A new survey conducted by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) reveals a significant majority of game industry professionals hold a negative view regarding the influence of generative artificial intelligence on the sector. According to the GDC report, fifty-two percent of respondents stated that gen AI is having a “negative” impact, contrasting sharply with only seven percent who reported a “positive” effect.
This level of apprehension has substantially escalated over time, according to the data presented. In 2024, only eighteen percent of those surveyed considered the technology negative, a figure that rose to thirty percent in 2025 before reaching the current majority. The GDC polled two thousand three hundred game industry professionals to compile these results, though organizers noted the demographic composition—predominantly male, white, and US-based—is not fully representative of the global community.
Despite the pronounced negative sentiment, thirty-six percent of respondents reported currently utilizing generative AI in their professional roles. Among those users, the primary applications involved research and brainstorming, cited by eighty-one percent, and administrative duties such as email management by forty-seven percent.
More development-centric uses remain relatively niche, with thirty-five percent employing AI for prototyping and nineteen percent for asset generation. Only five percent of the utilizing group confirmed using gen AI for “player-facing features,” suggesting cautious, internal deployment rather than broad integration into final products.
These findings emerge while executives at major publishing houses, including EA and Krafton, publicly advocate for AI integration within game production pipelines. The survey also highlighted significant workforce instability, with seventeen percent of respondents reporting layoffs within the preceding twelve months, and twenty-eight percent experiencing job loss over the last two years.
This economic uncertainty contributes to a pervasive sense of apprehension among developers regarding future stability. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed anticipate further layoffs in the coming year, while thirty percent remain uncertain about the immediate outlook for the industry.
Furthermore, educators and students within the game development pipeline express similar concerns about career prospects. Sixty percent of surveyed educational representatives expect the current industry climate will impede job acquisition for new graduates, underscoring broader structural anxieties coinciding with the rise of AI integration.
