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More than 3000 game developers have taken a survey to share their experiences with the industry in 2024. The picture it paints is a depressing one.
The gaming industry was ravaged last year by layoffs. According to the Games Developer Conference (GDC) survey, one in every 10 developers lost their jobs. 29% had said that they saw their “direct colleagues” sacked, while 18% noted that other teams were laid off.
Four percent of survey respondents said that they saw the studio shut down altogether. 58% of takers have “expressed some level of concern” about future layoffs too. The survey also reports that 16% of those who did get laid off are now “working alone”.
Companies have had a multitude of reasons for the mass layoffs across the board. The GDC survey states that 22% of staff were told it was down to “restructuring”, 18% declining revenue, and 15% due to “market shifts and industry trends”.
Shockingly, 19% weren’t given a reason, but the survey does break down common terms thrown around in these responses. 25% mentioned the pandemic in 2020, another 13% simply said “greed” and an additional 13% claimed over-hiring was a reason.
Glacial industry pace makes it hard to react
The games industry is slow to react to certain elements, and the development of the games themselves has become a lengthy, ever increasingly expensive process. It makes tackling things like “market shifts” or “industry trends” difficult to react to, with companies chasing what could be the next big thing.
In 2024, Sony released Concord on PlayStation and PC. The multiplayer shooter had been in development for several years. Sony then shut the game down two weeks after launch and refunded players due to a middling response from critics and a lack of interest from players due to an abundance of options, with plenty of free alternatives.
The studio behind Concord, Firewalk Studios, was shuttered with layoffs and reassignments taking place in October. Concord was part of Sony’s big “live service game” push, but this last week, reports have spread that titles planned have been scrapped.
Game developers appear to have hardened about AI
Developers are also concerned about the rise of generative AI. The tech has been criticized as a disruption to what some have said is “supposed to be art and expression of one’s imagination”.
Compared to 2024’s report, the negative sentiment has increased. 30% of developers now see that generative AI hurts the industry, while only 13% see a positive. These are both up and down from last year, where positive outweighed negative by 21% and 18%.
GDC also reports that “over half” of respondents have severe concerns, with it leaping from 42% to 51%. One quote states, “It can be a powerful tool, but people taking credit for work they did not do or using source code they do not understand can have consequences.”
Another said, “No matter how you put it, Generative AI isn’t a great replacement for real people and quality is going to be damaged.”
