The Truth About Which Console Developers Really Want
Just how jazzed are game developers about next-gen consoles? The odds are fairly good that you'll see both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X attract their fair share of third-party support. But the people who make the games clearly favor one, as outlined by the latest GDC "State of the Game Industry" survey.
That survey — which gauged platform interest for past, current, and future development projects — seems to indicate that the PlayStation 5 is the more compelling console to developers. The PS5 is slightly ahead of the Xbox Series X as far as current projects are concerned — 11% to 9%. And developers looking ahead to their next projects favor the PlayStation 5 over the Series X, as well — 23% to 17%.
In case you're wondering why those percentages don't add up to anywhere near 100%, it's because other platforms make up the difference. PC, for instance, puts every other platform to shame in both current and future interest. And the tiny-but-mighty Switch drew more interest for current projects, and actually surpasses the Xbox Series X in the category of future projects.
The survey results are obviously good news for Sony, though. If more developers feel drawn to the PlayStation 5 over the Xbox Series X, it's likely because they view the PS5 as the presumptive frontrunner for the console crown. But the narrow margin between the two next-gen systems can also be spun as good news for Microsoft, too. The launch of the Xbox One hurt, but it apparently wasn't enough to cripple the Xbox brand entirely.
As far as we're concerned, no one is really making out badly here — that is, except for Google Stadia. As if Google's streaming platform needed another gut punch, it didn't register a single percentage point with developers working on current projects. That's true despite the fact that 3% of respondents expressed interest in Microsoft's Project xCloud. And what about future projects? Stadia only nabbed 8% of the interest in that category.
Two things you can take away from those Stadia numbers: There don't seem to be many Stadia exclusives in development, and not many developers are fully focused on making them.
We'll have more news on both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X as it comes.