Hello!
As is annual tradition, let's take a moment to look back at the last year of Game Maker's Toolkit and see how things went.
So in 2024's wrap up I talked about this idea of GMTK no longer being "a YouTube channel that sometimes does other things", and transforming into GMTK just being a catch-all company for interesting media about games - whether that's YouTube videos, a game jam, or an actual video game.
And I think I achieved that pretty well in 2025! I released a bunch of YouTube videos, did another game jam, did a talk, release a game on Steam, and dropped a game on consoles. That's not bad going!
So let's break it down, bit by bit, to see how things went.
YouTube
I released 15 videos in 2025.
7 were big, proper, GMTK productions with all of the research and fancy motion graphics my fans have come to expect. That included a look at how Smash Bros characters are made, two episodes of my new "Game Dev 101" series on indie game production, a look at destruction tech in games, and my latest video - a deep dive into the world design of Hollow Knight: Silksong.
While there aren't loads of them, I'm still really proud of these videos. I especially enjoyed the video on reimagining Zelda's UI design. That was really fun to make and was a brilliant example of how my newfound knowledge of game dev is going to help me make better GMTK episodes. Same goes for Game Dev 101 - having two games under my belt gives me a good foundation for talking about how games actually get made.
4 videos were about my games - three on Word Play and one on Mind Over Magnet's console release. The Word Play content is obviously very different from my last production where I made 20-or-so videos about the making of Mind Over Magnet. This time, production just went so fast and so smooth that I didn't have much time to discuss the development until it was done.
And finally, 4 videos were shorter projects - three GMTK Mini videos and a Weekender on the upcoming game Locator. These have been really valuable for me. They give me a chance to discuss hot topics in the gaming discourse (like Blue Prince's RNG or Silksong's difficulty), they let me stay in touch with fans while I'm otherwise busy, and they can sometimes do really well for views - the Silksong video did particularly well this year.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my output. I would always like to make more videos - but considering all the other stuff I've been doing, I'm happy with what I achieved.
Here's how the videos performed. The Game Dev 101 video on ideas was a nice hit for the channel, but the follow-up on prototyping has been a little slower. The Silksong difficulty video was also a spike.
Overall, however, videos have been performing a bit soft this year. None of my 2025 videos reached a million views. Though I know a bunch of YouTubers have had a similar experience so I won't get too down on it.
Also, I fully expect the Silksong Boss Keys video to have longer legs. I made this chart one day after its release - it will (hopefully!) continue to grow. The Hollow Knight 1 video, after all, is one of the top 5 most popular videos on my channel.
As for the year's best-performing videos, it's a mix of new stuff and some of my top legacy content (marked with an asterisk). The Unity tutorial continues to do very well - it amassed another million views this year. And it's now my all-time most popular video with over 6 million views. I guess that's good!
Looking at the overall trend, 2025 is - once again! - the worst year yet for the channel with fewer new subscribers and fewer views. But revenue has stayed pretty consistent. So I can't really complain.
Overall I'm quite happy with YouTube this year. Especially at the start and end of the year. But I was obviously quite busy in the middle of the year...
Game Development
Let's start with Mind Over Magnet. The game launched on Steam last year, in November 2024. But it has continued to sell quite well throughout 2025 as well - sometimes selling more than 1000 copies in a month. Usually when there's a sale on.
The game also launched on consoles this year, thanks to a publishing deal with Alchemy in English-speaking territories, and Pikii in Japan. I can't talk about specific numbers as all the publishers and console makers like you to remain quite tight lipped about sales. But I'll say it has performed okay on Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation. Nothing mind blowing - but a nice additional revenue stream.
To be honest I mostly just did it to be able to have a game I made on the same consoles as stuff like Astro Bot and Mario. Can't really argue with that!
Even more exciting this year - I launched a new game! I started working on a roguelike word game at the very end of 2024 and then released it in July of 2025. Word Play did really well - it had fantastic placement on Steam's front page, it got picked up by Northernlion for multiple streams, it's been mentioned in a few "Game of the Year" videos.
