Five takeaways from GDC 2025

Another year, another GDC is complete. This year's show could be summed up by an industry in transition that continues to deal with the fallout of mass layoffs in what has been a challenging market. There were no major announcements that were the talk of the town, but there were a few takeaways and trends to come out of the event.

Five takeaways from GDC 2025: Insights from a quieter GDC

While thousands of developers were still in town, it was a quieter conference than in previous years.

A couple of years of mass layoffs and belt-tightening across companies of all sizes was clearly visible. Where last year the industry reckoned with its challenges, which included the GDScream in Yerba Buena, this year it seemed some developers just didn't turn up – whether due cost restrictions (the conference and the city are very expensive!) or no longer being in the industry.

A smaller expo floor compared to previous years lacked a number of the industry’s major players (no Unity or Epic), while a seemingly lower attendance was obvious not just in the main halls, but also in the usual networking haunts surrounding the Moscone. When was the last time you rocked up to the W and got a seat?

A number of developers and executives I spoke to reflected similar musings on a quieter show. Despite this, however, some said their meetings had been more substantial than in previous years. One CEO said they’d had their best meetings in 21 years at the conference. A couple of developers said Gamescom was now where it’s at.

There were no major announcements at GDC this year, creating, at least from a media perspective, less buzz around the event.

The show reflected the state of the industry we’re in right now. It’s not terminal, but hopefully next year we’ll see GDC getting back to its best.

The engine wars are over on the show floor

Last year, one of my takeaways from GDC was that Unreal and Godot were taking advantage of Unity, which was reeling from the Runtime Fee fiasco. This time round it was notable that none of the big game engine companies had a presence on the expo floor.

In fact, there wasn’t even a State of Unreal this year – a stalwart of the show. I’m not actually sure of the last time there wasn’t one. It’s now been moved to Epic’s own Unreal Fest in Orlando on June 3rd. So notable is its omission, on Epic’s web page for GDC, it even answers ‘When is the State of Unreal’ near the top of the site.

Away from the show floor, each of the engine companies was well represented. The Unity Developer Summit stretched across two days, while Epic hosted a number of sessions and Godot took a few talks.
It’s a surprise not to see Unity not visibly courting developers on the expo floor as it looks to recover its reputation. Surprising, too, that rivals aren’t continuing to take advantage at the world’s largest gathering of game developers.

Last year I predicted Unity would come back with a bang. Well… it had a serious presence in the conference halls, at least.

AI tech is taking over

Whether you like it or not, AI and generative AI tools are fast finding their way into game production. Of course, AI has always been part of the developer’s toolkit, but there is clearly a sea of change into how the tech is impacting development.

When I asked developers at the show what they think is the biggest industry trend right now, AI was a common theme. In fact, FRVR CEO Quentin Staes-Polet told me the publisher was focused on hiring talent with experience or keen interest in genAI over other candidates.

While the expo floor wasn’t exactly packed with AI companies, firms like InWorld and Meshy did have a presence.

The schedule, meanwhile, was packed to the rafters with AI-related sessions. At our own Pocket Gamer Connects early in the week, we had a few sessions dedicated to the technology. Rovio’s session on how it uses generative AI for art in Angry Birds – whether for making creatives or more – was particularly mind-blowing for such a big IP (we’ll have more on that soon).

With web3, there was often a lot of hot air about how the technology could change the games industry, with little evidence to back it up. With generative AI, the world’s biggest companies are already harnessing it.

It’s no coincidence that Unity and Roblox made announcements with a focus on AI tools this week. How much more impactful the tech can be on the industry remains to be seen, but it’s clear this is one trend that’s here to stay. And it doesn’t need a show-stopping announcement.

Asia’s influence on show again (mostly from Tencent)

In my Gamescom 2024 takeaways I noted how much of a presence Asian companies had at the show. It wasn’t quite the same at GDC, but it was clear that Tencent was one of the biggest spenders at the conference.

It had what looked like the largest booth in the expo, promoting its work on Honor of Kings World, its various tech and cloud services, and even a separate booth for Lightspeed Studios. Meanwhile, Chinese developer and publisher Snail Games, which has a US presence, also held a large booth.

Tencent was all over the conference schedule, too, with its own Game Developer Summit featuring a host of sessions around its games and tech. It also had a few banners around the halls.

It was a pretty big splash at a time when political tensions are high, with another publisher, ByteDance, being forced to divest its TikTok and games businesses in the US. It also comes as rival NetEase has been pulling back from the West – though it did have quite a few speakers at the event.

Is web gaming really a key trend for 2025?

There has been a lot of talk about web gaming / HTML5 being one of 2025’s big trends. At PGC San Francisco, we had our Browser Breakthroughs track featuring Crazy Games, Quicksave Interactive, Playgama and Niantic.

Meanwhile, web gaming platform Poki had one of the biggest booths on the expo floor, with the same stand it used at last year’s conference. The company claims it has 90 million monthly active users, with a mission to build a “sustainable future” for games.

During a chat with Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward, I asked whether it has plans for investments in the web gaming space, given its major acquisitions of Scopely and Niantic in the mobile sector, and the shares it now owns in the likes of Nintendo and Capcom. He said it hadn’t even been discussed.

Of course, Savvy is eyeing up transformative deals, not small investments. But it felt telling that the company doesn’t see the big opportunities touted by others in web gaming just yet.

Chats with developers show there’s an interest in web gaming, but I was surprised it wasn’t a bigger trend at the conference.

I'm starting to wonder if it's a trend being driven by some companies looking to break away from platform holders (as well as service providers looking to take advantage of such a move), rather than a space that consumers are interested in.

Other musings

Seriously, what happened to the W?

Where was web3? There were a few booths dedicated to the tech, but the show lacked one of its biggest sponsors of previous years (WeMix/WeMade). Meanwhile, the conference schedule looked to have a dearth of sessions dedicated to the topic. In previous years, some of those sessions have been pretty popular with packed out crowds.
It was fascinating to see a few companies turning their booths into an experience – not just a place to meet and greet. Discord had a retro-themed stand that regularly saw queues to enter (perhaps mostly from attendees to grab a cool Wumpus plushie after attending one of its sessions). It’s an interesting way to engage developers and make introductions. It also gave some vibrancy that perhaps the rest of the show floor lacked. Meanwhile, generative AI tool Meshy was another booth with big queues.

Outside the conference, Xsolla took over The Howard hotel near the Moscone with its own talks. With some key companies missing from the main expo floor, it seems like cost isn’t the only limiting factor: big companies want more direct contact with developers and greater control over their interactions with clients and potential customers.
There’s a Nintendo Store coming to San Francisco on May 15th! They missed some easy sales during GDC, though.

Alt.Ctrl was great fun. Taking place on the main show floor, this part of the expo featured physical games that included cat spanking, a seesaw-based naval ship battle, and a game controlled using an umbrella.