The Game Developers Conference (GDC) has released its 13th annual State of the Game Industry survey, providing insight into game makers’ thoughts on various issues and trends.
In total, over 3,000 developers around the world were surveyed, with Canada being the country with the third-highest number of respondents at six percent, behind only the U.S. at 58 percent and UK at seven percent.
While the survey addressed a number of topics, perhaps the most notable was the rampant layoffs that have plagued the gaming industry over the past couple of years. According to an unofficial layoff tracking site, more than 25,000 game makers were laid off between 2023 and 2024.
Per the new GDC survey, 11 percent of respondents said they were laid off in 2024, with a further 29 percent noting they’d witnessed direct colleagues losing their jobs. Altogether, the survey found that the number of people impacted by layoffs in these ways rose six percent from 2023.
Of course, this doesn’t even account for how the layoffs can affect the overall morale of everyone in the industry simply by witnessing the continued reductions. To that point, 58 percent of respondents expressed “some level of concern” of even more job cuts coming this year.
In terms of reasoning for the layoffs, developers said employers most often cited “restructuring” (22 percent), “declining revenue” (18 percent) and “market shifts/industry trends” (15 percent). However, 19 percent of respondents said their bosses didn’t even provide them with a reason.
When asked what they attributed the layoffs to, respondents said they recognized that revenue and market shifts were part of the problem but they placed most of the blame on specific issues like “Covid-era overexpansion, rising production costs, declining player interest, unrealistic expectations for the ‘next big hit,’ and poor leadership and mismanagement.”
Outside of layoff discussions, the survey also provided some other interesting insights. For one, 52 percent of respondents said they’re working at companies that use generative AI, which has become particularly contentious in the industry. Specifically, only 13 percent of devs say they believe generative AI has a positive impact on gaming, down from 21 percent. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents said they think it has a negative impact, a 12-point increase from the year prior. In total, 51 percent of developers say they are very concerned about the technology, up from 42 percent last year.
Elsewhere, the survey looked at which platforms interest game makers the most. Notably, 80 percent of developers say they’re making games for PC, up from 66 percent last year. Presumably, the rise in PC adoption was at least partially driven by the increasing popularity of handheld gaming PC devices like Valve’s Steam Deck and Asus’ ROG Ally. To that point, almost half (44 percent) of developers mentioned the Steam Deck when asked to name other platforms that interest them.
Following that, we have PS5/PS5 Pro (38 percent), Xbox Series X/S (34 percent), Android (29 percent), iOS (28 percent), Mac (23 percent) and Nintendo Switch (20 percent). Interestingly, eight percent of respondents said they were working on games for the just-announced Nintendo Switch 2.
The survey also examines one of the biggest trends in gaming: live services. Notably, about 16 percent of developers said they already work on live-service games, with that number rising to 33 percent for AAA developers. However, their opinions on the value of these kinds of games were mixed. While some acknowledged the benefits with respect to recurring revenue and community building, others noted declining player interest, predatory practices, potential developer burnout and, most of all, oversaturation.
Indeed, it’s become increasingly difficult to break into this market, given how many popular games already dominate it. In fact, a report from last year found that 60 percent of the most-played games in 2023 were from before that year, noting how many people stick to mainstays like Fortnite, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto Online and Minecraft. While some new multiplayer games find success, like PlayStation’s Helldivers II last year, we also see major flops, such as fellow PlayStation game Concord. The company also cancelled two more live service games last week, including one based on God of War. Clearly, it’s a tricky market to crack.
Those are just some of the highlights of the GDC survey, which provides quite a lot of interesting insight into the larger gaming industry. You can view the full survey here. (Note that you have to complete a short free registration with your information to receive it.)
Image credit: PlayStation
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