2026 State of the Game Industry Report

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TRENDS REPORT
2026

GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 2
GENERATIVE AI ………………………………………………………………\
…………………………….4
Interview: Jennifer Hale (Voice Actor) …………………………………………………………. 8
CO-DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………………………\
………………………. 9
Interview: Kevin Janzen (Globant) ………………………………………………………………\
. 13
MOBILE GAMING ………………………………………………………………\
…………………………. 14

Interview: Amra Khullar, Shafiq Quoraishee (New York Times) ……………. 18
ADVOCACY ………………………………………………………………\
…………………………………. 19
Interview: Elizabeth Kilmer, PhD (Respec) ………………………………………………… 23
PUBLISHING AND FINANCING ………………………………………………………………\
….. 24
Interview: Jason Della Rocca (Execution Labs) ………………………………………. 26
Interview: Lucien Parsons (OpsCat) …………………………………………………………… 29
FESTIVAL LIFE ………………………………………………………………\
……………………………… 30
Interview: Austin Wintory (Composer) ……………………………………………………… 33
AWARDS WINNERS ………………………………………………………………\
…………………….. 34
Interview: AP Thomson (Titanium Court),
Jenny Jiao Hsia (Consume Me) ………………………………………………………………\
…… 36
GDC HIGHLIGHTS ………………………………………………………………\
……………………….. 39
In The News (Game Developer) ………………………………………………………………\
…… 40
Keynote: Rob Pardo (Bonfire Studios) ………………………………………………………… 41
Table of [Contents ]
Welcome to the 2026 GDC Trends Report
Every year, GDC reminds me of why I love this industry. Walking the halls, sitting
in sessions, and talking with game professionals from around the world, I’m
consistently inspired by the passion, creativity, and problem-solving that defines
our community.
The 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming was no exception. From the Opening Night celebration
at Oracle Park to closing the doors of the Festival Hall, we witnessed a community coming
together to share knowledge, celebrate achievements, and tackle the challenges ahead.
This Trends Report distills insights from thousands of speakers, exhibitors, and attendees who
brought their insight and experience to the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming. What emerges is a
nuanced picture of an industry navigating significant change while staying true to its creative core.
Some of the findings may surprise you. Others will likely confirm what you’re experiencing in your own
work. The rise of AI-assisted development tools, the ongoing conversation about sustainable studio
practices, the expanding diversity of games and game-makers—these aren’t just trends, they’re the
lived reality of game professionals working to build better experiences and better careers.
The challenges are real. Economic pressures, technological disruption, and industry
consolidation are reshaping the landscape. But so are the ingenuity, ada\
ptability, and mutual
support that have always been hallmarks of the game industry.
As you read through this report, I hope you’ll find both resonance with your own experiences and
fresh perspectives that spark new ideas. Most importantly, I hope you’ll see yourself as part of a global
community that continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in interactive entertainment.
Thank you for being part of GDC and thank you for everything you do to advance the art and
craft of games.
MARK DELOURA
VP of Content Strategy
GDC Festival of Gaming

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 3
Executive Summary
5 Key Trends Shaping the Game Industry
Generative AI tools have reached a place where many game industry
professionals can use them without difficulty, so the focus is now on how
(or if) they should be implemented in the development process.
Studios are embracing co-development to help make games that require
more staff and resources, but newer studios ready to offer their services
face a crowded, well-established market.
Dual monetization is becoming more commonplace in mobile, the
Vietnamese hyper-casual market surges, and casual and hybrid-casual
games turn their focus to retention over new user acquisition.
Anti-DEI policies continue to impact marginalized game industry
professionals, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, and older
professionals address ageism in the workplace and job market.
Things continue to be challenging for studios that need funding, as many
publishers and investors expect prototypes (or more) before signing on to a
project, but indie game funds are trying to help fill the gaps.
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GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 4
GENERATIVE AI

GENERATIVE AI | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 5
State of [AI] Play
This was apparent at the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming,
which focused a great deal on generative AI usage and
application. Now that the tech has reached a place
where most people can use it without difficulty, many
of the sessions and onsite conversations were focused
on how these tools should be implemented in the
development process.
There was consistent support for using AI for outlining,
brainstorming, and mundane tasks like email and task
management, especially among older professionals and
people who are neurodivergent. This tracks with 2026
State of the Game Industry data, which showed that
most surveyed AI adopters use it for those roles. Claude
Code was also a popular subject among speakers and
attendees, with creators weighing the benefits and
pitfalls of automated coding.
AI proponents showcased some of the latest asset
tools. Head of Technology Nathan Chen shared Tencent
Games’ skeleton generation model for building primary
skeletons and additional structures. Product Manager Jérémie Noguer touted Adobe Substance 3D Painter’s
new Warp to Geometry feature, which “literally wraps
itself into any geometry in real time.”
Asset technology is improving rapidly, and it’s impressive
to see what is possible now versus even just a couple
of years ago. But there appears to be a line in the sand
(within the industry and among players themselves)
between acceptable and unacceptable use of asset tools.
At the Festival of Gaming, many industry professionals
emphasized the importance of these tools
“augmenting” the game-making process, not replacing
it. When asked whether AI could eventually become
creative on its own, Alexander Mufrik, product lead at
Google DeepMind, said: “Even if the models could do it,
we would not want to use them in that way.”
However, some expressed concern that, despite the
promise of needing human creativity, companies are
betting big on AI supplementing a large percentage of
the workforce… and that widespread adoption of these
tools could lead to more layoffs.
When it comes to generative AI in game development, we’ve seen three
factions emerge. Some like it for everything. Others prefer it for some things.
And then there are those who do not want it at all.
“
AI is not the end of game
development. It’s the beginning of
a more profitable, more sustainable,
and more creative industry.”
NATHAN CHEN
HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY ,
TENCENT GAMES
IMAGE CREDIT: JUN LI – STOCK.ADOBE.COM IMAGE CREDIT: ADOBE, E. LAUTARD, L. CHAMERLAT, G. NAKPIL

