In a theater set off to the side of this week's Game Developers Conference, representatives from big tech companies and venture capital firms spoke about, among other things, their enthusiasm for generative AI. Many of the attendees over in the main convention halls don't feel the same way: 52% of respondents to a recent GDC survey said that they think generative AI is bad for the games industry, and only 7% agreed that it's a good thing.

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During a group discussion about how the games industry can "capitalize on shifting trends in customer engagement," Baier-Lentz said that he's "shocked and sad" that the industry has not embraced generative AI, noting that the gaming business has previously pushed new technology forward. He accused anti-AI game developers of "demonizing" a "marvelous new technology."

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As for why there's so much negative sentiment around AI among game developers, Baier-Lentz reckons that after record layoffs in the wake of the Covid hiring boom, people are worried about their jobs.

Yeah, I'd say that's one of the reasons they don't like it! Others include the use of artists' work without consent, environmental issues, the quality of AI output, and the feeling that automating culture production can only result in what is now commonly called "AI slop."

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Over 50% of game developers now think generative AI is bad for the industry, a dramatic increase from just 2 years ago: 'I'd rather quit the industry than use generative AI'
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By Tyler Wilde published January 29, 2026
The latest GDC survey also found that managers are more likely to use generative AI than their employees.


According to a survey of game developers published by GDC—the annual industry conference happening in San Francisco this March—33% of game dev professionals use generative AI for their work. This hasn't changed much since 2021, when GDC reported that 31% of devs use generative AI, but how they feel about it has dramatically shifted.

This year, 52% of the more than 2,300 respondents said that they "think generative AI is having a negative impact on the game industry," according to the report's author, Beth Elderkin, who notes that just 18% said the same thing two years ago, and 30% last year.

The opposite opinion, that generative AI is good for the industry, was only found in 7% of this year's respondents, a decline from 13% last year. The people least likely to approve of generative AI are who you'd expect: artists, designers, writers, and programmers.

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"Our standing rule is: If one of us brings up using GenAI in any of our work, then it's safe to assume we've been assimilated by The Thing and should be burned alive by Kurt Russell," said a game design consultant in the US.