Gamescom Dev speaker survey identifies potential impacts of AI on team structure and productivity

Gamescom Dev’s latest speaker survey suggests AI is moving from experimentation into day-to-day production planning. Of the 100 speakers polled, 83% expect AI to affect either team structure or productivity over the next few years, and nearly half named AI-assisted development as the most important industry trend ahead.

The clearest use-case signal is in code and production: 34% said those areas would benefit most from AI support. At the same time, 30% still want minimal AI involvement in development, down slightly from 33% last year. On staffing, 36% think AI will change roles rather than shrink teams, while 33% expect smaller teams and 14% expect higher individual output.

The survey also reflects the broader business pressure developers are working under. More than half of respondents cited economic uncertainty as the biggest challenge, followed by market saturation, discoverability, and rising development costs. For discoverability, the strongest asks were clearer platform algorithms, better storefront recommendations, and more curated editorial coverage.

Looking ahead, 37% see smaller development teams as the biggest opportunity, with community building and new publishing models tied for second. On monetisation, respondents were split, but premium digital and physical games led the pack at 29%, ahead of live service at 24% and free-to-play with in-game items at 21%.