GENERATIVE AI | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 6
SPOTLIGHT : Agentic AI
It’s one thing to ask an AI model to handle a player’s complaint; it’s another
for the program to do it on its own. Agentic AI, which is a system that can
act autonomously on behalf of its users, is one of the most hyped innovations
coming out of the AI space.
Behind the scenes, there are companies paving the way
to for Agentic AI in backend and frontend support—
whether it’s Globant helping address bugs and cheating,
build code, and quality assurance; or Helpshift’s (part of
Keywords Studios) work in proactive player engagement
and player support resolution. Some AI proponents are
striving towards a bigger goal: companionship. From
one-off NPCs that can respond to players in real time,
to longstanding teammates with their own combat
styles and personalities.
There are reasons a company might wish to bring AI
agents into its workflow. They can free developers or
teams to focus on more creative or strategic pursuits.
Kevin Janzen, CEO of the Games and Ed Tech Studio
at Globant, discussed this potential when talking about
their subscription service, AI Pods.
“AAA development has become so expensive, and video
games in general. That has led to a huge concentration
in the market and even less high-profile games being released,” he said. “With AI Pods or generative AI as

part of the solution, I believe costs are going to go
down. And a studio that perhaps had a vision that was
so ambitious for the budget that they had, suddenly
they can start dreaming about seeing that game come
to fruition.”
On the gaming side, solo players having the ability to
play a multiplayer game with a digital program might
seem more appealing—especially for those who’ve
faced harassment in online gaming spaces.
But there are times when human intervention may
still be necessary. Rob Schoeppe, head of global
sales and business development at Helpshift (part of
Keywords Studios), gave the example of a player getting
banned for riffing with their friend: “The agent doesn’t
understand context. It doesn’t know if you were talking
crap to your friend,” he said. “So, that part has to be
escalated to a human who understands the context and
connects the dots.”
“
AI gives humans superpowers, but
it can never replace the emotional
intelligence and context that humans
bring to the table.
ROB SCHOEPPE
HEAD OF GLOBAL SALES & BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT , HELPSHIFT

GENERATIVE AI | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 7
Perspectives:
[ AI ]ntellectual Property
Over the past few years, AI companies have sourced
billions of files to build their training models, and the
legal system is trying to catch up. Recent lawsuits, like
The New York Times v. OpenAI, have raised questions
about the legality of mass data sourcing. But it still winds
up feeling like the wild west at times.
Benjamin Siders, attorney and counselor-at-law at Lewis
Rice LLC, shared insights about AI use at his 2026 GDC
Festival of Gaming talk, while highlighting that “the law
is still in development” and “nobody really knows” what’s
truly safe. According to Siders, creating content with
AI remains a big risk. Some publishers and platforms
do not allow AI content, and concealing it could have
consequences. Plus, if it infringes on another company’s
copyright and they sue, you’d be liable, not the platform.
He also advised caution about what content is being
fed into an AI program, particularly open-source ones.
It will probably be used to retrain their AI, which could
theoretically go anywhere and be impossible to track.
Having a paid subscription can help, but only if the
company has explicit language forbidding use of your
content for training purposes. If your copyrighted content has been inputted, with or
without your knowledge, you can request it to be removed.
But that doesn’t mean it’ll be gone for good—for example,
if it was already used to help build something else.
Then, there’s a creative risk. Siders, who’s written several
screenplays and short stories in his free time, shared a story
of how, as a test, he ran one of his screenplays through
ChatGPT for feedback. He specifically wanted a neutral,
unbiased opinion. However, the feedback he got still
reflected a bias: His own.
When he told the program he didn’t think the script
was good, the AI gave it a lower rating. But when he
said he was proud of it, the AI praised the content and
gave it a top score. Siders called it “illusory validation or
discouragement,” and said it can impede progress on
creative projects.
“Be very careful about how you use its output,
especially if you’re using it to give you feedback on
your creative endeavors.” he said. “It’s going to tell you
what you want to hear,” he added.
“
Do not take your proprietary secret
formulas that make your whole game
work and then send it to the AI and
say, ‘Is this good?’ Don’t do that.”
BENJAMIN SIDERS
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR-AT-LAW ,
LEWIS RICE LLC

