More game developers are starting to use generative AI

The GDC Festival of Gaming's latest annual industry survey found that 40 percent of developers say they use generative AI as part of their job, up from 36 percent in 2025, with higher usage among free-to-play developers (58 percent) and mobile-only studio workers (70 percent). Respondents most often used AI for research and brainstorming (73 percent), data analysis and summarization (62 percent), and code generation and debugging (56 percent), while 22 percent used it for concept art and 8 percent for production art or final game assets. The survey also reported that 34 percent of respondents said they had been laid off sometime in the past two years.