The Game Developers Conference, now rebranded as the GDC Festival of Gaming, has released its 2026 State Of The Game Industry survey, revealing a broad range of insights from professionals across different sectors. Of the students who responded to the survey, 74% were concerned about their future job prospects in the game industry due to layoffs. Those at game studios reported using AI tools (30%) less than those at publishing companies, support teams, and marketing/PR firms (58%). 47% of upper management reported using AI tools, while only 29% of more junior positions reported doing so. Analysis of all responses showed some support for using AI tools for non-creative tasks like code assistance or prototyping, but 30% of the responses were opposed to using AI tools in any capacity, citing data sourcing, energy consumption, and the risk of AI replacing jobs.