Discover the latest trends shaping the gaming landscape with insights from GDC's 2025 State of the Game Industry report. Dive in to understand where the industry is heading!
The 2025 State of the Game Industry Report
80 Percent of Game Devs Are Making Games for PC
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) highlighted a significant trend in its 2025 State of the Game Industry report, released on January 21, 2025: 80% of game developers are now focusing on PC game development. This annual survey provides a comprehensive overview of the industry's trends, challenges, and opportunities by gathering insights from developers globally.
The report indicates a notable shift, with the percentage of developers targeting PC rising from 66% last year to 80% this year—an increase of 14%. GDC suggests that the surge in PC game development may be influenced by the growing popularity of Valve's Steam Deck. While the Steam Deck wasn't explicitly listed as a development platform in the survey, 44% of those who selected 'Other' mentioned it as a platform they are interested in targeting.
Although PC has been labeled the "dominant platform" in previous reports, this year's data underscores its continued growth despite competition from user-generated content (UGC) platforms like Roblox and Minecraft, as well as the upcoming Nintendo Switch successor, dubbed Switch 2. The trend of focusing on PC development has been steadily increasing since 2020, when it stood at 56%.
Should this trend persist, we can anticipate a further expansion of the PC game library. However, the imminent release of the Switch 2, with its promised graphical and performance enhancements, might slightly alter this trajectory.
One-Third of Triple A Devs Works On Live Service Games
The report also sheds light on the trend towards live-service games, revealing that one-third (33%) of AAA developers are currently engaged in developing such titles. Expanding the scope to all respondents, 16% are working on live-service games, and 13% express interest in developing one, while 41% show no interest.
Developers who are keen on or currently working on live-service games appreciate the financial and community-building advantages these models offer. Conversely, those uninterested cite concerns such as declining player engagement, creative stagnation, predatory practices, microtransactions, and the risk of developer burnout.
GDC also points out that market oversaturation poses a significant challenge for live-service games, as maintaining a sustainable player base becomes increasingly difficult. A recent example is Ubisoft's XDefiant, which was shut down only six months post-launch.
Some Devs Underrepresented in GDC’s State of the Game Industry
On January 23, 2025, PC Gamer highlighted that the GDC report may not fully represent the global game development community, as nearly 70% of the survey's respondents hail from Western countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Notably, major game development nations like China, known for its mobile gaming market, and Japan were underrepresented in the survey.
This skewed demographic could potentially bias the report's findings, suggesting a need for broader representation to accurately depict the global state of the game industry.
