Games being launched in a multi-platform environment walk a tightrope, with one side being the consumers’ willingness to play on these platforms and the other being the developer community’s willingness to support the platforms.
A survey conducted by UBM, the company in charge of the annual Game Developers Conference, reveals the platforms developers are most interested in and the platforms for which they are currently developing.
PCs still rule the roost, but it is clear there is massive pent-up demand for Nintendo Switch since it ranks only 6th in terms of current developing, but 2nd in terms of developer interest.
By the same token, the Mac looks like the platform most likely to be abandoned …
Click here to see the full table of interest versus current development, and detailed analysis.
It comes as no surprise that PCs hold the highest support from developers, as 66% of about 4000 developers state that they currently develop for PCs. On top of this, 60% of these respondents said that they were interested in developing games for PCs.
The PlayStation 4 is still a top priority for developers of all the consoles, as 31% of respondents are currently working on PlayStation games. A further 38% of respondents were interested in developing games for Sony’s platform.
The Nintendo Switch, the new handheld-hybrid console by the company, holds large developer interest, at 45%, but far less actual development, at 18%. This is clearly due to how young the console is, as its competitors have been in the market for over twice its current lifetime.
Apart from the usual platforms, i.e. PC and console, mobile devices have received significant interest and real development from developers when compared to the other categories. 38% of respondents are currently working on mobile games, higher than for any of the consoles, and 33% are interested in developing for mobile. This may be due to the large market of those who can play mobile games and low costs associated with distribution, compared to other platforms.
While VR and AR platforms hold high interest from developers, the trend is not currently being catered for, with some of the lowest current development figures of all the platforms.