GENERATIVE AI | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 8
INTERVIEW:
Consent, Control,
and Compensation
Actors’ Rights
Look, AI is not going anywhere. It’s part of our
reality, and I believe that one must accept what
it is. But we are also responsible for it. This is the
thing I say over and over, I’ll say it again: AI is not
yet an independent intelligence. It’s a tool. And
the tool does what the human holding the tool
tells it to.
And we are the canaries in the coal mine, as
creators and performers. It is going to impact
everyone’s employment—well, nearly everyone.
Some jobs won’t be touched by it, but not many.
As actors, what we’re asking for is consent. Do
I give you permission to use my voice in any
way—whether it’s generative and it’s mixed with
a bunch of others, and you “can’t really tell.”? You
can tell. I can hear my rhythms in other humans
copying my work, or who learned from my work,
or who were honoring whatever came before
them, including my work. Like, I can hear it.
Control. I don’t want it used in some situations.
I don’t want an AI to do a performance I could
have done, because I can inform it with my
human soul that is however-many days or years
more informed, intelligent, and experienced than
it was the last time I worked on that project.
So, control, consent, and then compensation.
You can’t take away someone’s ability to make a living and not pay them for it. It is wrong. It is
wrong. Ain’t nobody making you do it. You do it,
or you don’t.”
JENNIFER HALE
BAFTA-NOMINATED VOICE ACTOR
METAL GEAR SOLID, MASS EFFECT,
OVERWATCH, AND MORE.

GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 9
CO-DEVELOPMENT

CO-DEVELOPMENT | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 10
State of [Co-]Play
“In the post-pandemic [era], you’re seeing the need to save
costs and still have teams when you need them,” Lindsay
Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks – A Virtuos Studio, said during
a GDC panel. “People are getting more comfortable with
working with people that are further and further away.”
The 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming featured sessions
covering co-development from both sides—with some
studios seeking advice on finding the right partners,
and others looking to join the co-dev market. According
to the 2026 State of the Game Industry report, about
6% of studio workers are at dedicated co-development
companies. However, there are other teams and studios
that, in addition to their own content, perform co-dev
work on the side. However, as Steven Sargent, vice president of
production at Blind Squirrel Studios, told GDC, co-
development is a big commitment and can take time
away from your own work. He also said the rise in
popularity has made the field more crowded, making
it harder to establish long-term relationships that are
essential for co-dev success. Newer teams starting
from scratch will have a harder time getting established.
“It’s not as easy as people think it is,” he said. “Clients,
the reason they’re hiring you is because they want
results quickly. So, you need good people on these
teams who are flexible and smart and can get going
very quickly. That’s a skill that not everybody has.”

How to Succeed
as a Co-Dev Studio
Start Small: Take on low-risk projects to get
comfortable and build trust.
Talk Early and Often: Ask your clients/
partners questions. Voice concerns. Ensure
everyone on your team has a clear vision of the
end goal before production.
Collaborate and Trust: Take ownership
of your part of the project. Do everything you
can to reduce strain on the internal team.
Be Mindful of Scheduling: Working
across time zones is cited as one of the biggest
challenges in co-dev. Make sure your team is
equipped to handle this.
“Part of the Team”: Do what you can to grow
your partnership. Share your ideas. Bring the client
into your workflow. Invite them to your studio. That’s
key to building long-term relationships.
JOHN DOYLE
VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF PRODUCTION ,
PLAYSTATION STUDIOS
Good ideas can come from
anyone … no matter what
company they’re part of.”
More publishers and studios are embracing co-development, a “divide-and-conquer”
approach where full teams are brought on to work on larger parts of a project. Co-
development as a practice has existed for decades, but advances in remote work
during the COVID-19 pandemic made it easier to implement.

Should I Co-Dev or Outsource?
Co-development is a solid way to add teams from
around the world to your projects. During a 2026 GDC
Festival of Gaming panel, John Doyle, vice president
and head of production at PlayStation Studios, noted
how more studios and publishers are moving away from
outsourcing and toward the co-dev model. But which
one is right for your game?
Brad Hendricks, CEO and founder of Blind Squirrel
Games, said that both forms of collaboration have
their advantages, but the main thing that sets co-
development apart from outsourcing is creative control.
According to Hendricks, outsourcing is when a studio
or publisher “wants something siloed in a box,” so they
contract a vendor to provide that specific service.
Examples include quality assurance, assets, localization,
or cinematics.
When a co-development studio is brought onto a
project, it’s for larger, more foundational parts of
the game. Hendricks gave the example of an MMO
publisher telling its co-dev team: “Go create this
section with all the quests and all the things that are
contained.” The team becomes an active part of the
game’s creation, coming up with original designs, ideas,
and narrative elements that fit the main vision. “It’s really, really important to keep that connection and
not just hand off something into a black box and get
something back,” said Kay Arutyunyan, general manager
at CounterPunch – A Virtuos Studio.
Most of the experts we talked to prefer co-development
over outsourcing—not just because it gives developers
more of a say in the content they’re creating, but because
finding the right collaborative partner can set up a studio
or publisher for long-term success. But only if everyone
involved is willing to share the creative spotlight.
“It’s the hardest thing to be willing to go and let something
go to someone else. That’s extending trust, right?” Lindsay
Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks – A Virtuos Studio, said. “But if
you do that, you get greater rewards in return.”

