If you have not but, comply with us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know after we publish new articles, and be a part of our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to take a look at our content material and work together with our superior neighborhood. Thanks for supporting us!
Every year, GDC hosts an enormous report going over the sport trade and going over how trade professionals assume of the present state of it. Now, 2026’s report is formally right here, and it has some fairly huge revelations with regards to the Steam Deck.
Within the new GDC 2026 State of the Recreation Business Report, which requested 2,300 trade professionals some questions, 40% of them acknowledged that the Steam Deck is a platform they’re most concerned about growing video games for, which places them at quantity 3 on the record. This matches the PS5/PS5 Professional score and is 1% above the Nintendo Change 2. On high of that, 28% of responders have mentioned they used the Steam Deck for his or her most up-to-date recreation/challenge, placing them at quantity 4 on the record.
Which means 40% of people who responded need to make their video games for, or assist, the Steam Deck, whereas virtually 30% are already doing it. With this being the primary yr the Steam Deck was added to the record, it is superb that it has ranked so excessive. Each of the lists are out of twenty-two spots, which implies the Steam Deck has completely dominated. It is even on the quantity 4 spot for the High 5 Premium Platforms, coming in at 32%, behind Xbox Collection X/S at 47%.
The ROG Xbox Ally is the following handheld PC on the record, however reputation hasn’t caught on for it simply but. It sits at 7%, or at quantity 15 on essentially the most platform record, whereas it takes solely 5%, or at quantity 16 spot, on the platforms which were used for his or her most up-to-date recreation/challenge. Not one of the different handhelds ranked greater, with the remainder of them being grouped within the “different PC handheld” class and getting 2% for every record.
I discover it thrilling to see these outcomes nonetheless. PC stays on the high of every record, and any PC recreation means the potential for Steam Deck and different handheld PC assist, however seeing a particular entry for the Steam Deck makes me optimistic for the way forward for the hand held as builders acknowledge it independently from PC. Linux is on the record as nicely, coming in above the ROG Xbox Ally on each lists, however continues to be comparatively low when in comparison with the Deck. This almost certainly means most builders count on to make use of Proton as a substitute of constructing a local Linux construct, however so long as it is optimized, you will not hear me complain.
The remainder of the survey is fascinating as nicely, particularly the place generative AI is available in. Over 1/3 of responders use generative AI, with most utilizing ChatGPT and Google Gemini for analysis, writing emails, and code help. Nevertheless, over half of responders assume generative AI is having a adverse influence on the trade, with these in visible and technical arts, recreation design, and programming having essentially the most unfavorable views.
And as for layoffs, over 1/4 of responders have been laid off within the final two years, although GDC notes that it may very well be greater, as a few of these responders might have been laid off greater than as soon as. Nevertheless, half of the responders talked about that their corporations have performed some layoffs during the last 12 months, affecting recreation designers and enterprise operations essentially the most. On high of that, 48% of those that had been laid off haven’t discovered one other job but.
I do hope that the trade stabilizes typically, particularly with layoffs. There are a number of superb builders and trade veterans who’re affected by layoffs like this, and it is disappointing. Nonetheless, I’m excited to see the Steam Deck get a lot consideration when it is first included within the survey.
You’ll be able to take a look at the whole survey from GDC instantly by submitting a type for it.
In the event you loved this text, take a look at the remainder of the content material on SteamDeckHQ! We’ve got all kinds of recreation critiques and information that can assist your gaming expertise. Whether or not you are on the lookout for information, suggestions and tutorials, recreation settings and critiques, or simply need to keep up-to-date on the most recent tendencies, we have got you lined!
