Brandon Sutton | MIDiA Research

The winning formula for Grand Theft Auto VI: Games pricing strategy

Brandon Sutton

9 Oct 2025

A highly anticipated piece of media, Grand Theft Auto VI has garnered widespread attention . However, many details of the game remain a mystery – including the price of the base game. Previous speculation has suggested the game could be priced at $100.

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The winning formula for Grand Theft Auto VI
Games pricing strategy

Brandon Sutton and Perry Gresham

9 Oct 2025

Willingness to pay Willingness to pay pricing

With anticipation for the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI) at an all-time high, speculation around various aspects of the game, particularly its price point, has become widespread. Since the game’s announcement, speculation has suggested a base edition price of $100, sparking industry-wide debate about the future of AAA game p...

Tokyo Game Show 2025: What’s in store for the future of gaming?

Brandon Sutton

2 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Games Gaming

Asian developers and markets are becoming increasingly central to the global games industry as both a source of market opportunity and competition for Western developers. The 2025 Tokyo Game Show (TGS) made this crystal clear.

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Video game music’s untapped potential: More than background sound

Brandon Sutton

25 Sep 2025

Music Gaming Games

From chiptune melodies to full orchestral pieces, video games have featured memorable music that enriches and elevates gameplay for decades. Much like film scores, these tracks have long been an essential part of the gaming experience.

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What the AAA video game industry can learn from indie success

Brandon Sutton

18 Sep 2025

Gaming Games Gamers

A review of the video game releases from the past few years depicts a games landscape dominated by remakes, remasters, and sequels. From the perspective of the publishers, the appeal of this strategy is easy to understand.

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From niche to mainstream: How video games adaptations are taking over movies and television

Brandon Sutton

3 Sep 2025

Product Strategy Entertainment Games

Today’s most successful movies and television shows are video game adaptations. For those who remember the media landscape of the 1980s and 1990s, this represents a marked shift in the entertainment industry.

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Beyond the screen
How and why gaming merch and collectibles fuel fandom

Brandon Sutton

3 Sep 2025

Marketing Digital Fandom

The physical gaming merchandise and collectibles market is a multibillion-dollar industry that serves as both organic marketing and a way to strengthen community engagement. However, the space has grown increasingly complex due to a surge in fan-made merch, a crowded field of game properties, and economic pressures like the rising cost of living.

Gamescom 2025: The top three trends from the games industry’s biggest event

Brandon Sutton

28 Aug 2025

Games gamescom Business Strategy

The gaming industry’s largest showcase, Gamescom, wrapped up on Sunday 24 August, and with over 350,000 attendees, it broke records to become the most attended event in its history. Serving as an annual barometer for the industry, Gamescom helps set expectations for the upcoming holiday season, wh...

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The case for flexibility: What the Switch 2’s success signals for other handhelds

Brandon Sutton

20 Aug 2025

Product Strategy PlayStation Gaming

When Nintendo announced the Switch 2 would release this year, it had big shoes to fill. Its predecessor has become one of the best-selling consoles in history; surpassed only by the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS in total sales.

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Netflix ramps up games spending: A strategic bet on the future of streaming

Brandon Sutton

7 Aug 2025

Business Strategy Netflix Streaming

During its Q2 FY2025 earnings call, Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters announced plans to increase investment into its gaming division (via GameSpot ). At first glance, this move may seem surprising, given the company’s rocky experience in the gaming space so far.

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More than hype: Why gamers cannot wait for GTA VI

Brandon Sutton

30 Jul 2025

Fandom Entertainment Gaming

Critically acclaimed, financially dominant, and still hyper-relevant more than a decade after its last release, the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series sits at the summit of the video game industry. Given this sustained success, it is no surprise that anticipation is high for the next instalment in the se...

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Online game ownership in the digital age – do we really own what we play?

Brandon Sutton

24 Jul 2025

Product Strategy Games Gaming

Over the past decade, digital sales have become the primary way gamers purchase video games. With this shift comes a series of growing pains that often puts gamers at odds with publishers. One particularly contentious issue is digital ownership and consumer rights; topics gaining renewed attention t...

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