You’re working more closely with
the team that’s hired you; almost
like you’re a member of the team.”
STEVEN SARGENT
VICE PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTION ,
BLIND SQUIRREL GAMES
CO-DEVELOPMENT | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 11

CO-DEVELOPMENT | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 12
SPOTLIGHT:
The PEAK of Co-Development
Live service gaming has long been dominated by PvP
experiences, like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone. But
a new, more collaborative trend has started to emerge—
and, in one case, it’s also collaborative behind the scenes.
During his GDC session, Aggro Crab Studio’s Nick
Kaman dove into the studio’s co-development journey
with Landfall Games to create PEAK, the surprise indie
hit. The team was burned out after working 33 months
on Another Crab’s Treasure and had lost some funding,
so they were looking for a new direction. Meanwhile,
Landfall Games was riding the success of Content
Warning, a game they’d made in two months. Kaman
wanted in.
“How dare you come up with something this good in
so little time when I’ve been over here busting my ass?”
he said jokingly. “We didn’t know how games could be
made like this. And we said, ‘What if we just join you in
Korea next year?’”
It was Aggro Crab’s first time doing co-development,
and Kaman described it as one of the best development
experiences they’d ever had. The two studios worked side-by-side, merging their ideas and resources into
a single productive entity. Overall, PEAK took about
four months to produce, and the results spoke for
themselves: PEAK became Aggro Crab’s most successful
game to date, with over 300,000 reviews on Steam.
It was also their first venture into “friendslop,” a term for
online experiences that typically have smaller stakes, lower
cost, and are meant to be played cooperatively with friends.
Examples include RV There Yet? and Phasmophobia, along
with popular Roblox games like Grow a Garden and Dress
to Impress. The trend has grown in popularity over the past
year—to the point where, according to Newzoo Director
of Consulting Ben Porter, it’s inspired some PvP games to
embrace co-op too.
“Arc Raiders has been bridging that gap of co-op to
PvP,” he said. “They’re attempting to put aggressive
players who shoot at other parties together, and
people who are less aggressive are put together.
They’re trying to algorithmically place like-minded
players into similar servers, so that you can have your
sort of ideal PvPvE experience.”

IMAGE CREDITS: MOBY GAMES

You’ve worked with companies like Unity, Riot, and
FIFA. What is collaboration like in these relationships?
It really depends on each company that we work
with. Usually, the first model of engagement is
that you’re in and out, or you are basically just
augmenting their capacity—what we call a “staff
augmentation” type of project.
But that is not the end goal, right? What we like to do
is use those opportunities to prove our worth and that,
by learning their preferred way of working and their
own processes, we can become more of an extension
of themselves. It is a compliment and the end goal that
we have received on more than one occasion.
What is the balance between your creative
freedom and following the vision of the company?
It’s less freedom, usually, when we’re talking about co-
development. When you’re talking about a second-party
studio or handing over a full game, that’s a different story. When it’s co-development, usually the creative vision
is kept within the main studio that’s producing the
game. In many cases, we get the privilege of having
more of a creative input if we have earned that
trust; if they have carved out specific aspects of the
game that they want to send our way completely. Of
course, that is very rewarding for the teams.
But being part of a co-dev studio is also knowing
that you’re working on somebody else’s game and
you are helping them deploy their vision.

CO-DEVELOPMENT | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 13
INTERVIEW:
Deploy Their Vision
AAA Co-Development
KEVIN JANZEN
CEO OF GAMING & EDTECH
AI STUDIO , GLOBANT
By learning their preferred way of
working … we can become more
of an extension of themselves.”

GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 14
MOBILE GAMING

MOBILE GAMING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 15
State of [Mobile] Play
Mobile continues to draw in millions, but pay-to-play alone may no longer
be enough. We’ve seen more streaming services adopt in-app advertising
for paying users, and mobile gaming is doing the same. Dual monetization is
becoming more commonplace in mobile, with publishers featuring in-game ads
alongside in-app purchases (IAP).
Hyper-casual games are still a key part of the mobile
gaming ecosystem, and there’s an emerging focus on
mechanics over metagaming and volume over viability.
In his 2026 talk, Dave Rohrl, CEO of Mobile Game
Doctor, profiled Vietnam’s growing industry, where
swaths of hyper-casual games are churned out in short
development cycles (usually 4 to 6 weeks). This cycle
enables developers to respond to trends, but it’s harder
to establish a strong metanarrative.
“Not a ton of sophistication there yet, but at least
enough to allow them to start buying higher value
IAP traffic and pursue a dual economy or dual
monetization,” he added.
When it comes to casual and hybrid-casual games, Rohrl
pointed to puzzle games like Merge Mansion as one of the
current leading trends. There’s also a heightened focus on
retention over acquisition—with social engagement as one
of the key resources. In his Luminaries talk, Justin Sousa, head of developer community at Roblox, highlighted the
importance of social loops for Roblox games, where about
80% of users are mobile. “Gaming is a social interaction at
its core, and you’ve got to honor that,” he said.
But there are other trends in player retention—like
human psychology. In her GDC session, Xianzi Feng, art
director at Infold Games (Papergames), talked about
how the Love and Deepspace team “broke down the
feeling of love at first sight” using cognitive science,
and that each character update is meticulously crafted
to grow that connection. Often in very subtle, hard-
to-notice ways, like the length of eye contact or the
number of pearls on a necklace.
“From a cognitive science perspective, love at first
sight is our brain formulating patterns. We are drawn to
something that is familiar yet new,” she said. “Love at
first sight feels like destiny, but it’s actually a selection
of our subconscious.”

