Last Sunday saw game developers gather at Devcom 2024 in Cologne, Germany, ahead of Gamescom. The convention featured 100 speakers, who took a survey about various game development aspects, including the application of AI and monetization. The responses were illuminating, though not entirely surprising.
The survey reveals how the answers to one query can influence another. Amid the conversation on AI, for example, 31% of developers prefer sparing usage, while 21% consider it for coding and production, and 18% for marketing and communication. Some even envisage it replacing human translation and localization teams in the subsequent two years—which we hope won’t happen (evidenced by Google Translate’s poor performance after years of existence). Taking these responses into consideration, 57% expect layoffs to persist or increase within the next year.
Two more queries that might interest players pertain to the desired business model for games and the economic viability of triple-A games. Despite ongoing trends in both areas, most developers (65%) appreciate physical premium games. Only one developer supported the free-to-play with ads model.
Further, 89% of respondents feel that triple-A games can thrive as purely buy-to-play products, suggesting that microtransactions aren’t a prerequisite for a successful game. An unexpected revelation indeed.
