The 2025 State of the Game Industry Report

80 Percent of Game Devs Are Making Games for PC

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) unveiled a significant shift in the gaming landscape with its 2025 State of the Game Industry report, released on January 21, 2025. The annual survey, which captures insights from developers globally, indicates a robust trend toward PC game development. According to the report, a striking 80% of game developers are now focusing on creating games for PC, marking a 14% increase from the 66% reported in the previous year.

The report speculates that this surge may be partly driven by the growing popularity of Valve's Steam Deck. Although the Steam Deck wasn't listed as a specific development platform in the survey, 44% of developers who selected the 'Other' option mentioned it as a platform they are interested in targeting.

Historically, PC has been a dominant platform in the gaming industry, with its market share growing from 56% in 2020 to 66% in 2024. If this trend continues, we can expect an even more extensive library of games available on PC. However, the upcoming release of the Switch 2, with its enhanced graphics and performance, may influence this trend, potentially shifting some developer focus.

One-Third of Triple A Devs Works On Live Service Games

The GDC report also highlighted a significant interest in live-service games among AAA developers, with one-third (33%) currently working on such titles. Expanding the scope to all respondents, 16% are actively developing live-service games, and 13% are interested in doing so. Conversely, 41% of developers expressed no interest in creating live-service games.

Those engaged with live-service games appreciate the financial and community-building advantages they offer. On the other hand, critics cite concerns such as declining player interest, creative stagnation, predatory practices, microtransactions, and the risk of developer burnout. The report also pointed out that market oversaturation is a critical challenge for live-service games, as seen with Ubisoft's decision to shut down XDefiant just six months after its launch.

Some Devs Underrepresented in GDC’s State of the Game Industry

On January 23, 2025, PC Gamer highlighted a notable issue with the GDC report: the underrepresentation of developers from non-Western countries. The survey's respondent pool was heavily skewed, with nearly 70% coming from Western nations such as the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Notably absent were developers from China, a major player in mobile gaming, and Japan.

This skewed representation may mean that the report's findings primarily reflect the views and experiences of Western developers, potentially not fully capturing the global state of the game industry.