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Game developers in Europe have embraced mobile, PC and Mac development at a rate surpassing that of their North American counterparts, GDC’s survey into industry trends finds.
Forty per cent recently released a game for PC and/or Mac and 39 per cent for mobile. While 49 per cent currently working on a PC game and 59 per cent on mobile. As for those that planned to begin development, 53 per cent planned to work next on a PC game and 66 per cent on mobile.
By comparison, GDC’s survey of North American developers earlier this year indicated that 34 per cent had recently shipped a game on PC and 38 per cent on mobile; 48 per cent were currently working on a PC title and 55 per cent on mobile; and 49 per cent planned to work next on a PC title and 58 per cent on mobile.
While both groups are planning to ramp up development efforts on PC and mobile games, this trend is significantly more pronounced in Europe.
When it came to smartphone platforms, 65 per cent of the GDC Europe survey respondents said they were targeting iOS, followed by 58 per cent for Android, 16 per cent for Windows Phone and seven per cent for BlackBerry.
While mobile was in rude health, the next generation consoles did not figure nearly as highly into European developers’ plans.
Just 13 per cent of survey respondents were working on PlayStation 4 games, compared to nine per cent working on Xbox One games and five per cent on Wii U games. Meanwhile, 23 per cent of respondents said they plan on working on a PS4 game next, compared to 14 per cent for Xbox One and 7 per cent for Wii U – the survey results closed before Microsoft announced its DRM policy change.
Elsewhere, the survey found that PS Vita is starting to gained favour among European developers, but compared to mobile, PC and home consoles, it remains a small fraction of the development scene.
Two per cent recently released a game for Vita. Six per cent are currently working on a Vita title and nine per cent anticipate releasing an upcoming Vita game. By comparison, 1.5 per cent of European developers recently released a 3DS game, 1.5 per cent are currently working on one and two per cent anticipate releasing a 3DS game next.
Emerging platforms, such as Valve’s Steam Box, were also found to be on the mind of European developers with 37 per cent acknowledging their interest in Steam Box and 32 per cent for Android home consoles, which Ouya and Nvidia Shield are part of.
GDC’s survey also revealed that developers in Europe are not satisfied by the current tax incentives.
GDC conducted the survey to picture of the European sector of game development before GDC Europe takes place. The Game Developers Conference surveyed more than 300 European games industry professionals who have attended GDC shows, read Gamasutra.com or plan to attend GDC Europe 2013 in August.
For this year’s survey, 31 per cent of survey respondents were from Germany, 21 per cent from the UK, 11 per cent from the Netherlands, six per cent from Finland, and six per cent from France.
For more information on GDC Europe including a schedule of all conference events and parties, plus a complete exhibitor list, visit: www.gdceurope.com.
