Majority of game devs believe the industry’s in a ‘bad’ state

It’s safe to say that 2024 has been a terrible year for the games industry. While from the outside, things might seem relatively okay – with new and great games coming out at a regular cadence – internally things are much more dire. In the wake of 10s of thousands of layoffs, studio closures and more, a majority of game developers believe the industry to be in a ‘bad’ state – due primarily to investors.

In a recent report by GameDeveloper.com, a survey was conducted by the Game Developer Collective in which over 600 devs were asked various questions regarding their thoughts on the current state of the industry.

When asked about “present market conditions for the industry overall,” 38% believe it to be ‘bad’ with a further 21% claiming it to be ‘very bad’.

Regarding current market conditions, aka the “unusually difficult commercial environment” including lay-offs and studio closures, 49% believe things will unfortunately stay the same in the medium term (next 6 months) – with a further 19% worrying it’ll only get worse.

Those who did have a negative opinion on the industry were then asked what they believe the root cause to be. 61% stated “unreasonable investor expectations” as the primary reason, with mismanagement coming in second.

None of this is necessarily new. One look at tech conglomerates such as Embracer Group or Microsoft will tell you all you need to know about the pursuit of profits and stock market value above all else. Hopefully things can and do change soon.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the 2023/24 lay-offs? What do you believe the root cause is? Let us know down below.

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