According to a survey conducted by Gamescom Dev speakers, artificial intelligence is anticipated to influence team structure and productivity in the gaming industry

Image credit: Gamescom

Gamescom Dev's yearly speaker survey indicates that 83% of participants foresee AI affecting how teams are organized or their efficiency levels.

Among 100 surveyed speakers, nearly 50% pointed out that AI-supported development will be the most notable industry trend in the next three years. This prediction is followed by the influence of hardware and RAM costs (28%), the creator economy (7%), and user-generated content (5%).

Preference for limited AI role in development dropped to 30% from last year's 33%, while 34% of the respondents believe AI will most significantly enhance code creation and production.

When discussing AI's effects on jobs, 36% expect changes in roles rather than fewer team members, and 33% foresee smaller teams. Meanwhile, 14% predict that individual productivity will rise, and 17% do not foresee any reduction in workforce size.

The survey identifies economic uncertainty as the foremost challenge for the industry, with market saturation (38%), discoverability (35%), and escalating development costs (30%) also being major concerns.

To boost discoverability, the survey participants suggested increased transparency in platform algorithms (32%), enhanced store recommendations (22%), and more tailored editorial features (21%).

Looking to the future, 37% see smaller teams as a major opportunity, with community engagement and new publishing models each receiving 15% support.

Opinions on the dominating business or monetization model in the next three years are varied.

The survey shows digital and physical premium games leading at 29%, with live service models (24%) and free-to-play games with in-game purchases (21%) following.