Each year, the Game Developers Conference releases its State of the Gaming Industry Report, a survey that asks thousands of game developers about the industry and their own work. It’s no secret 2023 was a difficult year for the video game industryeven after the releases of major successful games, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm And Baldur’s Gate 3. Independent and community estimates suggest that more than 10,000 game developers may have been laid off last year, compared to more than 8,500 workers in 2022. Thousands of workers at video game companies and adjacent workplaces have already been laid off in 2024 as the industry grapples with how to move forward.
The GDC investigation covered much more than layoffs; In the 37-page report, GDC researchers analyzed data related to generative AI, accessibility, demographics and return-to-office mandates, as well as other topics.
Layoffs in the video game industry
GDC researchers found that a third of those surveyed had been hit by layoffs in 2023, and half of the more than 3,000 respondents feared more was to come. Reasons cited by workers included “post-pandemic course correction, studio conglomeration and economic uncertainty,” according to the report. Although 2024 already appears to surpass 2023 in terms of the rate of job losses, Omdia research director Dom Tait said in the report that industry forecasts suggest “steady growth” through 2027 , which means that employment should stabilize.
“The most striking observation arises from job losses in the industry – understandably a pressing concern for many,” Tait said. “Among insightful comments from developers on the topic was: “Studios grew too quickly during the pandemic. » This statement is supported by gaming industry data, which shows an incremental revenue increase due to COVID in 2020 and 2021, collectively totaling approximately $50 billion over expected figures. But the years 2022 and 2023 showed a return to the spending trend observed before 2020, so this reduction in workforce is partly due to the fact that companies are late adapting to the new, less positive market reality.
He continued: “However, with a return to steady growth forecast until 2027, this should present a more stable picture of employment levels going forward. »
Generative AI
Last year, generative AI entered the conversation in a big way – and it’s clear that businesses are already uses the tool in the game development process. Nearly half (49%) of respondents said their company uses generative AI in some way; 31% of people said they use it personally. Twenty-three percent of respondents said their studio was not at all interested in generative AI.
Most often, generative AI is used in sales and finance departments, as well as communities, marketing and public relations. Quality assurance, art, audio, and storytelling departments reported the least use of AI, less than 16% at most. However, workers at independent studios were most likely to report using AI; People interested in AI said they want to use it to “assist with coding and speed up the content creation process,” as well as to perform repetitive tasks.
Despite this interest, four in five game developers are concerned about the ethics of AI, albeit to varying degrees. Here’s what the survey says:
Although developers seem uncertain about the impact of generative AI on the industry, they are quite certain about its ethical impact. A large majority (84%) of developers indicated they were somewhat or very concerned about the ethics of using generative AI, while 12% said they had no concerns.
The developers shared a series of potential issues with the technology. Some wondered whether the use of generative AI could lead to more layoffs at gaming companies. Others expressed concerns about how the tools could aggravate intellectual property copyright infringement and whether AI tool makers would train their models using data obtained without the consent of the creator.
Games adapted for television and cinema
A whole bunch of games have been made into movies or TV shows in 2023 — The Super Mario Bros. movie., Five Nights at Freddy’s, The last of us, And Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves are just a few. Ten percent of those surveyed said their studios’ games were adapted into other media, while 20 percent mentioned the idea. Six percent of respondents were approached. On the other hand, 44% of developers said they were not considering this solution.
Many game developers think the rise of adaptations is a good thing for the industry: 63%. Twenty-six percent were unsure and 4% said no. Seven percent had no opinion on the matter.
“I hope this will bring more audience to the games and therefore more money for better development,” said one developer. “I also hope that developers will learn from unionization efforts in the film industry and adopt these practices in order to make the industry more lucrative for developers.”
Accessibility
More good news for video game accessibility: 48%, or nearly half, of video game developers surveyed said their company had made accessibility changes to their current games, compared to 38% in this category Last year. The proportion of people who answered no also fell from 32% to 27%. Some of the options added by game studios, ranked from highest to lowest percentage, are closed captioning, a colorblind mode, control remapping, custom audio settings, adjustable difficulty levels, color warnings, content, high contrast mode, audio narration, aim assist. , text-to-speech, accessible hardware/controllers, dyslexia-friendly fonts, screen magnification, different game speeds, phobia accommodations, and quick event toggles.
Union support
Support for unions continues to grow, with 57% of respondents saying gaming workers should unionize. (That’s up from 53 percent last year.) Twelve percent said no, while 22 percent weren’t sure. “Narrative designers were most likely to support unionization, while those working in business and finance were least likely to support it,” according to the report.
Younger workers were also more likely to support unionizing efforts. Here’s what the report says:
When it comes to overall support for unions, one of the most notable factors we found was developer age: 72% of 18-24 year olds said they support unionization, compared to 28% of developers 55 and older. The trend lines up consistently across all age groups: from oldest to youngest, each group was more in favor of unionization than the last.
When asked to share their thoughts, many respondents cited increased layoffs, the crisis, and large-scale media acquisitions as evidence that the video game industry should unionize. Those who opposed it expressed frustration with the idea of forced participation, as well as the impact that collective units could have on the individual employer/employee relationship.
Diversity Efforts
GDC researchers surveyed game developers about their experience in the industry to analyze workforce diversity. The data is grim: White men make up 92% of people working in the video game industry, and they make up 87% of workers who have more than 21 years of experience in the industry. The survey had no non-male respondents who met that experience threshold and who were also of Black, Hispanic, Latino or Spanish descent, it says.
Here’s more:
This year, we wanted to take a closer look at the demographic makeup of those who have been in the industry the longest: the decision-makers who have been a part of the video game industry for decades. Based on the survey, we found that men make up a large majority (87%) of game developers with 21 years or more of experience in the video game industry, and that white men overall make up the largest demographic group (92%).
When we looked at individual groups (by race and gender), we found a low percentage of Asian men (15%), Hispanic, Latino or Spanish men (8%), black men ( 6%) and white and Asian men. women (5% each) reported having 20 or more years of experience in game development. There were no black women or women of Hispanic, Latina or Spanish descent in the survey who said the same thing.
Overall, over the years in the industry, white game developers make up 65% of those surveyed; Hispanic and Latin American game developers are represented at 9%, followed by East Asian game developers, South or Southeast Asian developers, then Black, African developers or Caribbean. The industry survey found that two-thirds of game developers surveyed are men, while 23% are women and 5% are non-binary.
Along the same lines, GDC researchers asked questions about diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at companies and found mixed results:
About 90% of respondents said their company’s DEI efforts were at least marginally successful, up from 96% in 2023. Specifically, the number of developers who said these DEI efforts were not at all successful successful increased to 11% (compared to 4% in 2023). ).
Developers were asked to explain the successes or failures of their company’s DEI policies: most discussed the gaps. According to an analysis of open responses conducted by our partners at Omdia, some of the most pressing concerns include a lack of resources and training, an increase in mandatory return-to-office policies, and an inability to attract qualified and diverse candidates. .
There is much more to say in the GDC survey, which can be found in full on the GDC website.
