MISSION

Game Developer Research was formed in 2007 by the editors of Game Developer magazine to bring a new level of empirical measurement and high quality prediction to the video game research market.

REPORTS

The group has published seven full reports so far:

- 2008 State Of Game Development Survey (August 2008)

- Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2008 (April 2008)

- Top 50 Developers 2008 (March 2008)

- The Game Developer 2008 Government Game Incentive Report (February 2008)

- Top 20 Publishers 2007 Survey (October 2007)

- The Game Developer Census 2007 (June 2007)

- Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2007 (April 2007)

BACKGROUND

With access to the 40,000+ readers of Game Developer magazine and the hundreds of thousands of regular Gamasutra readers, as well as the attendees of the CMP Game Group's events such as Game Developers Conference, the division will conduct research into the wants, needs, and trends of the game professional community itself.

It uses acknowledged experts, both from the Game Group's editorial staff and from external sources, to look into trends regarding all aspects of the game industry and create game research.

Subjects tackled are of interest to managers and businesspeople within the game business, as well as government entities, analysts, investors, and those seeking to know more about the video game business.

More information on upcoming Game Developer Research reports will be available in the near future.

STAFF

Simon Carless (Director)
Alistair Wallis (Research)
Jill Duffy (Editor/Research)

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in commissioning custom game development research about any aspect of the game industry:

Email: research@gdmag.com
Phone: 415-947-6145
Address:
Game Developer Research
600 Harrison Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco,
CA 94107

Newest Report

Game Developer Research is pleased to announce the debut of its seventh report, the '2008 State Of Game Development Survey.' The in-depth 180-page report was compiled by surveying almost 2,000 video game professionals from North America and beyond who read Gamasutra.com or subscribe to Game Developer magazine.

It includes answers to over 55 questions about the platforms Western game creators develop for, the market sectors they are working in, the tools they use, and the amount of money they spend on them. Some of the highlights of the report which Game Developer Research is revealing to the public at this time include the following:

- Overall, 70% of those replying are making games on the PC or Mac, with 43% creating for console and 28% for web platforms - with just 16% making games for handheld platforms such as the DS or PSP.

- Of the surveyed console developers, which represent a notable cross-section of the entire industry, 73% are creating games for Xbox 360, 58% (including some of the same respondents) for the PlayStation 3, and 42% for the Wii - with 15% still creating games for the PlayStation 2. This implies that the greatest amount of Western console developers by sheer numbers are creating games for Microsoft's console - but due to team size differences, this doesn't necessarily imply that more games will appear on the Xbox 360 than other consoles.

- Again, of the largely North American and European developers surveyed, Nintendo DS had the largest amount of creators by numbers, with 75% of those handheld developers surveyed making games for it - and with 45% making games for the PSP.

Another particularly interesting result that discussing trends in programming language. Of those responding, 76% are currently using C++ to make games, with 31% using C#, and 19% using Java/J2ME in their programming efforts. In addition, 9% of those replying still use assembly language in some way.

The remainder of the survey offers a wealth of extra data into the purchasing habits and development choices of the game development industry, with market share information in areas as diverse as AI tools, game engines, 3D art software, compilers, books, motion capture suites, and computer hardware - covering every submarket of purchases made by game makers. This will be of interest to technology companies in the game development space, as well as those looking to enter the market or to survey general game industry trends.

Other Reports

Game Developer Research is pleased to announce the debut of its sixth report, the 'Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2008.' The in-depth 71-page report supplements the 2007 Salary Survey included in the April 2008 issue of Game Developer magazine and includes a full salary, benefits, and bonuses comparison for American, Canadian, and European game industry salaries over that time period.

The 'Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2008' was conducted February-March 2008 with the assistance of research firm Audience Insights. More than 4,860 responses were gathered from participants in total. The survey excluded salaries under $10,000 as well as salary figures from students and educators. The small number of reported salaries over $202,500 was excluded to prevent their high numbers from unnaturally skewing the average. The sample represented in the salary survey can be projected to the overall game developer community with a margin of error for the U.S. statistics of plus or minus 1.7% at a 95% confidence level.

These trends include detailed data for year-over-year results from 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, leading to prediction possibilities over all disciplines, including programming, art, audio, production, Q/A, business, and beyond. This makes it an essential purchase for HR professionals, business owners, investors and government entities wanting to know how game salaries are changing over time.

