PS4 and Xbox One Gaining Popularity With Devs, Study Shows

The organizing body behind the Game Developers Conference on Thursday released the results of its third annual GDC State of the Industry study, which highlights a number of key industry trends and statistics.
Based on responses from more than 2,000 North America developers, this year's State of the Industry research shows that development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is on the rise, digital and microtransactions are proving more lucrative, and that developers are gravitating towards eSports.
Below are some key takeaways from the survey, broken down into categories.

PS4 and Xbox One:

• 26 percent of surveyed developers said they are currently working on a PS4 game, up from 14 percent last year.
• 22 percent said they are currently working on an Xbox One game, up from 12 percent last year.
• 29 percent of developers said they expect their next game to come to PS4, while 24 percent said their next game will launch for Xbox One. This compares to 20 percent and 17 percent, respectively, last year.

PC Gaming:

• PC gaming still reigns supreme in terms of platform choice, as 56 percent of respondents said their current game will come to PC.
• 53 percent of those polled said they expect their next game to launch for PC.

Smartphone and Tablet:

• 50 percent of those surveyed said their current game will launch for smartphones or tablets, compared to 53 and 52 percent, respectively, last year.
• 48 percent of those surveyed said their next game will launch for smartphone or tablet.

Business:

• 29 percent said they made most of their profits from direct sales to consumers or digital sales.
• 21 percent said microtransactions were their primary source of profit.
• 13 percent said the majority of their company's profits came from traditional retail sales.
• 19 percent said they didn't record a profit, were non-profit, or didn't know where the majority of their profit came from.
• 41 percent said profits were higher in 2014, 9 percent said profits were higher in 2013, 20 percent said profits were flat year-over-year, and 28 percent said they were unsure.

Staffing:

• 44 percent said their staff grew in 2014.
• 15 percent said their staff numbers fell during 2014.
• 1 percent said their company closed entirely.
• 38 percent said their headcount was unchanged in 2014.

eSports:

• 12 percent of polled developers said they are working on a game they would consider to be an eSports title.
• 79 percent of respondents said they think eSports is a "long-term, sustainable business."

The 2015 Game Developers Conference takes place March 2-6 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. GameSpot will bring you all the news as it happens.

Friday, January 16, 2015