hard scifi'. The genre of  Scifi is not over but Fantatsic Four only ranks at 11 in the Worldwide Box Office, it was supposed to be one of Marvel's biggest movies of the year.

What really Flopped?
the new Snow White movie has been a total disaster, one of the biggest flops for studios.
Predator Badlands is liked but struggles to make profits
Other flops Tron Ares and Mike 17, failed at the box office.
DC Warner Bros are struggling to reinvent themselves, they probably missed that opportunity for huge profits when movies like Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ironman etc were doing great at the box office. In general both fans and critics seem to prefer the stand alone movies of the DC Comics character Batman. directed by Christopher Nolan and are less enthusiastic about a shared DC comicbook world, the fans dont seem to care as much for the wider Cinematic Universe.


TOP 20 ADULT GRAPHIC NOVELS

There seems to be only one true US comicbook in the Top20, at 6th place 'Batman'

https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/61174/november-2025-circana-bookscan-top-20-adult-graphic-novels



although people might be kind of shocked to see a lot of Japan, Asia, Japanese stuff dominate the cartoon  comicbook market its been this way a while. In the Western comicbook entertainment industry There used to be lots of 'indie comicbooks, small US studios, the British and French wave of comicbook scifi, Dredd, Asterix, then it all peaked in the 90s as the big two took over there were new gimmicks to increase sales the Spider-Man story redone, the Death of 'Superman' the X-Men then everything became Marvel and DC. As a studio Marvel was bankrupt but it reshaped itself launching the movie business eventually becoming the biggest franchise of all time, as a movie studio it was far ahead of Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Harry Potter, Star Wars, James Bond etc Then over time the movie industry gets over saturated with comicbook movies, profits struggle and it all starts coming to an end around the time of Captain Marvel, Justice League, Avengers Endgame, Dark Phoenix...DC and Warner Bros seems to have rushed it and never really had the box office hits that Disney/Marvel/Fox studios had, Marvel seems to have got the rights to Spider-Man back, almost but the Japanese Sony still own something.

That whole cycle of Western Hollywood movies based on US Comic Books seems to be dying just as the Western Cowboy Genre died. People have moved on to other entertainment,  the Video Gamer Entertainment industry or Gaming is bigger than music and movies combined.
Barbie and Oppenheimer in 2023 were predicted to be the 'Return of Hollywood Cinema'  it might have been a dead cat bounce a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining movie studio asset


and now we have the 'Culture Wars' and Star Trek

Star Trek Releases The Worst 4 Minutes In Franchise History,

As A Clip From Starfleet Academy
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/starfleet-academy-clip.html

Maybe you could count Jurassic World Rebirth as a scifi but its still one of many many revamps, many of the un-original remakes, an old a remake of Jurassic Park American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton which later became a 1993 movie by Spielberg. The year is not over yet and there might be another scifi block buster, Avatar Fire and Ash is scheduled to be released just before Christmas, by 20th Century Studios.

[JulesVerneATV]

5 box-office flops that didn’t deserve to fail in 2025
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/5-box-office-flops-didn-043000919.html

The theatrical landscape has become increasingly cutthroat, with even critically acclaimed movies far from guaranteed to become a success story at the multiplex. In fact, these days, unless a movie is linked to a major franchise, it’s often a struggle to get the general audience's interest.

2025 has seen a few pleasant breakouts, including “Sinners” and “Weapons,” but there’s also been a glut of great movies that deserved success but instead suffered the ignominy of being branded a box-office flop. These range from the latest film from “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, a “John Wick” spinoff that was anything but a cheap cash-in, and a Leonardo DiCaprio epic already being talked about as one of the decade’s best.

Granted, in the world of Hollywood accounting, determining a movie’s financial results is no easy task, and it should also be noted that a movie’s budget is only half the picture. Studios also spend enormous sums of money on advertising (for a blockbuster, it’s not uncommon for marketing to match the budget), and we also have to factor in that a movie’s box office gross is split with the theaters as well. So even a movie that appears to have achieved a profit on paper may have actually lost money when the dollars are counted.