MOBILE GAMING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 16
SPOTLIGHT: The Future of [ D2C]
The direct-to-consumer (D2C) monetization model has
long been a staple for core games. But ever since the
courts ruled that Apple cannot ban apps that link to
external payment sites, D2C has started catching on
among mobile publishers.
“I think every major publisher is going to be doing this
to some degree or another, but it’s not totally clear yet
what the ceiling is,” Omdia principal analyst Liam Deane
told GDC.
During his 2026 session, OFC Ads CEO Michael Lewis
shared how some mobile publishers are getting 25 to
50% of profits from D2C, but on average, anywhere
between 2-15% of hyper-casual and casual games
include direct-to-consumer payment options. Setting
up direct purchase options can be challenging, but it
boasts great benefits: Lewis said D2C increases profits
by $250K for every $1-million processed.
There are also advantages for players. Deane noted how
the added margins mean publishers can offer discounts
or additional benefits for those who purchase directly
through them (Lewis recommended benefits over
discounts, as players tend to prefer getting more over paying less). But it only works if the process flows well.
The more friction, the fewer users.
Lewis recommended mobile publishers start by
providing deep links to their direct-to-consumer
checkout pages, usually with a value add-on (like 10%
more coins). He said the page should be co-branded
and have a similar look and feel to the game itself. In
addition, the checkout should open directly on the web,
no sign-in required, and should redirect back with some
visual signifier of achievement. “Make it feel rewarding,”
he added.
Web stores are trickier, but Lewis did recommend
bringing them into the business model. When
suggesting ways to increase usage, he highlighted the
importance of having a daily streak tracker, with extra
rewards, to incentivize users to show up consistently.
“The number one reason why web stores don’t succeed
is because they don’t have enough traffic, and they’re
not sticky enough,” he said. “If it’s a better experience,
it’s going to yield better results.”
For a lot of games now, direct-
to-consumer is the largest sales
channel. It’s bigger than Apple. It’s
bigger than Google.”
MICHAEL LEWIS
CEO , OFC ADS

MOBILE GAMING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 17
CASE STUDY: New York Times Games
When Game Doctor CEO Dave Rohrl was readying his “Year
in Live Service Games” presentation on the popularity of
daily puzzle games, there was a clear frontrunner driving the
trend: “When we originally talked about doing this section,
we referred to it as The New York Times Games section.”
The Times has seen massive success in the daily
puzzles space, ending 2025 with nearly 13-million
subscribers and over 11-billion puzzles solved across
games like Wordle and Connections. According to
Rohrl, ”The Times is, no doubt, the largest purveyor of
daily games for the English-speaking market.”
Now, they’re looking to expand. At the 2026 GDC Festival
of Gaming, The New York Times Games team showcased
their first standalone game, Crossplay. In an interview
with GDC, Amra Khullar, senior product manager at
The New York Times, said the PvP nature of the game
necessitated its own app. It’s also part of an effort to
diversify their audience base.
“Having a standalone app gives Crossplay its own
positioning in the App Store and [Google] Play store.
It allows us to test, measure, and give it its own
storefront,” she said. “Really reach out to a specific
audience—a new audience of its own, essentially.” Rohrl shared advice on how to find success in this
“interesting and under-observed category” of mobile
games. He said daily puzzle games need an established
base of operations with high traffic, like a news site or social
media page. Each app should have one puzzle per day,
be easy to learn, and, perhaps most importantly, feature
content that is clearly created by humans. Players are more
likely to engage with puzzles that are witty, intelligent, and
genuine, rather than engineered by an algorithm.
“Traffic in this category cannot be bought; there’s just not
enough value in the average user to justify that expense.
That means the traffic has to be earned,” he said.
Traffic in this category cannot be
bought; there’s just not enough
value in the average user to justify
that expense. That means the
traffic has to be earned.”
DAVE ROHRL
CEO , GAME DOCTOR

