The organizers of Game Developers Conference conducted an annual survey of the state of the gaming industry. The results of the study reflect the opinions of developers about the use of neural networks, mass layouts and not only.
Who was said to?
For the survey, the organizers found three thousand game industry workers. If we consider the experience, then 62 % of them have been working in Gamdev for more than five years. Most are engaged in game design, programming and management, but advertising specialists, sound engineers, artists and not only participated in the survey. If we talk about companies, then 32 % of respondents work in indie studios, 18 %-AAA studios, 11 %-AA studios, 7 %-freelancers. The survey was conducted back in October 2023, but the results were presented the other day.
Platforms
The organizers asked for which platforms the surveyed projects are now developing their projects, as well as which platforms are most looking at. As in past years, PC leads.
It is noteworthy that the non -anneized Switch 2 scored 8 %in the first poll, and in the second 32 %. That is, the developers confirm that they are already making games for the next console Nintendo, although the company itself refuses to recognize its existence.
We also note that developers are more actively interested in PlayStation 5 (41 %) than Xbox Series. Below – detailed results taking into account the fact that respondents could choose several response options.
What is interesting for the future.
Engines
There are still two favorites in the arena – Unreal Engine and Unity. Both gained 33 %when the developers were asked what they create a current project. It is interesting that the positions of the second were not sank even after a loud scandal with a board for the number of downloads.
In third place in popularity, own https://magical-casino.co.uk/mobile-app/ studios engines with a result of 14 %. Nadezhda Enthusiasts with an open code Godot has already won 3 % of the developers surveyed.
The survey organizers also noted that 7 % of developers were faced with the change of engine last year, and 28 % discussed a similar step during this year. In most cases, it was about getting away from Unity and Unreal Engine aside Godot.
VR segment
Of the developers surveyed, only 53 % work on games that will use virtual or augmented reality. The leading platform here is Meta* Quest (34 %), and the helmet from Valve scored 26 %. Closes the top three headset from Sony C 15 %.
It is noteworthy that the developers now are more interested in Apple Vision Pro glasses than the PlayStation VR2 helmet.
Neural networks
Neural networks or generative artificial intelligence is the main topic for discussion in the industry right now. 31 % of the respondents use these tools personally, and another 18 % – they saw how colleagues do it.
But it is interesting in this survey. The developers told in which areas the neural networks are used most often now. The most popular answer is “Business and Finance” (44 %). Studios seem to almost no interests tools for generating pictures and sounds. Options "Visual Art" and "Sound" scored 16 and 14 %, respectively. Although it is obvious that these functions are actively used by marketing studios.
84 % of respondents are also concerned about the ethical side of the use of neural networks. There are several anonymous quotes in the report, where some developers recognize the need to introduce generative AI to automate routine processes, while others simply say that these technologies hate.
Business model
The respondents were also asked about the methods of monetization of projects that they are currently working on. The most popular is the option “Digital Game of Premium Class” (51 %), so the developers note projects that need to be unevenly purchased in digital stores.
In second place "free for download" projects (32 %). The following places were divided by auxiliary methods of earning, such as the sale of DLC (24 %), physical copies (21 %), intra -game objects (21 %) and intra -game currency (19 %).
The organizers noted that the developers are still reluctant to use blockchain technology for monetization and subscriptions with premium bonuses as in Fallout 76 .
Dismissal
Another big topic last year. According to the survey, a third of the respondents were faced with dismissal in their studio or lost their jobs personally. The ongoing series of restructuring propped up to the developers in tomorrow – 56 % of respondents are worried that dismissal will be in their companies in the next year.
Below are several anonymous quotes from the report that illustrate the opinion of developers about the reduction and prospects.
During the pandemic, the studio grew too fast. Now, during the crisis of the cost of life, people spend less money on games. The bubble, unfortunately, burst. I hope that new startups will appear soon, which will change the process of creating games forever and larger studios will follow them.
I hope that all this will lead to the fact that people will become more willing to unite into trade unions. If employers do not repulse, then we will see even more mass dismissals.
The full version of the report with questions about popular accessories and work time of specialists per week can be found on the official website of GDC.