The Game Developers Conference has released its State of Games Industry survey for 2024 revealing some interesting information.
80 percent of video game developers surveyed stated they worked on making games for PC in 2024, which is up from 66 percent in 2023. This is well above consoles with 37 percent of developers working on games for the PlayStation 5 and 33 percent on the Xbox Series X|S.
“Last year, 66% of developers reported that they were working on games for PC; this year, that number climbed up to 80%,” reads the report. “While the reason for this is unclear, it could be at least partially attributed to the rising popularity of Valve’s Steam Deck. While the Steam Deck wasn’t specifically listed as an option for developers to list as a platform they’re developing games for, of the respondents who chose the ‘Other’ option, 44% of them wrote in Steam Deck as a platform they’re interested in.”
In bad news for the gaming industry, 41 percent of developers were impacted in some way by layoffs in 2024, which is up from 35 percent in 2023.
“According to this year’s survey, 11% of developers reported being laid off in the past year,” reads the report. “Roles in the Narrative field saw the most impact, with 19% of respondents. Business and Finance saw the least reported layoffs, impacting only 6% of respondents.
“41% have reported feeling the impact of these layoffs, with 29% observing their direct colleagues being let go and 18% witnessing developers on other teams being let go. 4% reported being laid off due to their studios being closed down.
“When asked about what reason developers were given for these layoffs, 22% were told it was due to restructuring, 18% cited declining revenues and 15% were due to market or industry shifts. Interestingly, 19% were not given a reason for the layoffs they observed.”
13 percent of developers are focusing on games that are coming to Xbox Game Pass, while it is nine percent for PlayStation Plus.
One-third of AAA developers are working on live service games, while 41 percent have no interest at all in that type of game.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
Full Article – https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463737/80-of-developers-in-2024-worked-on-games-for-pc-37-on-ps5-and-33-on-xbox-series-xs/
