GDC 2019 drew about 29,000 people to San Francisco.
GDC 2019 drew about 29,000 people to San Francisco. In 2021, it will be online only.
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GDC dev survey: Pandemic delayed games but brought growth and rise in PS5 interest

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 3 min

The Game Developers Conference unveiled its survey of more than 3,000 game developers today, noting how the pandemic delayed games but brought growth, a rise in interest in the PlayStation 5, and strong disapproval of the 30% royalties claimed by digital storefronts.

The ninth annual survey found that game developers had to adjust remote work, deal with pandemic stress, and make their games in increasingly isolated environments. Yet they created games that help people get through feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anxiety.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.