MOBILE GAMING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 18
INTERVIEW:
The Daily Habit
Crossplay and mobile gaming
AMRA KHULLAR
SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER ,
NEW YORK TIMES
SHAFIK QUORAISHEE
SENIOR GAME DEVELOPER ,
NEW YORK TIMES
What are some of the lessons you’ve taken from
The Times’ previous games, like Wordle and
Crossword, and brought into Crossplay?
Amra Khullar: The daily habit is super important.
People always talk about Wordle in the context
of “oh, I’ve played my daily Wordle today.” That’s
really important to why, in a large part, our games
are successful because we have that habituation
factor where people feel it’s part of their routine.
When it comes to Crossplay, we wanted to build
a feature set so that it could fit into your routine
in a positive way. That lesson is very important
and translatable to anything we do in the future.
How does the matchmaking system work?
Shafik Quoraishee: Matchmaking is really
important to balance games that involve
multiplayer. A lot of thought went into making
it fair for people [who are] playing their friends
or strangers. For example, the better you are at
playing matches, your score will go up, and you’ll
be put into a different bracket with more advanced
players within a certain range of your play ability.
We use a dynamic similar to Elo scores.
We also compute other factors to ensure fair
gameplay. One thing we care about is that
the people you’re playing against are active
participants in the game. We want people who are looking for matches to find others who see
games through from start to finish.
Does The New York Times Games have a mobile-
first strategy, and what are the challenges of that?
Amra: We are fairly mobile-first right now. The
challenge is launching a new game or app in this
ecosystem. How do you get the right audience?
How do you scale the game? How do you build
a retentive game? For Crossplay, it’s been
great because we’ve gotten really great player
reception. But there’s always a challenge around
reaching the right audience. Whether a new
game will be a new app or part of the current
New York Times Games app depends on the type
of audience we’re trying to reach.

GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 19
ADVOCACY

ADVOCACY | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 20
State of [Equal] Play
Culture and sustainability are at the heart of the game industry, and
professionals from all walks of life gathered at the 2026 GDC Festival of
Gaming to share their triumphs, challenges, and perspectives. Topics included
accessibility for neurodivergent workers, casting authentic voices for diverse
games, and “designing disagreement” in an increasingly polarized s\
ociety.
A major point of discussion was the recent rise in anti-
DEI policies; companies moving to generic concepts
like “belonging” while promoting merit-based systems
of advancement. However, as was pointed out in
several sessions, this assumes everyone starts from the
same place and that’s not often the case.
During “Mid-Stage Career Development Talk for
Marginalized Game Devs,” industry leaders looked at
how a “post-DEI climate” has impacted those looking
to advance their careers—including Nair Fajardo,
CEO of Dreams of Heaven Games. In her microtalk,
she criticized the lack of access for marginalized
developers, calling it an “infrastructure problem,” and
noted the largely invisible labor needed to make up for
a dearth of opportunities.
“There’s something this industry doesn’t talk about
enough: Not talent, access. Access to funding, access to networks, access to visibility, and access to
decision-making rooms. Because talent is everywhere,
access is not,” she said.
LGBTQ+ issues were also at the forefront, with
discussions on recent discriminatory policies and
actions (especially against trans people). In an interview
with GDC, Gay Gaming Professionals CEO Gordon
Bellamy noted how, while he’s seen amazing progress
over the past two decades, the subsequent backlash
is taking a toll on LGBTQ+ creators. He highlighted the
importance of education, empathy, and allyship within
the overall game community.
“Use your power. There is a power you have when you
are not experiencing the dynamic—to intervene, to be
seen, to be heard—that is not available to a person who
is experiencing the dynamic,” he said.

ADVOCACY | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 21
Age Is [Not ] Just a Number
Video games have been around for over half a century,
and many professionals who’ve been around since the
early days are approaching their later years. Ageism, or
workplace discrimination based on one’s age, is not an
unfamiliar concept for some in the game industry. But
it’s starting to become a larger part of the conversation.
Older game developers gathered in a roundtable to
discuss the unique challenges they face in today’s
industry. Topics included dealing with imposter syndrome,
the growing obsolescence of some of their skills, and the challenges of securing a new job after being laid
off. To protect the privacy of participants, no quotes or
identifying information will be shared here.
Generative AI was a top point of conversation. Several
touted the benefits of using AI tools for brainstorming
or outlining but were worried about bringing them into
more creative roles. Some feared they’d be laid off for
not understanding the technology as much as younger
professionals. Others said the tools risk taking away
the joy in coding, programming, design, and other feats
they’ve spent their careers mastering.
Job roles were another tricky subject. Some talked
about the pressure they feel to take on leadership or
managerial positions, due to their age, when some
of them just want to code or write (those who’ve
experienced layoffs felt this the most). They said it’s
common to assume that an older developer must
manage, not create, leaving them feeling unsatisfied in
their work. But when they apply for contributor roles,
they’re seen as overqualified or too expensive. Some
even noted how they hide parts of their résumé so they
don’t read as “too old” for the job.

