Share of game developers using generative AI rises to 40 percent

Free-to-play and mobile-only studios lead adoption, while only 8 percent use the tools for production art or final assets.

A new GDC survey of game developers finds generative AI use rising: 40 percent now use it as part of their jobs, up from 36 percent last year, with higher rates among free-to-play developers at 58 percent and mobile-only studio staff at 70 percent. Research and brainstorming is the most common use at 73 percent, followed by data analysis and summarization at 62 percent and code generation and debugging at 56 percent, while only 8 percent use it for production art or final assets. A companion report built on responses from more than 2,600 game workers says layoffs continue, with 34 percent of survey respondents laid off at some point in the past two years, and that co-development services were used by 45 percent of studios in the past year. Professionals are more open to limited generative AI use, though many still reject it for creative and player-facing content, and the report also covers preparations for next-generation consoles, including Project Helix.