After surveying more than 4,500 developers in November and December, the Game Developers Conference’s fifth annual State of the Industry Survey reveals that 53% of game makers are currently developing a game for PC/Mac. 38% said smartphones/tablets, 27% said PlayStation 4/PS4 Pro, 24% said VR headsets, and 22% said Xbox One/Scorpio.
Some of the least popular platforms were Xbox 360 and Nintendo Switch (3% each), PS3, PS Vita, and Wii U (2% each), and Nintendo 3DS, DS, Wii,, and PSP (less than 1% each).
The survey also shows that 18% of respondents thought mid-cycle console refreshes (PlayStation 4 Pro and Project Scorpio) were good for the industry. 41% were undecided, 36% were neutral on the subject, and 5% said it was a negative development. One developer who responded to the survey said the added performance boost in these consoles is a good thing, but they don’t want to see yearly refreshes:
The consoles did need reinvigoration due to their low performing specs compared to what PCs were capable of at launch. Although, I do not want the markets to be divided. I also do not want the eventuality of a yearly release of a new console as I believe this could damage the console market severely.
Another developer said:
Consoles have benefited from being fixed platforms, single specs to focus on. This mid-cycle ?refresh? breaks that benefit. Developers will now either need to build two games, release a lowest common denominator on the more powerful platform, or re...