European game developers are more concerned that AI will pressure them to work faster rather than take their job

GamesIndustry.biz reports that European developers are far more worried about generative AI becoming a productivity squeeze than a straight replacement threat. In the 10th Big Games Industry Employment Survey, 61% said AI will pressure them to work faster and produce more, while 35% think it could reduce demand for their role or cost them their job.

The findings come from Talent Signals Reshaping the Games Industry, a report by Values Value founder and InGame Job co-founder Tanja Loktionova. The preliminary version is already available, with the full report due in November 2026. Beyond workload pressure, just over half of respondents said AI could reduce work quality, and 46% said it makes it harder to judge real skills.

The survey also suggests AI is already changing day-to-day work for most people: 78% said it has altered how they work, including 33% who described a significant change. On the hiring side, 35% of company founders said they have passed on a candidate because AI tools could do the job, while 60% said they are deliberately keeping teams small.

For developers, the practical takeaway is that AI is increasingly shaping expectations around output, staffing, and evaluation, not just content generation. That makes it relevant to producers and business leads trying to balance headcount, and to designers, artists, and programmers who may be asked to justify both speed and quality under tighter scrutiny.