A survey conducted at Gamescom Dev highlights potential effects of AI on team organization and productivity

According to the latest annual speaker survey by Gamescom Dev, a significant 83% of participants anticipate that artificial intelligence will influence either the structure or efficiency of teams.

AI-assisted development is considered the top trend for the forthcoming three years by nearly 50% of the 100 speakers involved in the survey. This is followed by concerns over hardware and memory prices (28%), the creator economy (7%), and user-generated content (5%).

While 30% want AI to have a minimal role in development, down from 33% the previous year, 34% see significant benefits in using AI for coding and production processes.

In terms of job impact, 36% foresee AI altering job roles rather than reducing team sizes, whereas 33% expect leaner teams. Meanwhile, 14% predict enhanced personal productivity, and 17% do not expect reductions in workforce size.

Economic instability is identified by over half of those surveyed as the foremost industry challenge, with market saturation (38%), product discoverability (35%), and rising development costs (30%) following closely.

To tackle discoverability issues, respondents emphasize the need for more transparent platform algorithms (32%), enhanced storefront suggestions (22%), and increased curated editorial content (21%).

Looking towards the future, 37% believe that smaller development teams present the biggest opportunity, with community engagement and innovative publishing models each garnering 15% of responses.

Opinions on the prevailing business or monetization model for the coming three years remain varied among respondents.

The survey indicates that digital and physical premium games are predicted to lead at 29%, trailed by live service models (24%) and free-to-play options with in-game purchases (21%).