And downloads wise - well this chart kinda speaks for itself. The first month saw over 40,000 downloads. And the game has made over 6 figures, even after adjusting for Valve's cut and currency conversion. This has put me in a very comfortable position for the next few years. It's why I felt okay to take extended paternity leave next year.
I still can't really believe this happened. The making and release of this game still feels like some fuzzy dream. Perhaps the launch - which was a whirlwind of highs and lows (bug fixing, mostly), it was all a bit much to take in. I want to release it on mobile - but I'm still not ready to return to that world.
Overall, though, game dev has been a very successful part of GMTK's 2025.
Other Projects
GMTK Game Jam continues to grow, somehow! 2025 was, again, our biggest yet. More sign-ups, more submissions, more amazing games. 2026 will be the 10th jam - I'll have to think of something special we can do to mark the occasion.
I also attended some events. In the beginning of the year I visited a university to do a talk - but also do playtesting on Word Play with the students. Likewise, I went to GDC in San Francisco to meet up with people and also get some advice and feedback on the game. I had a wonderful time at GDC - there was a massive meet-up, I had a good meal with the Second Wind people, and spoke to so many people who watch GMTK.
And in the summer I went to Brighton for Develop - just to meet up with friends and fans. And then went to Malaga for the Guadalindie event, where I was a speaker. Again - lots of great opportunities to meet with amazing people, including Sam Barlow (Immortality), Freya Holmér (Unity assets) and JW (Minute).
I've also been lucky to have multiple groups of people I regularly meet with. There's a local group of game developers near me, and I'm part of a group of UK YouTubers on Discord who regularly meet up for meals and drinks. In fact I was just in London with them earlier this month!
Revenue
Finally, let's talk money. This year, Steam income was the ultimate winner - more than all of my other sources combined. Which makes total sense - I released a big new game this year, and released another game just two months before 2025 began! And while I hope to see continued sales for both games (as well as some iOS sales for Word Play in 2026!), I can't expect to see anything like this again.
Luckily, the other categories did well also. As discussed, YouTube has stayed steady despite fewer views.
The other category covers Substack, Nebula, consulting gigs (I did a few calls with Electronic Arts), an article for a book, talking fees, and some affiliate money. It doesn't look like much on the graph, but these other gigs basically cover my work expenses like Game Pass and Adobe Creative Cloud.
And while Patreon is slowly decreasing (a totally understandable outcome of me making fewer videos and the general state of the economy), it's still doing very well for the channel and will always be my most important source of revenue. Patreon allowed me to turn GMTK into a full time job and because of that - that incredible, life-changing, generosity - I will never take you for granted.
That's why I'm not going to be charging anyone during my paternity leave. Word Play has paid for that - you shouldn't have to! I'll turn it back on in April. If you're an annual member it should just add the skipped months on to the end of your membership.
Conclusion, and the future
Overall I'm pretty happy with 2025.
It feels a bit strange because I'm so used to appraising my year based on the number of YouTube videos I make and how many views they got. And through that lens... 2025 wasn't great. But, like I said, that's just one part of what I do now. And when I zoom out - this was a crazy year! Between YouTube, the jam, Word Play, and everything else, I've been super busy. Super prolific. And, in certain definitions, super successful.
Oh, and I also broke my arm! Oh, and I also made a baby! I almost forgot about those!
Which does bring me to 2026. And I simply have no idea what to expect from next year.
As I've said before, I want to take some serious time off. The first three months of 2026 at least. To just be a full time dad - and a full time support to my wife. And then after that I'll try to figure out how to get back to GMTK with this new responsibility.
So please don't expect 20 videos and a new game next year! But I hope you'll support me trying to figure out how to enter this new role. I feel very fortunate that I've achieved so much before this moment - I've reached a million subscribers and released two games. That means I feel okay taking my foot off the gas and taking time away from work for a while.
I absolutely cannot wait to become a dad. GMTK will, inevitably, take a back seat. But I'm not going anywhere! Nappies (diapers!?) aren't cheap!
See you in 2026.
Mark