More game developers are using generative AI than they did last year

According to the GDC Festival of Gaming's latest annual industry survey, 40 percent of game developers now use generative AI as part of their job, up from 36 percent in 2025. Usage is highest among free-to-play developers at 58 percent and mobile-only studio workers at 70 percent. The survey comes as the industry continues to debate generative AI: many developers, especially indie ones, have spoken out against it, while AI was central to indie awards discussions because House House "sparingly" used LLMs during the final stretch of Big Walk's development, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma suggested AI will be central to Xbox's future. Among respondents, 73 percent used AI for research and brainstorming, 62 percent for data analysis and summarization, 56 percent for code generation and debugging, 22 percent for concept art or visual ideation, and 8 percent for production art or final game assets. The survey also reported grim layoff figures, with 34 percent of respondents saying they had been laid off at some point in the past two years.

(Source：The Verge)