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The research discusses the game development industry's main problems in 2023 and explains how creators adapted to them.
During the ongoing Game Developers Conference 2024, Unity Technologies has released its annual Gaming Report, outlining the current state of the game development industry and providing an overview of the past year's main events.
As you all know, 2023 wasn't that kind to individual developers and companies alike, with studio closures, failed game launches, and massive layoffs plaguing the industry throughout the year. In its 2024 Unity Gaming Report, the Unity team discussed the ongoing economic challenges and explained how developers adapted to them by experimenting, making strategic investments, and taking calculated risks in order to optimize their dwindling resources and make the most out of them.
"This year's report underscores game developers’ spirit of resilience as they navigate the evolving gaming landscape," commented Unity's Chief Product and Technology Officer, Marc Whitten. "Our job at Unity is to help them with the tools and solutions to tackle the challenges of game development. Whether it's improving performance, iteration speed, and multi-platform development in the Unity engine, accelerating multiplayer workflows, or expanding AI capabilities, we are focused on the areas game developers care about and on delivering the most value we can."
According to the report's findings, which draw from data from around five million Unity developers, insights from polls, surveys, and the Unity community as a whole, studios tend to prioritize both conservative spending and bold initiatives nowadays, stretching resources and willing to take on some risk to strengthen their businesses.
Since 2021, the research revealed, the number of multiplatform games has grown by 40%. Even small studios, previously focused on single-platform releases, have increased their output of multiplatform games by 71% over the past two years.
Additionally, the report highlighted the rising popularity of multiplayer titles, noting that multiplayer gaming revenue grew by 10% to $2.3 billion in 2023. On average, mobile-only games featuring multiplayer components saw 40.2% more monthly active users than those without.
Furthermore, the report finds that many studios are adopting diverse monetization approaches, with revenue from in-app advertising (IAA) increasing by 26.7% year over year. Games utilizing both rewarded videos and offerwall experienced a 4% and 2% increase in Day 7 and Day 30 retention, respectively.
You can find more insights by checking out the original report here.
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