Developers are creating games for PS6 and Xbox Helix, and 40% of professionals use AI tools daily, according to the new State of the Game Industry report prepared for the GDC conference.
The study revealed an ongoing employment crisis in the gaming industry. Over the past 24 months, 34% of surveyed developers lost their jobs, with 39% of them residing in the US. Finding a new position is not easy either: 27% of professionals sent out more than 100 resumes, and 54% of those laid off are still unemployed.
The report also revealed interesting information about the next generation of consoles. Already 10% of developers plan to release games for PS6, and 8% for Xbox Helix. Likely, these are projects that will also be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The study's authors note that Sony and Microsoft are preparing new consoles, with releases expected in the next one to four years.
PC remains the main platform for developers, targeted by 81% of respondents. Among consoles, PS5 and PS5 Pro lead with 45%. Interest in VR and AR continues to decline: only 3% of study participants are making games for virtual reality, compared to 8% a year earlier.
Among game engines, Unreal Engine 5 leads with 35%, followed by Unity with 28%, in-house studio developments with 23%, and Godot with 11%.
The spread of generative AI is specifically noted. 40% of respondents use such tools in their daily game development work. A year ago, this figure stood at 36%.