Looking back on 2025—and ahead to 2026

Happy New Year to one and all!

This past year saw 38,723 visitors (77,451 page views) to PAXsims, down from 56,070 visitors in 2024. The decline likely reflects several factors, including fewer posts during the year (91, down from 113) and the continued migration of discussion on conflict simulation and serious gaming to other fora, including LinkedIn, Discord, and elsewhere. Since the site was established, PAXsims has attracted more than 715,000 visitors and 1.5 million page views.

Over the past year, visitors came from 167 countries and territories, with the largest share from the United States. The top ten locations were as follows:

Country	Share
United States	41.7%
United Kingdom	11.5%
Canada	9.7%
Italy	2.9%
Australia	2.8%
Germany	2.5%
France	2.5%
Netherlands	2.2%
Spain	1.9%
China	1.7%

Our most popular pages in 2025 were Louis “Cornell” Fuka’s article on wargaming in China, the page for AFTERSHOCK: A Humanitarian Crisis Game, and the Derby House Principles on diversity and inclusion in professional (war)gaming.

More broadly, 2025 was a year in which wargaming, policy gaming, and other forms of serious gaming continued to grow in popularity, application, and sophistication. AI has had a major impact on serious gaming in the past year, and its role is likely to grow in the year ahead. While the United States and United Kingdom remain the most important wargaming centres within NATO, there has been notable growth elsewhere—notably in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Denmark, and beyond—visible in conferences, collaborations, and institutional activity. Canada also strengthened its wargaming capacity, although recent contracting changes risk deinstitutionalizing some of that progress.

There are, however, major grounds for concern too. As a field, (war)gaming has struggled to keep pace with a rapidly changing security environment. This is true in relation to technological and battlefield developments, but even more so with respect to major strategic shifts. Much contemporary gaming remains reluctant to grapple seriously with uncertain alliances, contested legitimacy, and emerging threats, and instead remains anchored in what may now be a fading strategic context.

These changes are also straining professional networks and collaboration. In recent months, several American institutions—concerned about political backlash—have quietly withdrawn public endorsement of the Derby House Principles or have ceased to mention diversity and inclusion altogether. Some professional gamers have been reluctant, or have refused, to travel to the United States to attend conferences, support games, or collaborate with US counterparts, citing the political climate or concerns about potential legal or ethical exposure.

Against this backdrop, 2026 may prove to be a critical year. Can serious gaming meaningfully help us navigate and mitigate these emerging challenges? Will it continue largely as business as usual, sidestepping profound changes already underway? Or will wargamers—engaged in a form of anticipatory obedience, a banality of gaming—find themselves complicit in supporting unethical or otherwise problematic policies?