A Game Developers Conference survey of nearly 4,000 developers has found that PC remains the most popular gaming platform to develop for, with an ever increasing lead over consoles and mobile.
The State of the Game Industry 2019 report (via PC Gamer) notes that well over half of those who took the survey released their last game on PC. It’s apparently the first time the figure has topped 50 per cent, at a respectable 56 per cent.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, mobile devices came in second place ahead of consoles, with 38 per cent.
62 per cent of respondents said that their next game would release on PC, while the PlayStation 4 was the most popular console with 32 per cent. Once again, smartphone/tablet came out ahead of consoles with a 35 per cent share.
The report noted that PC on is top and “increasing its lead year-over-year, while dev interest in other platforms remains relatively steady.”
In terms of the platforms that were of “most interest” to developers, PC garnered a whopping 60 per cent. The Nintendo Switch was also of some interest to devs; according to the report, 45 per cent were eyeing up the handheld/home console hybrid.
If you were also wondering what digital storefront was most popular in 2018, it turns out that Steam still rules the roost, with 47 per cent of PC developers using it to sell their games, followed by direct sales via a developer’s website at 26 per cent.
If you’re interested in picking up all the freshest details on what developers think about loot boxes, their working weeks, and opinions on VR, you can download the full report for free here.
It’s like Heat Magazine for gamers, but not actually like that in any way shape or form… so definitely disregard that comparison.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.