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Product Reviews

87% of game developers are already using AI agents and over a third use AI for creative elements like level design and dialogue according to a new Google survey

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Fully 87% of game developers are already using AI agents. That’s according to a new survey from Google Cloud and The Harris Poll of 615 game developers in the United States, South Korea, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. It’s also just the tip of the AI-berg.

Some of the tasks completed by AI aren’t immediately worrisome and you’d think will speed up development and reduce costs. The report says AI is proving useful for automating “cumbersome and repetitive tasks”, freeing developers to focus more on creative elements.

For instance, 47% of developers reported that AI is, “speeding up playtesting and balancing of mechanics, 45% say it is assisting in localization and translation of game content, and 44% cite it for improving code generation and scripting support.” Overall, 94% of developers surveyed, “expect AI to reduce overall development costs in the long term (3+ years).”


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That could help keep smaller developers in business, it might mean niche game titles are more viable, and so on. But it’s only part of the picture. Arguably one of the great fears among gamers is that game design, stories and dialogue will be replaced with the sort of AI slop that’s now bunging up YouTube and social media.

Well, slop or not, AI is increasingly being used for those purposes. Google’s survey found that 36% of respondents are using AI for dynamic level design, animation and rigging, and dialogue writing, while 37% of developers report they have, “enhanced experimentation with new gameplay or narrative concepts.”

Will today’s games be among the last to be coded, written and voiced by humans? (Image credit: rmk1234, CD Projekt Red)

The report is pretty granular about many aspects of game design and development and makes for an intriguing read. Overall, Google is nothing if not upbeat about the implications of all this. Of course it would be, considering it is one of the largest AI researchers on the planet. It has skin in the game, and it’s trying to sell AI to the world.

“Overall, the research found widespread adoption of gen AI in the games industry—and a surprising level of optimism for it. AI is already making a big difference in developer workflows, including productivity and creative tasks.

“Developers also see promising possibilities with AI agents and other emerging AI tools to accelerate game development and enhance player experiences,” the report says.

Of course, the end game, pun very much intended, of all this is presumably games fully AI generated in response to user prompts. “I want to play a first person shooter set in ancient Rome, but with modern weapons, procedural crime elements and Disney characters,” or whatever. And off you go.

Of course, except the one bit that almost definitely won’t be doable is the Disney characters due to IP ownership. Unless you pay extra for the Disney AI gaming subscription or similar. But you get the idea.

If that puts the burden on users to come up with game narratives, semi-curated games where the basic premise is tweaked by user prompts might make more sense for most mainstream gamers. But the main point is that it might all be AI generated one day. At which point will there be a submarket for “artisanal” hand-coded games with human-written narratives, real voices and the rest? All of this is to come, much is to be decided. But the the direction of travel looks pretty unambiguous, and a little icky.

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Discoverability is the industry’s "Achilles’ heel," marketing survey finds
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Discoverability is the industry’s “Achilles’ heel,” marketing survey finds

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Creative comms and marketing agency Bastion has released its annual video games marketing survey, which reveals that discoverability is the biggest challenge publishers and developers expect to face this year.

Published on August 14, 2025, Bastion’s Annual G2M Video Games Marketing Survey 2025 asked 75 developers and publishers from across the globe questions about their company structure, games, and current approach to marketing, as well as the challenges they expect to face in the future.

“The world of games marketing isn’t just evolving, it’s accelerating,” G2M director Clare Hawkins said in the report. “Over the last 12 months, marketers have been asked to do more with less: tighter budgets, leaner teams, and a market bursting at the seams. Agility is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s vital to success.”

63.9% of the survey’s respondents were found to have more than a decade of publishing experience, but the same percentage only have marketing teams of one to five people.

“That’s a powerhouse of talent, stretched razor thin,” noted Hawkins.

Marketing team sizes remain somewhat stable, with 44.4% of companies saying their team size remains “unchanged,” while 33.3% decreased and 22.2% increased. The report notes that “significantly less” of this sample have increased their team size compared to the nearly 40% increase we saw in 2024.

The majority (44.4%) of companies are still “undecided” on whether they’ll be hiring for their market team in the next 12 months, with 40% outright saying “no.”

Agency spending, however, has increased, with the majority (38.9%) of respondents answering that their company has increased agency spending over the last year. “Significantly less” marketers are decreasing agency spend, too, with 27.8% of respondents saying they had done so – a 14.2% drop compared to last year.

33.3% of respondents revealed they aren’t changing their agency spend, 13% more than in 2024.

When asked if they felt their “current budget is adequate to meet your marketing objectives,” only 36.1% of respondents said yes – dropping from 60% in 2024.

Elsewhere, the report found that 81% of respondents have a marketing budget under £500,000 for major titles, a 17.7% increase from last year.

More of this year’s survey sample produced AA and AAA games (28.8% and 15.1%, respectively), but only 5.4% had a typical marketing budget between £500,000 and £750,000, while 13.5% had a budget over £1 million. The report notes this suggests “more of these game types have experienced budget restrictions over the last 12 months.”

94.4% of respondents said discoverability was the biggest challenge last year | Image credit: Bastion

The survey also found that 31% of companies saw discoverability as their biggest challenge last year, and 94.4% believe it will remain the biggest over the next 12 months. Hawkins described it as “the industry’s Achilles’ heel.”

“Discoverability still tops the list – but it’s no longer just about being seen,” said Bastion managing director Ravi Vijh. “It’s about owning the spotlight in an overcrowded market.”

When it comes to marketing channels, the majority (25%) of respondents believe organic influencer marketing is the most effective. Whereas, in 2024, Paid Media (which is now seen as the least effective) and Paid Influencer were the most popular.

