According to GDC’s 2020 report on the state of the game industry, more game developers are focusing on creating games for the PlayStation 5 than for the Xbox Series X or Nintendo Switch.
The report is comprised of responses from over 4,000 game developers from around the world, who were asked about their opinions and insights into a range of subjects such as Google Stadia, Apple Arcade, AR/VR, and cross-platform multiplayer.
The report showed that 19 percent of developers were planning to release their next project for Nintendo Switch, and 17 percent were planning to release for the Xbox Series X. However, 23 percent of developers said that they were developing their next game for the PlayStation 5.
The most-popular platform that developers are working on was PC, with 52 percent, and mobile was the second most-popular with 39 percent. Interestingly the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One families of consoles were tied at 20 percent, while only 8 percent were interested in developing for Google Stadia. Finally, 6 percent of developers said that they were developing for Microsoft’s Project xCloud.
10 percent of all the developers involved were confirmed to be working on games for next-generation consoles. Of that 10 percent, 11 percent are working on games for PlayStation 5, and 9 percent for Xbox Series X. A third of this 10 percent of developers, 34 percent of them in total, are also confirmed to be working on games that will span both current and next-generation consoles.
Half of the 10 percent of developers working on next-generation projects confirmed that their games would be exclusive to next-generation consoles. The large number of games that will still appear on current-generation consoles shows that developers are confident that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One aren’t going to become irrelevant anytime soon.
The report also asked developers what they thought of Steam’s 30 percent revenue cut from sales. Half of all the developers involved believed that the Epic Game Store’s revenue model is better, and will be the dominant platform long-term.
When it came to VR and AR, 27 percent of the developers said that they were interested in virtual reality, and 16 percent on augmented reality. Currently the Oculus Rift and Quest are the most popular platforms among developers, though they’re also incredibly popular among consumers too.