With that said, these are the five movies released in 2025 that weren't quite able to draw significant crowds in cinemas but really didn’t deserve to flop. If you skipped them, be sure you don’t make the same mistake twice, and watch them now; they’re (almost all) available on streaming services.
5 movies that didn’t deserve to flop in 2025

The Gamer-Landscape is also changing

Maybe it is true that Culture-wars have entered the gaming industry with political activism, harassment, opinions of leftwing and opinions of rightwings, it may have caused damage to sales across the industry. There was activist journalism and changes to editorial and policies by companies and video game news outlets have been seen personal relationships with journalists to Game Company, Pro-Feminist and Anti-Feminist and political activism exposed, while many gamers just wanted to stay away from political debates and just 'play games'.   Erik Kain is a writer and critic covering tv and games blames the Leftwing other journalists blame the Rightwing.
So naturally sales fall, and now some of the big Western Gaming studios are starting to struggle, you still have the Giants Japan Sony Playstation, Xbox Microsoft Gaming, they will always be big for the next while but now you have lots and lots of other big studios falling and lots of indie US studios, Aristocrat Leisure Australia, South Korean, Cyprus, Sweden, the French, the Chinese.
10 years ago
'It all started with a blog post.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/09/04/gamergate-a-closer-look-at-the-controversy-sweeping-video-games/
Paywall, blames angry men, says the movement is part of Culture-War online trolls, Misogyny, anti-feminism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html

Studios that dont force politics agendas or studios that do it in a subtle seem to be less controversial and more successful.
The new French gaming wave arrives and lots and lots of companies from China arriving to take the place of the falling giant studios.


Halfbrick Studios launches first Australian-made Bluey game
https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/entertainment/halfbrick-studios-launches-first-australian-made-bluey-game/


Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are examples of multi-Billion Dollar AAA companies. The Prime Minister of Japan even talked about a Large French company insulting the Japanese culture with Assassin’s Creed,  Ubisoft has apologized a number of times in the run up to Shadows’ much-delayed launch over aspects of the game and its marketing that upset some within Japan.
In the video game industry, AAA (Triple-A) is a buzzword used to classify video games produced or distributed by a mid-sized or major publisher.

Japan is a very big market and although the party has a Liberal name Liberal Democratic Party LDP and it almost ruled Japan unchecked since WW2 it is not 'Liberal' as a Western person would classify it, the Japanese can be quiet proud of their culture and very strict on immigration, they are Anti-War but very Trump-like on immigration. From what I read it wasnt the image of a Black Afro guy dressing in Samuari chasing down Japanese and killing them, chasing down the only White guy in Japan for revenge and killing more Japanese, it was the insult against some religious temple that really insulted them and hit their culture in a personal attack. Following complaints from Hiroyuki Kada of the Japanese House of Councillors and Shigeru Ishiba, Prime Minister of Japan, Ubisoft removed the ability to destroy certain objects within temples, as well as reducing the "amount of blood shed by NPCs in the various shrines and temples across Assassin's Creed Shadows". Prior to release, Ubisoft offered guidance and resources to its developers in regards to their social media accounts and potential harassment
https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/assassins-creed-shadows-day-one-patch-shrines-temples-japan-3847800
,
https://www.pcgamesn.com/assassins-creed-shadows/ubisoft-anti-harassment-plan

Blood Message  is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by 24 Entertainment and published by NetEase Games, a Chinese developer and publisher of online PC and mobile games, it is set during the late Tang dynasty.





Clair Obscur Expedition 33  a small studio a role-playing video game developed by French studio they claim that was only made by 33 developers




Tomb Raider Catalyst, Divinity, Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic: Everything Announced at The Game Awards
https://www.gadgets360.com/games/news/the-game-awards-2025-everything-announced-tomb-raider-catalyst-star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-divinity-9797890

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Just Made The Game Awards History
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/clair-obscur-expedition-33-just-040300133.html

The Game Awards 2025: The full list of winners sees Clair Obscur Expedition 33 sweep
https://www.gosugamers.net/entertainment/news/77707-the-game-awards-2025-full-list-of-winners


BBC Tv and Dr Who, it hit its peak 10 years ago and has been crashing ever since?

10 Years Ago, This ‘Doctor Who’ Story Became the Show's Masterpiece Across Its 800+ Episodes
https://collider.com/doctor-who-peter-capaldi-best-episode-heaven-sent/