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GDC’s 2025 State of the Game Industry survey found that 11% of respondents had been laid off in the prior year, while 30% believed generative AI was negatively affecting the games industry. At the same time, 52% said their company had implemented generative AI and 36% said they personally used it. These are survey responses—not a count of industry-wide job losses or proof that most developers opposed AI.
What the 2025 GDC survey measured
GDC said more than 3,000 game developers and industry professionals took part in its 2025 survey, which had a stated margin of error of ±2%. GDC worked with Omdia and Game Developer to analyze the data. The published figures describe respondents’ answers; they should not be read as a census of every person working in games. The summary does not provide enough information about sampling and weighting to establish how representative the respondents were of the whole workforce. GDC’s 2025 survey summary
How many respondents reported layoffs?
Eleven percent said they had been laid off in the preceding year. The rate varied by role: Narrative respondents reported the highest share, 19%, while Business and Finance respondents reported the lowest, 6%. Four percent said they had been laid off because their studio closed. These percentages describe respondents’ reported experiences, not the total number of jobs eliminated across the games industry. GDC’s 2025 survey summary
Layoffs affected more people than those who lost jobs
Forty-one percent said they felt the impact of layoffs. That includes 29% who saw direct colleagues lose jobs and 18% who saw developers on other teams let go; the categories may overlap. Respondents who observed layoffs most commonly cited restructuring (22%), declining revenue (18%) and market or industry shifts (15%). Nineteen percent said no reason was given for layoffs they observed. These are reported reasons, not an accounting of every layoff.
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AI adoption and negative sentiment coexisted
The 2025 results distinguish three different measures: company implementation, personal use and perceived industry impact. Fifty-two percent worked at companies that had implemented generative AI, and 36% said they personally used these tools. Separately, 30% believed generative AI was having a negative impact on the games industry. That is a substantial skeptical response, but it is not a majority, and it does not mean 30% opposed every use of AI. GDC’s 2025 survey summary
Among respondents who personally used generative AI, reported use was highest in Business and Finance (51%), followed by Production and Team Leadership (41%) and Community, Marketing and PR (39%). GDC listed concerns including intellectual property theft, energy use, the quality of AI-generated content, potential bias and regulation. Adoption at a company, an individual’s use and a judgment about the industry’s effects are related but not interchangeable measures.
What changed in GDC’s 2026 survey?
GDC’s 2026 survey summary says 52% of respondents believed generative AI was negatively affecting the industry, compared with 30% in the 2025 report and 18% in the prior survey year. That is an increase in reported negative sentiment across survey years; the summary does not establish why views changed. The 2026 survey covered more than 2,300 game-industry professionals, expanded its range of roles and included a smaller group of students, so the two surveys should not be treated as identical samples. GDC’s 2026 survey summary
The layoff figures also use different time windows. In 2026, 28% said they had been laid off in the prior two years; among US respondents, the figure was 33%. Half said their current or most recent employer had conducted layoffs in the prior 12 months. The 28% two-year personal-experience figure cannot be directly compared with the 2025 survey’s 11% prior-year figure as if they measured the same period.
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Other pressures and project choices in the 2025 results
PC and browser development
Eighty percent of respondents said they were working on PC games, up from 66% in the prior survey. GDC said the reason for the increase was unclear and mentioned interest in Steam Deck only as a possible partial explanation. Browser-game development was reported by 16%, compared with 10% the prior year and 11% the year before. These figures describe respondents’ work, not market share or the number of games released. GDC’s 2025 survey summary
Live-service projects drew mixed responses
Sixteen percent of the full respondent group said they were working on live-service games, including 33% of surveyed AAA developers. Another 13% expressed interest in developing one, while 41% said they were not interested. Respondents cited possible financial and community-building advantages, alongside concerns about player interest, creative stagnation, predatory practices, microtransactions, burnout and market oversaturation.
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Self-funding was common among respondents
Fifty-six percent said they had put their own money into creating their game, while 28% cited project-based or publishing deals. Among respondents who reported self-funding, 89% called it at least somewhat successful. These are survey responses about individual projects, not a recommendation or guarantee about the financial prospects of self-funding. GDC’s 2025 survey summary
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