GDC survey: Developers say genAI will hurt industry, back unions, shun Xbox

The Game Developers Conference, renamed the GDC Festival of Gaming, released its annual survey ahead of the San Francisco event in early March, with responses from over 2,300 industry professionals showing rising concern about genAI, growing union support, platform shifts and widespread layoffs, according to GDC.

A majority of respondents now believe generative AI will have a negative impact on the game industry: 52 percent said genAI would hurt the industry, up sharply from a year earlier, while only 7 percent said it would have a positive impact (down from 13 percent in 2024). The report also notes that basic adoption—such as using genAI to write emails—is increasing despite the pessimism.

Platform plans appear to be shifting away from Xbox: roughly 40 percent of developers said they were interested in making their next game for PlayStation 5 or Switch 2, while only about 20 percent planned to bring it to Xbox Series X/S, down from 34 percent last year. PC remains the most popular platform, and the survey notes, "Maybe that’s why Microsoft is pivoting to it." Support for unionization is surging among U.S.-based developers: over 80 percent said they support unions and 62 percent said they were interested in joining one, but only 13 percent reported currently being in a union.

The survey highlights successful drives at Microsoft-owned subsidiaries tied to a neutrality clause and notes unions have struggled at other big publishers such as Electronic Arts and 2K Games.

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