The 2025 Game Developers Conference (GDC) State of the Game Industry report revealed a significant trend: a whopping 80% of game developers are prioritizing PC as their primary development platform. This represents a 14% increase from the 66% reported in 2024, solidifying the PC's position as the dominant platform in game development. While the exact reasons remain unclear, the report suggests the rising popularity of Valve's Steam Deck may be a contributing factor, with 44% of respondents citing the Steam Deck as a platform of interest among those who selected "Other" options in the survey.
This continued dominance of PC builds upon a trend observed since 2020, where PC development increased from 56% to its current level. While the emergence of user-generated content (UGC) platforms like Roblox and Minecraft, and the anticipated release of the Switch 2, present potential challenges, the PC's current market share suggests a strong continued presence for PC gaming. The ongoing expansion of the PC game library further reinforces this trend.
The GDC report also highlighted the prevalence of live-service games within the AAA development sector. A third (33%) of AAA developers are currently working on live-service titles, driven by the perceived financial benefits and community engagement opportunities. However, among all respondents, only 16% are actively developing live-service games, with 13% expressing interest and 41% showing no interest. Those opposed cited concerns including declining player interest, creative limitations, potentially predatory practices, microtransactions, and developer burnout. The report further emphasizes the issue of market oversaturation within the live-service sector, exemplified by recent high-profile game closures like Ubisoft's XDefiant, highlighting the challenges of maintaining sustainable player bases.
A subsequent report by PC Gamer on January 23, 2025, raised concerns about the geographical representation within the GDC survey. Nearly 70% of respondents hailed from Western countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia), with notable underrepresentation from regions like China (a major mobile gaming hub) and Japan. This geographical bias could potentially skew the findings and limit the report's ability to fully reflect the global state of the game industry.
