The Devcom speaker survey has revealed that 33% of respondents want to use AI as little as possible – but 32% see a use for AI in code and production.

Just 11% want to see AI used in art and animation, while fewer than 10% want to see it used in marketing and communication, and the figures fall to around 3% for narrative design.

When asked about the biggest challenge currently facing the games industry, the majority of respondents (56) cited economic and political uncertainty. Almost as concerning was market saturation (53 votes), followed by rising development costs (44 votes).

Interestingly, 46% of respondents said that they thought one or more major platform holders would shift their focus towards cloud and digital services in the next few years. And the majority of speakers (59%) said they prefer to buy their games digitally, while 22% said they would buy physical versions only for collector’s editions.

Devcom returns to Cologne, Germany, on August 17–19 with more than 350 speakers and more than 200 sessions.

One of the highlights for this year is a new, dedicated roundtable stage where several roundtables will be hosted at the same time, says Devcom senior PR and partnership manager Robin Hartmann. “We got the feedback that these roundtables were very well received, and they wanted more.”

He adds that speakers have been keen to offer roundtables rather than regular panels or fireside chats, because roundtables offer more interactivity and more chance for people to ask questions.

“We also have a really big expo stage,” he says. “You definitely get the Gamescom feeling already when you’re entering our venue.” Everyone who has access to the expo floor can watch the sessions on the main stage, which will host the keynotes and will feature more content this year.

Hartmann says the session he’s personally looking forward to most is a talk from Minh Le, creator of Counter-Strike. “We have him on site talking about development and challenges over the past 25 years of the games industry.”

He’s also looking forward to a keynote from the creators of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl – game director Ievgen Grygorovych and creative director Mariia Grygorovych. “This is going to be intense, I think, because they had to face so many challenges, especially with the war in Ukraine.”

Other highlights include talks from Michel Nohra, lead game designer on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Zeke Virant, lead game designer on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, while producers and project managers from Arrowhead Game Studios, Gearbox Montreal, and Avalanche Studios will be sharing their war stories from the frontlines of game development.

David Fox, one of the original employees of Lucasfilm Games, will also be there to reflect on the development of Rescue on Fractalus! from 1985, which used fractals to generate a very early example of real-time 3D.

Newly announced talks and events at Devcom include ‘Viva La Game Dev: How a YouTube Empire Became Indie Game Gold’, featuring the creators behind Viva La Dirt League, as well as ‘Mario Kart World: Beat the Pros’, in which audience members will be invited to challenge experts at Nintendo’s racer in the hope of winning tickets to next year’s Devcom.

More details can be found on the Devcom website.