The Recreation Builders Convention, now rebranded as the GDC Competition of Gaming, has launched its 2026 State Of The Recreation Industry survey, revealing a broad vary of insights from professionals throughout totally different sectors.
The survey was run by GDC operator Informa in partnership with analysis agency Omadia, supported by the editorial crew at Informa outlet Recreation Developer. It was accomplished by 2,300 industry professionals, a 23% drop YoY which GDC’s Beth Elderkin attributed to launching later in the yr as a consequence of the occasion’s controversial rebrand. 62% of respondents work at recreation corporations or studios, with 45% of these at unbiased studios, 31% at AAA studios, 18% at AA studios, and 6% at co-development studios.
Layoffs remained a big problem, with 28% of respondents having skilled a layoff in the final two years, elevating to 33% for builders inside the United States. 17% had been laid off in the final 12 months, in comparison with 11% the earlier yr and 7% for the 2024 survey. Elderkin pointed that the true determine may very well be even increased as a result of some respondents may have been laid off a number of occasions throughout the interval.
Recreation designers, together with narrative designers, had been worst hit, with 20% shedding their jobs, whereas these in enterprise operations and providers suffered the least at 8%. 48% of those that had been laid off haven’t discovered one other job but. These at AAA studios had been extra prone to have encountered layoffs, with two-thirds saying their firm had undergone them, in comparison with solely a 3rd of indie studios. Of the college students who responded to the survey, 74% had been involved about their future job prospects in the recreation industry on account of layoffs.
Unionisation curiosity rising
Maybe relatedly, curiosity in becoming a member of a union has elevated. The survey solely polled US respondents on account of differing worldwide laws, however 82% of these supported unionization for recreation industry employees, with 5% opposed and 13% are not sure. The query construction was up to date for the 2026 survey so a direct comparability cannot be made to final yr. Support for unionisation was highest amongst employees incomes underneath $200,000 a yr (87%), those that’d been laid off throughout the previous two years (88%), and individuals youthful than 45 years previous (86%). No 18 to 24-year-olds had been against unionization.
For the first time the survey requested recipients in the event that they had been members of a union: 2% stated that they had been half of a company-specific union, 10% had been half of an industry-wide union, and 62% weren’t in a union however in becoming a member of one.
AI use grows, however so does backlash
36% of respondents stated that they used AI in their work, though uptake diverse between disciplines. These at recreation studios reported using AI instruments (30%) lower than these at publishing corporations, support groups, and advertising and marketing/PR corporations (58%). Enterprise professionals utilization at 58% far outweighs most different job disciplines. 47% of higher administration reported using AI instruments, whereas solely 29% of extra junior positions reported doing so. Studio administrators sat in the center, with 36% reporting AI utilization.
The sentiment in opposition to generative AI continues to rise: 52% of the respondents stated that generative AI was having a damaging impression on the industry, a gentle improve from 30% in the 2025 survey and 18% in 2024. Employees in visible and technical arts (64%), recreation design and narrative (63%), and recreation programming (59%) had been most strongly opposed.
7% of respondents stated generative AI was having a optimistic impression on the recreation industry, down from 13% in 2025. Of that group, the support was highest for executives and these in enterprise operations and providers (19% every). Evaluation of all responses confirmed some support for using AI instruments for non-creative duties like code help or prototyping, however 30% of the responses had been against using AI instruments in any capability, citing knowledge sourcing, vitality consumption, and the threat of AI changing jobs.
Unreal outpaces Unity
New for this yr was a transparent growth lead for Unreal Engine, which 42% of recipients listed as the main engine used for recreation growth vs 30% on Unity. Elderkin stated this may very well be on account of a change in survey methodology, which meant that the query was solely offered to those that stated they labored in growth roles.
Unreal Engine adoption was increased AA (59%) and AAA (47%) studios, together with newer indies at 41%. 54% of builders at older indie studios are nonetheless using Unity. There was a better use of Unity by these making free-to-play video games (38%) in comparison with premium video games (28%). Godot was being utilized by 11% of newer indie builders however much less so at extra established studios.