ADVOCACY | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 22
{ON THE FLOOR }
International
Pavilions
This year’s Festival Hall featured international
pavilions representing over 30 countries—
including Kyrgyzstan, which appeared on the
floor for the first time. The incredible games and
creators represented at these pavilions showcase
GDC’s commitment to bringing the international
game ecosystem together.
“
This is our third straight year showcasing
our games at GDC. It feels very special
to be here… This is the right place for
any developer.”
DEEPAK GURIJALA
CO-FOUNDER , 1312 INTERACTIVE
(INDIA PAVILION)
“
The chance of sharing that experience
— of having your own creation be
experienced by other people — that
is something that moves me a lot.
And probably it’s that sensation that
join us together as people, in an event
such as this one.”
FRANCISCO BRAVO
CEO , BREWMASTERS GAMES
(CHILE PAVILION)

ADVOCACY | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 23
INTERVIEW:
Advocating for
Mental Health
Take This, Inc. debuted the 2025 Mental Health in the
Game Industry study at the 2026 GDC Festival of
Gaming, exploring the rise in on-the-job stress and
how studios can support their employees. Clinical
psychologist Elizabeth Kilmer, PhD, sat down with GDC
to discuss their latest findings.
GDC: Can you tell me a bit about the research that
you presented at GDC?
Elizabeth Kilmer, PhD: At Take This, we care deeply
about the intersection between mental health and
games. Our goal was to understand how developers are
doing in terms of mental well-being and burnout, what
resources studios are providing, what developers are
using themselves, and what changes they want to see
in the industry moving forward.
What were some of the statistics that stood out to
you the most?
Kilmer: One key statistic was that only about 20% of
the sample reported their mental health as good or
very good, with just 2% in the excellent range, which is
concerning. Additionally, 94% of the sample reported
experiencing at least one burnout symptom, with an
average of seven out of 12 possible symptoms. These
findings highlight significant challenges in the industry. Are there any unique aspects of game development
that you notice take a toll on someone’s mental health?
Kilmer: Game development is a passion-driven
industry; similar to teaching or nonprofit work,
where people invest a lot of themselves. For many
developers, games are not just work but also hobbies
and social connections. This overlap can lead to over-
engagement, even without managerial pressure.
What is the end goal of this research and
subsequent work?
Kilmer: Our goal is to provide actionable takeaways.
We identified accommodations developers use,
such as flexible schedules, remote work, and muted
notifications. Requested resources include wellness
stipends, education on ADHD, autism, burnout
prevention, resilience, and navigating layoffs.
ELIZABETH KILMER, PHD
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST ,
RESPEC PSYCHOLOGICAL
SERVICES

GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 24
PUBLISHING & FINANCING

PUBLISHING & FINANCING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 25
State of [Money] Play
Any startup founder or indie studio head is going to tell
you the market is tough right now. There are more games
than investors, more studios than publishers, and getting
a project funded can seem like an insurmountable task.
But the Festival of Gaming is where success stories are
born: Jenny Xu, founder of Talofa Games, shared how
she started her fundraising journey by networking with
attendees and experts at a previous GDC.
Experts at a variety of GDC talks shared the challenges
developers and studios have been facing over the past
year, and ways to navigate them. More publishers are
comfortable waiting until games are more established,
looking for those with successful online communities,
wishlists, and social media buzz. At the very least,
they’re expecting a playable demo or prototype. This
means teams need money before they go out to get
money—which feels like it kind of defeats the purpose. There were suggestions on how to accomplish
this, including individual angel investors, regional
government support, contests, or pre-seed venture
capital firms. During a Luminaries talk, Emily Greer,
venture partner at 1Up Ventures, shared the story of
a studio that funded its prototype by selling a highly
sought-after domain name it had previously registered.
But that’s just one step of many. Once the company and
prototype are ready to head out there, there’s also the
issue of finding the right people to work with. Lauren
Frazier-Silva, co-founder and former CTO at Ramen VR,
had a simple philosophy: “Choose partners, not checks.”
During her 2026 panel, she noted how finding people
who believe in the game, team, and company should be
the priority, rather than focusing on dollar amounts or
which investors have the most name recognition.
That first bit of money is often
the hardest.”
EMILY GREER
VENTURE PARTNER , 1UP VENTURES
New Models for
Sources of Capital
– Nicole Lazzaro, CEO and Founder, XEODesign
from “How I Raised X Million”
User Acquisition Funds
(e.g., General Catalyst)
Loans and LOC’s Pay Back
(e.g., Tilting Point)
Tech Innovation Funds
(e.g., Supercell AI Lab)
Accelerators/Incubator
(e.g., YC Tech Stars)
Tech Platforms
(e.g., Meta AI Glasses)
Streaming Services
(e.g., Apple, Netflix)
Successful Studios > Publishers
(e.g., Black Tabby Games)
Successful Game Developers >
Funders
(e.g. Outersloth)