“The data suggests a shift towards more organic and community-led content over the last 12 months,” the report notes.

“The games industry is shifting fast – budgets are tighter, competition’s fiercer, and the fight for attention has never been tougher,” said Vijh. “Our latest marketing survey reveals a clear picture: the challenges are universal, and so are the moves that get results.”

“The one-size-fits-all playbook? Dead,” Vijh continued. “From influencer partnerships to Steam events to how studios show up on LinkedIn – the rule is simple: authenticity wins. With teams under pressure, marketers are turning to trusted agency partners to deliver bold, performance-driven creative at scale.”



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Crypto
NFT Gaming

Liverpool Tops UK Charts As Crypto Kingpin, Survey Reveals

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Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

According to a new Openreach study, Liverpool has climbed to the top of the UK’s list for regular cryptocurrency investing. About 13% of people in the city say they put money into crypto and check stocks on a regular basis. In London, 24% of residents use dating apps at least three days a week, compared with just 4% across Britain as a whole.

Liverpool Takes Crypto Lead

Based on reports from the survey, Liverpudlians are more likely than anyone else in Britain to log on and manage digital assets. That 13% figure outstrips every other city in the study. It suggests a strong local appetite for things like Bitcoin and Ethereum, even as markets wobble. Many people in Liverpool said they check prices several times a week, and some log in every day just to see what’s happening.

Daily Online Time Remains High

According to the findings, the average person in the UK spends about three-and-a-half hours online each day. About 20% of respondents admitted they spend over five hours a day in front of screens. Weekends don’t change much. When asked when they log on most, 64% said they’re active between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Of those late‑night users, 19% head straight to YouTube. That pattern hints at a mix of work‑shift browsing and just plain night‑owl habits.

Total crypto market cap currently at $3,29 trillion. Chart: TradingView

Northern Cities Show Their Stripes

In Manchester, 27% of residents say they use Instagram regularly, more than anywhere else. Sheffield stands out in two areas: 32% of its people scroll through TikTok often, and 30% stream music every day. Sheffield households also top the list for time online, with 32% spending more than five hours a day on the internet. By comparison, only 11% of people in Brighton hit that mark.

Image: Penn Today

Signs Of Screen Fatigue

The survey also found growing web‑use worries. About 43% of Britons feel they waste time online, and 37% worry about “doom‑scrolling.” A third (33%) say they’d feel more relaxed if they cut back on their screen hours. These figures show a real push for balance, as people juggle work chats, social feeds and streaming services.

Experts say these regional differences could guide local projects and advertisers. Openreach’s deputy CEO, Katie Milligan, added that while it’s great to see how areas adapt to life online, it’s even better that many recognize the need to switch off now and then. This mix of heavy use and self‑awareness paints a clear picture: Britain is more connected than ever, but many are ready for a digital breather.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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70% of games with online requirements are doomed, according to Stop Killing Games survey
Game Updates

70% of games with online requirements are doomed, according to Stop Killing Games survey

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Stop Killing Games are a self-described consumer movement who are aggrieved about all the games with online requirements that become partly or completely unplayable, once publishers end official server support. They’re trying to persuade larger advocacy organisations like The European Consumer Organisation to propose new laws that put a stop to such shenanigans.

To support their campaign, they’ve carried out a survey of games with online requirements to work out how many are “dead”, dying or enduring thanks to developer or fan-implemented “end of life” plans, such as patched-in offline functionality. The resulting Google spreadsheet has 738 entries, of which a whopping 70% are apparently no longer playable or destined to become that way.


You can view the spreadsheet here. Beware that Google might badge it “suspicious”, because it harbours a bunch of links to publisher websites – it’s possible some of those publisher websites have naughty code, but it could also be simply that Google considers giant walls of links innately untrustworthy. One of the Stop Killing Games organisers, Youtuber Ross Scott, has also put together a video discussing the survey methodology and summarising the highlights.

Watch on YouTube

The survey sorts games into four broad categories: those that are no longer playable, those that are “at risk” for want of plans to maintain them once official support has ended, and those that have been “saved” by means of, say, the public release of the server code.


The volunteers found that of the 738 games included, 299 games were “dead”, with 313 games set to meet the same fate in the absence of publisher action. 110 of the games surveyed have been preserved by industrious players, following the cessation of official support, while just 16 had been salvaged by the developers.


The criteria for inclusion are a little blurry, admittedly. SKG have made some “judgement calls” about proof-of-concept fan emulators that launch the game in a minimally playable state, which they’re currently categorising as “dead”. The list also includes offline single player games that have online multiplayer components, such as Mass Effect 3. Scott strenuously makes the argument that these should be counted alongside always-online games, because it’s not like you can opt out of paying for multiplayer when you buy the game. He adds that, in any case, even if you strip away the games with offline single player components, 68.77% of the games that remain are still categorisable as either gone or going under.


The video notes that publishers can be frustrating elusive and unreadable on whether a game with an online requirement will be spared from demolition. A game might be said to support private servers, for example, theoretically allowing you to play it without official server support, but actually require you to access those private servers via the publisher.


There are many, many online-required live service games currently in development, despite some high profile disasters and much discontent about live service as a concept. The fact that so many games with online requirements are “dead” is hardly surprising. Large publicly traded companies are, after all, fuelled by profits rather than goodwill. They gain little from ensuring that those games remain playable, once they’re no longer part of the active portfolio. Still, you do come across the odd team or community that have successfully reconfigured a game to survive the apocalypse.

A few members of the Stop Killing Games team are hoping to set up a wiki of online games that face extinction, based on this research. If you fancy pitching in, you can get in touch by emailing deadgamestats@pm.me.



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