There is also further segmenting of the data to show average salaries for select Canadian provinces and European countries, as well as many other newly exposed details, thanks to the in-depth surveying of Game Developer/Gamasutra readers and GDC attendees, with over 4,860 responses for this year.

Game Developer Research is pleased to announce the debut of its fourth report, 'The Game Developer 2008 Government Game Incentive Report', a comprehensive listing of over forty government-funded, local programs targeted at assisting game developers, small and large. Inside this extensive 180-page-plus report, you'll find detailed information on the tax credits, grants, and other financial options offered by organizations from all over the world.

'The Game Developer 2008 Government Game Incentive Report' is an invaluable aid to any company seeking to learn and compare the benefits of setting up a studio in different states or countries. Agencies researching in-place models of game developer incentives to build their own programs will also find the report a peerless resource.

Each entry contains a company description and contact information for the offering institution, a brief of developers and related deals in the area, our summary of the available program(s), and a detailed description of the local incentive(s) as offered by the institution. Links are provided with every excerpt to provide you quick and easy access to the source.

You can now read more information on the specific information available in the report and purchase the 'Game Developer's 2008 Government Game Incentive Report'.

Game Developer Research is pleased to announce the debut of its third report, the 'Game Developer Top 20 Publishers 2007 Survey'. This detailed supplement to the fifth Top 20 Publishers countdown, which appears in the October 2007 issue of Game Developer magazine, reveals the numerical reputation scores, written comments, and anonymous partner feedback for the major game publishers in this year's countdown, alongside game release and average review score specifics by platform.

For the first time ever, Game Developer Research is making available the data set using to calculate the countdown, including a reputational survey using 300 industry professionals from all parts of the game production process. They were asked to rate numerically – including comments - the reputations of each publisher in the survey.

In addition, scores and commentary was gathered from respondents who had direct experience with these game publishers in the recent past, either as workers or partners - including milestone, marketing and pay feedback. This information is twinned with complete publisher release lists and average review scores from August 2006 to July 2007 to present an unprecedented level of data into how major game companies are currently faring.

You can now read more information on the specific information available in the survey, including sample data, and purchase the 'Game Developer Top 20 Publishers 2007 Survey'.

Game Developer Research is pleased to announce the debut of its second report, 'The Game Developer Census 2007', which has created an accurate and detailed list of every significant developer and publisher currently working in the game business in the United States and Canada.

The result, which will be invaluable for contractors, service companies, educational institutions and other entities wanting to reach out to the North American game market as a whole, includes almost 600 firms listed, and includes both a 150-page in-depth report by state, and a separate Excel document with the full data set.

Every firm surveyed is listed with full postal address, website URL, phone number/email contact when publicly available, size of firm, and the type of development or publishing it focuses on—casual gaming, online gaming, mobile gaming, serious gaming, PC, handheld or console gaming, as well as example titles that the company has produced.

The 'Game Developer Census 2007' can be ordered digitally, and comprises the following elements: The .DOC version of the report, which summarizes the contacts in easily readable form and provides totals for game developers per state and Canadian province, and the .XLS Excel spreadsheet version of the report, which allows the individual fields to be sorted, exported and used however the purchaser sees fit.

You can now read more information on the specifics of the survey, and purchase the 'Game Developer Census 2007' .

The in-depth 'Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2007' includes a full salary, benefits, and bonuses comparison for American, Canadian, and European game industry salaries over that time period. An overview of the basic findings is available in a Gamasutra.com news story

The 2006 survey was conducted through Audience Insights, and anonymously polled 5,600 readers of Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra.com and attendees of Game Developers Conference on their current salary information. The 2005 and 2004 surveys were conducted similarly, leading to almost 15,000 responses and unprecedented levels of detail.

These trends include three-year averages, leading to prediction possibilities over all disciplines, including programming, art, audio, production, Q/A, business, and beyond. This makes it an essential purchase for HR professionals, business owners, investors and government entities wanting to know how game salaries are changing over time.

You can now read more information on the specifics of the survey, and purchase the 'Game Developer Salary Report: 2004-2007' .

Partner Reports

Niko Partners, a leading market research and consulting firm for China's video game industry, has announced results from its latest report focused on outsourced game development in China. The report is published in association with Game Developer Research, the research arm of the CMP Game Group, and can be ordered for $3,000 by contacting Niko Partners directly:

More information about the report is available via this Gamasutra news story exploring its findings, which include detailed analysis of specific Chinese outsourcing studios and information on the extent and type of outsourcing currently being done by Western firms.