PS5, Switch Game Dev Takes a Back Seat as 80% of Devs Focus on PC

The Game Developers Conference (GDC)'s 2025 State of the Game Industry report reveals a significant shift in development focus: 80% of game developers are prioritizing PC as their primary platform. Let's delve into the key trends highlighted in this year's report.

The 2025 State of the Game Industry Report

PC Dominates: 80% of Developers Target the Platform

GDC's January 21, 2025 report unveiled a striking statistic: a remarkable 80% of game developers are currently creating games for PC. This represents a substantial 14% increase from the 66% reported in 2024. While the exact reasons remain unclear, the report suggests a possible correlation with the rising popularity of Valve's Steam Deck. Although not explicitly listed as a development platform in the survey, 44% of respondents who selected "Other" specified the Steam Deck as a platform of interest.

Last year's report already identified PC as the dominant platform, even amidst the growth of user-generated content (UGC) platforms like Roblox and Minecraft, and the anticipation surrounding the Switch 2 (formerly known as the Nintendo Switch successor). This trend, however, is not new; PC's dominance has steadily grown from 56% in 2020. The continued focus on PC suggests an even larger library of PC games in the future. However, the upcoming release of the Switch 2, with its promised graphical and performance enhancements, could potentially introduce some shifts in this trend.

Live Service Games: A Third of AAA Developers Dive In

The report also highlights the prevalence of live service games within the AAA development sphere. A significant one-third (33%) of AAA developers are currently working on a live service title. Expanding the survey to all respondents, 16% are actively developing live service games, with another 13% expressing interest. Conversely, 41% stated no interest in developing this type of game.

Developers currently working on live service games cite the financial benefits and community-building potential as key motivators. Conversely, those uninterested point to challenges such as declining player interest, creative stagnation, concerns about predatory practices and microtransactions, and the risk of developer burnout.

GDC emphasizes "market oversaturation" as a significant hurdle for live service games, highlighting the difficulty in maintaining a sustainable player base. The recent closure of Ubisoft's XDefiant, just six months after launch, serves as a stark example of this challenge.

Geographic Representation: A Western-Centric View?

A January 23, 2025 report by PC Gamer raises concerns about the geographical representation within GDC's survey. Nearly 70% of respondents hailed from Western countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia). Notable absences include China, a significant player in the mobile gaming market, and Japan.

This skewed representation suggests the report's findings may primarily reflect the perspectives and experiences of Western developers, potentially not fully capturing the global state of the game industry.