Game Developers Are Worried About AI, But Studios Are Using It Anyway

A growing number of game studios are using generative AI, but not everyone at those studios is actually on board. A survey managed by the organizers of the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) found that more studios used AI to create games in 2024 than in 2023. While the increase itself isn’t substantial, the survey highlights a sustained insistence from industry leadership that AI play a role in game development, despite workers’ mounting concerns about its impact on the field.
The State of the Game Industry survey rolled out ahead of GDC 2025, which takes place in San Francisco this March. More than 3,000 developers and industry professionals from around the world answered questions about layoffs, platform focus, virtual reality, Hollywood adaptations, and AI. Though 35% of surveyed professionals reported working solo or in a team of 5 or under, a majority of those surveyed worked at studios with more than 10 employees, with about a fifth of respondents working for brands with more than 500 employees.
Of those who answered the survey, 52% said they had worked at studios that used AI in 2024. Slightly more than one-third of respondents said they personally used generative AI tools, while 16% said their colleagues used them. Another 9% reported that their studios wanted to try generative AI at work, but hadn’t yet done so.
It’s unclear how many of the 36% who personally used generative AI were happily doing so, or were merely required to use it to keep their jobs. The survey results indicate that 9% of developers worked at studios in which AI tools are mandated; another 35% belonged to studios in which generative AI was optional. Only 20% worked at studios where generative AI was either outright prohibited or selectively disallowed, depending on the tool. 
According to last year’s State of the Game Industry survey, 49% of developers worked at studios that used generative AI in 2023 (the year before the survey). This means the last year has brought a modest bump in usage—or, with nearly 2 in 3 respondents indicating that their studio had either shut down or laid off workers, more developers are moving to studios that happen to use generative AI. Either way, this year’s results indicate that industry leaders are still committed to using AI in the development process, despite the fairly widespread impression last year that AI had simply been a fad.
Many of the people who work at AI-equipped studios aren’t thrilled about their algorithmic colleagues. Nearly a third of this year’s survey respondents indicated that they expected AI to have a negative effect on the game industry, compared with last year’s 18%. And while one in every five respondents thought AI would have a positive impact in 2024, 2025’s respondents are less optimistic, with only 13% anticipating an overall benefit. 
“Generative AI isn’t a great replacement for real people, and quality is going to be damaged,” one respondent said. Another said that studios “should use generative AI to help people be faster at their jobs, not lose them”—a sore subject, given one in 10 game developers were laid off last year.
One person from within the industry even said they held a PhD in AI and had helped develop some of the algorithms used by generative AI platforms. “I deeply regret how naively I offered up my contributions,” they said.
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