GDC’s 2024 State of the Game Industry report captured a profession under strain but not defined by layoffs alone: surveyed developers also reported ethical concerns about generative AI, shifting engine choices, wider accessibility efforts and growing interest in adapting games for other media. The findings are a snapshot of more than 3,000 game industry professionals surveyed October 11–29, 2023—not a measure of the industry in 2026 or a census of all game workers.
GDC and Game Developer worked with Omdia on the 12th annual report, published in January 2024. Its percentages describe respondents’ answers; the available findings do not establish a probability sample representative of every game worker. That distinction matters especially for employment figures: the report measures what participants said they experienced, not the total number of jobs lost.
Layoffs affected more respondents than were personally laid off
Asked about the previous 12 months, 35% said layoffs had affected them or their company. That broad category includes personal job loss, colleagues losing jobs, and layoffs elsewhere in an organization. Separately, 56% were at least slightly concerned that their company could have layoffs in the next 12 months.
| Survey response | Share of respondents | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Personally laid off | 7% | Respondents said they had lost their own jobs. |
| Colleagues laid off | 17% | Respondents reported layoffs affecting colleagues. |
| Layoffs in other teams or departments | 11% | Respondents had seen layoffs elsewhere in their organization. |
| Affected by layoffs, overall | 35% | A broad measure of exposure, not a personal-layoff rate or a count of workers. |
| At least slightly concerned about layoffs in the next 12 months | 56% | Respondents’ concern about possible future layoffs at their company. |
The individual categories add to the overall 35% in the report’s breakdown, but they describe different kinds of exposure. They should not be collapsed into a claim that 35% of workers were laid off. A respondent quoted anonymously in the report connected the cuts with pandemic-era expansion and reduced consumer spending during a cost-of-living crisis; that comment illustrates one participant’s explanation, not a demonstrated cause of layoffs across the industry.
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Omdia Research Director Dom Tait wrote, “Studios grew too quickly during the pandemic.” That is Tait’s assessment in the report’s researcher note, not proof that one cause explains every job cut.
AI expectations were mixed, while ethical concern was widespread
The report’s two generative-AI findings measure different things. Asked about the technology’s impact on the game industry, 57% expected a mixed impact, 21% a positive one and 18% a negative one. Separately, 84% said they were somewhat or very concerned about ethical use.
Open responses raised concerns about job displacement, credit, copyright and consent in training data. These are concerns voiced by respondents; the survey did not measure how many jobs AI had actually displaced. The results therefore show neither a consensus that AI will help nor evidence of realized industry-wide job losses from the technology.
Unity and Unreal led primary engine use, but switching was on developers’ minds
Unity and Unreal Engine each accounted for 33% of respondents’ primary toolsets. One-third said they had considered switching engines or had already switched, while almost half had not considered switching. The report placed the question amid debate about engine policies and pricing.
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Primary engine use and switching consideration are separate measures: the latter does not mean that one-third had completed a move. Nor do the reported shares establish which engine was planned for future projects.
Accessibility measures were more commonly reported than the year before
In the 2024 report, 48% said their company had implemented accessibility measures in current projects, compared with 38% in the 2023 report. Respondents cited features such as closed captions, colorblind modes, remappable controls, content warnings and accessible controls.
This is a comparison of reported implementation in projects, not a finding that every released game became more accessible. The increase is meaningful as a change in survey responses, but it does not by itself establish the breadth, quality or effectiveness of the features.
Social media remained a common promotional tool despite frustration with X
Word-of-mouth and social media were each used as marketing methods by 86% of respondents. Twitter/X was the most-used platform named, even as open-response comments analyzed by Omdia were overwhelmingly negative.
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|---|---|
| Twitter/X | 76% |
| YouTube/Shorts | 64% |
| 63% | |
| 61% |
Omdia’s analysis found that 97% of open-response mentions about Twitter/X were negative. That is the share of analyzed mentions, not of all respondents. Taken together, the findings point to continued use alongside dissatisfaction—not wholesale abandonment of the platform.
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Game adaptations drew interest, but discussion was more common than completed work
One in ten respondents said their company’s game had been or was being adapted into film, episodic television or other media; among AAA respondents, the figure was 26%. A broader 38% said an adaptation had been discussed, approached, pitched or undertaken. Those figures distinguish projects in the adaptation process from the much smaller group reporting an adaptation underway or completed.
Asked whether the rise in game adaptations was good for the industry, 63% said yes, 26% said maybe and 4% said no. The remaining share is not specified in the findings summarized here.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Blockchain interest fell, and digital premium was the most reported business model
Seventeen percent said their studios were somewhat or very interested in blockchain, down from 27% in 2023; 77% said their studios were not interested. For current project business models, respondents most often reported digital premium games, followed by free-to-download games and DLC or updates.
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| Current project model | Share reported |
|---|---|
| Digital premium | 51% |
| Free-to-download | 32% |
| DLC or updates | 24% |
| Physical premium | 21% |
These are survey responses about respondents’ projects, not shares of game-industry revenue or market share. The report also covered work hours, sustainability, remote work, diversity initiatives and unionization, but the findings summarized here do not provide figures for those subjects.
How to read the report now
The report is useful as a dated record of what surveyed professionals said in late 2023: job insecurity was widely felt, views of AI’s impact were divided even as ethical concerns were common, and respondents reported activity in accessibility and adaptations. It should not be presented as a current 2026 measure. For year-to-year comparisons, the report’s question wording, response options, field dates and respondent mix all matter; different measures—such as personal layoffs versus organizational exposure, or adaptation pitches versus adaptations underway—are not interchangeable.
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