The 2026 State of the Industry Report from the GDC Festival of Games shows above all how severely the industry has been affected by job cuts. However, a few questions also make it clear that US immigration policy is not leaving the industry unscathed.
Even though there are only three graphs on the penultimate page of the report, the figures speak for themselves. 31 per cent of international survey participants stated that they had avoided travelling to the United States because of current immigration or gender identity policies. A further 33 per cent said that they were reconsidering future travel plans.
Sixty percent also said that current immigration policy influences their ability or desire to do business with companies based in the United States. The results are striking because for weeks, a growing number of European industry members in particular have been publicly announcing on social media that they will not be travelling to GDC and/or the DICE Summit this year, two of the most important events in the international games industry. It remains to be seen how noticeable the absence of international trade visitors will be. GDC president Nina Brown and game MD Felix Falk expressed their understanding to GamesMarkt, but also their confidence.
It is not unusual for the GDC Festival of Gaming's 2026 State of the Industry Report to address this issue. The survey does not shy away from difficult topics. On the contrary, for many years, the report has been an honest, if not always flattering, reflection of the industry in terms of working conditions in games development. And this year's edition is no exception.
By far the most questions concern the topics of work, jobs and working hours. For example, 17 per cent of respondents said they had been made redundant in the past 12 months. Another 11 per cent lost their jobs in the previous year. The difficult working conditions are also affecting the morale of the next generation: three quarters of all students worry about future jobs.
Unsurprisingly, according to the report, 82 per cent of respondents said they support unionisation in the industry. At the same time, however, very few are actually organised. Only 10 per cent are part of an industry-wide union, and only 2 per cent are part of a company union. 62 per cent said they were at least interested.
Other interesting data from the report shows, for example, the attitude of games developers towards the controversial topic of AI, which platforms and business models are being developed for, and what role VR or accessibility play in their work. The demographic data is also exciting, as it continues to show that Western studios in particular are participating in the survey. The comparison of where a participant works and where they were born provides at least an indication of the markets to which developers are migrating, including Canada, Sweden and the USA. It is interesting to note that the same analysis was also carried out for US states. Unsurprisingly, Washington and California are the states in which significantly more respondents live than were born.
As always, the 2026 State of the Industry Report from GDC Festival of Gaming is available free of charge upon registration on the GDC website.