PUBLISHING & FINANCING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 26
SPOTLIGHT:
GDC Pitch
GDC Pitch is the Festival of Gaming’s annual live pitch
showcase, hosted and co-organized by Jason Della Rocca,
a global expert in funding, pitching, and studio acceleration
(co-founder, Execution Labs; former Executive Director of
the IGDA). It’s an unforgettable experience that celebrates
game changers and helps them find success.
INTERVIEW : Jason Della Rocca
How important is “the pitch,”
and why should game industry
professionals take time to
perfect theirs?
Jason Della Rocca: Your pitch
is the summary of your game
and its business case. If you are
investing the time and cost of being at GDC to hustle
for funding, you need to take your pitch seriously.
Publishers and investors want to understand who
you are and why you or your team can deliver on
your vision; they want to be inspired by the cool and
compelling project you are building; and they need to
understand how you’ll make craptons of money, thus
justifying their investment.
What are the biggest differences between pitching
to publishers and pitching to investors? How can
game industry professionals best prepare for both?
Jason: Good news, you don’t have to prepare for
both! If you are doing premium-priced PC/console
games, you really only should pitch to publishers
and other forms of project funding. If you are doing
free-to-play GaaS-style games, then you should be pitching to equity-style investors (e.g., venture funds,
angels). Your business or pricing model determines
who you should be chasing for funding.
In terms of the pitch, the main difference is that you
are pitching your game to a publisher (as they care
about that single game as the opportunity) versus
pitching your company to investors (as they care
about the long-term growth and excitability of your
whole company). So, the pitch deck emphasis needs
to be adjusted accordingly.
What brings you back to GDC Pitch every year?
Jason: Oh, I just love it! It’s so much fun to coordinate
the jury members and to coach the teams. They are all
doing cool stuff, but the extra prep really helps them
fine-tune their pitch. They do a wonderful job onstage
and, more critically, it helps with their pitch meetings
during the whole week. It feels great to have that kind
of impact with developers. I actually helped the GDC
team launch GDC Pitch and GDC Play over a decade
ago. I’ve run Pitch since then and hope to do so for
years to come!
Day 1 Winner
(Publishing)
ALCHEMICE
Jose Carlos Montero
Day 2 Winner
(Venture Capital)
CREADEV
Ahmad Jadallah

Ace in the Hole
How Playstack Discovered Balatro
One thing that we do at Playstack is we scout. We look at games across all sorts
of platforms. Part of my job is looking at every game that goes up on Steam every
day, if that’s possible, you know. I start in the morning, and I’ll look through all of the
games that have just gone up. That’s how we first came across games like Balatro.
I saw the game the day it went up on Steam. Quite interestingly, at that point in
time, we were quite focused on wishlists as a metric, Steam wishlists. I don’t think
we believe they’re quite as important as they used to be.
So, Balatro came through on Steam, and it didn’t have many followers to begin
with. It didn’t have many wishlists on the platform. But it looked interesting. We
thought, ‘That’s a cool-looking game. We should reach out and just try it.’ And I went
to Twitter at the time and contacted LocalThunk. I think he had maybe two or three
followers at the time on the platform. So, we were in there really early. And I think
that made the key difference.
Obviously, I’d like to think we were a great partner for the game, but just the speed
at which we could move out was very important for that time.”
PATRICK JOHNSON
HEAD OF DISCOVERY , PLAYSTACK
Quote from GDC 2026 session “From Discovery to Launch: An Inside Look at the
Publisher-Developer Relationship”
PUBLISHING & FINANCING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 27

PUBLISHING & FINANCING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 28
To Thine Own Self [Publish ] Be True
Many studios dream of landing that big publishing
deal, the one that will take their game from the pitch
deck to the Steam Deck. But that’s not the right path
for everyone. Some may have a game that publishers
don’t think is marketable. Others may want to keep
creative control.
There are resources available for those who wish to
pursue self-publishing. For example, there’s
Outersloth, a game fund established by Among Us
developer Innersloth. CEO and Co-founder Forest
Willard and Communications Director Victoria Tran
broke down game funds during their 2026 GDC
Festival of Gaming talk.
There are benefits to self-publishing with game funds
instead of going the more traditional route. Publishers
typically expect higher sales percentages for the
support they provide. Game funds remove this from the equation, which can make the contract more profit-
friendly for studios. This route also lets studios make
and promote their games on their own terms.
That said, pursuing self-publishing opens the door to
potential issues (and a great deal more work). Game
funds do not function as publishers, so they don’t
typically offer services like marketing, testing, or quality
assurance. This leaves creators with a lion’s share of
responsibilities, some of which they may not have the
experience or training to handle. Also, it’s a competitive
field. Willard said they’ve signed about 1.4% of games
submitted so far, and he believes that’s slightly higher
than the average.
When deciding which route to take, Willard and Tran
said it’s about knowing your team’s strengths and
weaknesses and making sure you pursue a path that
uplifts your work in the right places.
VICTORIA TRAN
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ,
INNERSLOTH
No one knows your
game better than you.

PUBLISHING & FINANCING | GDC 2026 TRENDS REPORT 29
INTERVIEW:
An [ IP] With Legs
What to know before
pitching to investors
I went and asked a bunch of investors the same
question: What is it that studios miss? What is it that
startups miss?
The first one—in certain people’s description, by a
country mile—was their finances. Just understanding
the finances of running a business and understanding
what they should be asking for when in that process.
And that goes from having the actual financial
documents in order and actually knowing what
they’re doing, understanding their cap table, and
knowing who owns what. Being really careful about
what it is that you’re presenting and what you have to
present—but also what you’re asking for.
It’s a big thing to go and say, ‘Hey, I need a million
dollars to go make this, or $5-million or $10-million
or even half a million dollars.’ It’s a lot better if you
can say, ‘I’m going to use it for this, this, and this.
And I know something’s going to go wrong, so this percentage is going to be set aside for the things
that go wrong—so that I don’t have to come back to
you in a year and say I need more money because I
didn’t think these things through.’
It all comes down to having a very coherent
story and a very coherent plan that are working
together—as you work with building the