Survey Reveals AI Is Still Controversial in Game Development

In the last year or so, we have covered at least two game industry worker surveys—one from the GDC and the other from Skillsearch—that found that generative AI remains a divisive topic within the industry. A more recent Gamescom Dev Speaker Survey has echoed previous findings, although there is a lot of agreement that AI is changing the game development landscape at some level, regardless of how popular or unpopular it has become.

The survey contained a number of questions about AI usage in games. When asked about which industry development would have the biggest impact in the following three years, AI-assisted development came back as the top response, with 47% of developers voting for that option. The current RAM crisis was a distant second, with only 28% of the votes. "Code and Production" came up as the area where developers saw the most value in generative AI, but 30% stated that they "would like to see as little AI involvement in game development as possible."