GDC 2024 State Of The Game Industry: Devs Discuss Layoffs, Generative AI, and More | News | Game Developers Conference (GDC)
This past year has been challenging for the game industry: Several studios have closed their doors, thousands of developers have been laid off, and increased studio conglomeration impacts the work landscape and prospective job market. But with challenges come opportunities. The 2024 State of the...
Also we asked over 3,000 game developers about their work and the industry. We found they’re implementingmore accessibility options into their games, they’re growing frustrated with social media, divided on mandatory return-to-office policies, worried about ethics and Al and many devs have switched game engines.
One-third of developers have been impacted by layoffs, and half are concerned there could be more
One-third of developers (35%) said they’ve been impacted by layoffs—either by having some layoffs take place within their team or company or by being laid off themselves. Quality assurance developers appear to have been hit the hardest, with 22% of them saying they were laid off this year (compared to 7% of all developers). Business and finance professionals reported the least layoffs (2%).Over half of respondents (56%) expressed some level of concern that their company could see layoffs in the next 12 months, while one-third said they weren’t at all concerned. When asked to share their thoughts on the rise of layoffs in the game industry, many developers cited post-pandemic course correction, studio conglomeration, and economic uncertainty as possible explanations, and some expressed a desire for unionization to better protect workers.
One-third of developers have switched game engines in the past year or thought about doing so
According to the survey, Unreal Engine and Unity are the most used game engines, with 33% of developers each classifying them as their main toolset of choice. These were followed by proprietary/in-house engines and the open-source game engine Godot.However, in September 2023, Unity announced it would begin collecting a “Runtime Fee” based on the number of game installs, which resulted in considerable backlash and the amendment of the new policy. Following these developments, it looks like some developers are thinking about changing things up. One-third of respondents said they’ve either considered switching game engines within the past year or they’ve already done so, while almost half said they haven’t considered switching.
Four out of five developers are worried about the ethical use of Generative AI
When it comes to how Generative AI will impact the game industry as a whole, game makers appear to be mixed. Those working in business, marketing, and programming were more likely to say the technology would have a positive impact while those in narrative, visual arts, and quality assurance were more likely to say the impact would be negative.Even though many developers seem to be uncertain about the industry impact of Generative AI, they are quite certain about the ethical impact. A large majority (84%) of developers indicated they were somewhat or very concerned about the ethics of using Generative AI, while only 12% stated they had no concerns.
AAA developers are more likely to have mandatory RTO policies
One-fourth (26%) of developers said they have some form of mandatory return-to-office (RTO) policy at their company, either working full-time in the office or a hybrid schedule, while the rest (74%) either don’t have an RTO policy or say the ones they have make in-office work optional.AAA developers appear to be far more impacted: 40% of them said they currently have mandatory return-to-office policies (most of them being hybrid), compared to 15% of indie developers and 28% of AA developers. Respondents working in business and finance were most likely to say they work a hybrid or 5-day in-office schedule, while those working in narrative reported the most remote flexibility.
Last edited:
