A November GDC survey finds that 40% of game industry workers have used AI in their jobs, yet 55% believe AI will have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.
- 40% of the more than 2,600 game workers surveyed said they have used AI at work.
- Business operations staff use it most (63%), followed by marketing and PR (51%) and programmers (48%).
- 70% of mobile studio staff use AI, compared with just 29% at long-established indie studios.
- 55% say AI hurts the game industry, 35% have mixed views, and only 8% see its impact as positive.
Table of Contents
AI use by role and studio type
In the November GDC State of the Game Industry survey, the organization polled more than 2,600 people working across different areas of game development. The results show that 40% use generative AI in their work. Business operations and services lead with 63%. Marketing and PR reach 51%, while programmers come in at 48%.
Adoption varies noticeably by studio type. Staff at long-established indie studios use AI the least, at just 29%. Premium game developers are also low, at 32%. By contrast, 58% of free-to-play developers use AI, and mobile studios reach as high as 70%.
Company policies and how AI is used
Company policies also differ considerably. Some 23% of respondents said their studio bans AI outright. Another 17% are encouraged to use it, 12% can decide for themselves, and 11% are advised to limit it. Only 1% are required to use it.
Among those who already use AI, 57% do so every day. The most common task is text generation at 72%, followed by writing code at 62%. Image generation accounts for just 22%, and video generation is lowest at 7%.
What game developers think
Despite the widespread use, overall sentiment toward AI still leans negative. 55% of respondents say AI will harm the game industry. Another 35% hold mixed views, and only 8% see its impact as positive.
Supporters point to benefits such as faster work, lower costs, and less tedious manual labor. Opponents worry that AI will replace people. They also argue that it erodes developers' self-expression and reduces creativity in both design and development.
The numbers point to a paradox: many people use AI every day even though they don't trust its effect on the industry. This suggests AI is seen as a support tool for text and code tasks rather than something that changes the creative process. These are self-reported survey results, so readers should treat them as a general trend, not as exact figures for the entire industry.
Source: TechPowerUp
Reviewed by: Hero Association
