Diversity & Inclusion reports and market data
Documents
Videojuegos en el Aula: ¿Qué se está haciendo en España? Manual para docentes 2025
Video games have become a central cultural and educational tool in Spain, where more than 22 million people—over half of them women—play an average of 8.2 hours each week.
- Spain’s gaming ecosystem is supported by over 22 million players, with women accounting for more than half of the user base and an average weekly playtime of 8.2 hours.
- Educational integration is facilitated by a standardized infrastructure of platforms including Dok Student, Cokitos, Mundo Primaria, Eutopía, and Escapeweb.
- Publicly funded titles like ABC Dinos, BookyPets, and Quijote: Quest for Glory utilize RPG and tower-defense mechanics to improve early literacy, while games like Dîrok and El Enigma de Toledo support STEM and history curricula.
Game Developer Employment: Career Formation of Student Game Creators 2019 Survey 2025
The 2025 Japanese survey of students’ career aspirations investigates how the role of “game creator” is perceived across gender, age, and educational level, aiming to gauge the pipeline of future talent for the domestic game development sector.
- A significant gender divide exists in career aspirations, with game creator ranking as the top choice for male elementary and middle school students while placing nineteenth for females.
- The appeal of a game development career for males remains consistently high, appearing in the top two career choices for students from grade three through nine.
- Approximately 80% of higher-education students interested in game creation view the role as a professional career path rather than a hobby or secondary activity.
Making Games, Making Future: Inside the Realities of Game Careers
This research examines the professional landscape of the global gaming industry, drawing on a survey of over 160 professionals conducted during Gamescom 2025.
- Despite 76% of professionals reporting high job satisfaction, the industry's Net Promoter Score (NPS) has plummeted to -40, signaling a collapse in trust regarding long-term career sustainability.
- The industry is experiencing a talent bottleneck as recruitment slows and employers prioritize senior staff, leaving nearly half of the workforce concentrated in the 6-to-10-year experience bracket.
- Systemic instability is driving professional disillusionment, with 54% of respondents citing low compensation, 43% citing job insecurity, and 30% citing burnout as primary deterrents.
The Way We Work: Embracing Human Sustainability in Game Development
The game development industry currently faces a systemic crisis characterized by high burnout rates and a remarkably short professional shelf life for developers, typically spanning only three to seven years.
- The game industry faces a significant labor crisis, evidenced by the loss of 18,000 jobs, which has eliminated critical institutional knowledge and created a volatile environment for developers.
- Funding models, particularly those driven by private equity and venture capital, often prioritize 'pattern matching' over innovation, leading to a 'smash and grab' economy that excludes underserved audiences and underrepresented stories.
- Sustainable studio culture requires moving beyond superficial perks to deliberate, values-first hiring and inclusive practices that acknowledge how different employees experience the same workplace environment.
Videojuegos en Aulas Europeas: Resultados del Proyecto de Investigación 'Juegos en las Escuelas 2023-2024'
The study evaluates how video-games are being integrated into European primary and secondary classrooms and argues that, while games hold clear potential to enhance motivation, cognition and 21st-century competencies, systematic support is still required to translate research into widespread practice.
- 36% of the 1,474 European teachers surveyed currently integrate video games into their lessons, with over half of those users employing them regularly.
- The primary barriers to adoption are the difficulty of finding age-appropriate, curriculum-aligned, and GDPR-compliant games (45%) and technical limitations such as inadequate hardware or internet access (42%).
- Teacher digital competence has risen to a self-reported 7.7/10 since the 2009 baseline, supported by more positive attitudes and increased backing from school leadership.
Panel: Better Games Together: Uniting the Industry Through Pride and Pixels
Better Games Together is a collaborative initiative founded in 2022 by several prominent Finnish game companies, including Supercell, Metacore, Next Games, and Rovio, in partnership with We in Games Finland.
- Founded in 2022, the 'Better Games Together' collective unites major Finnish studios including Supercell, Metacore, Next Games, and Rovio to drive systemic LGBTQIA+ inclusion through cross-company collaboration.
- Industry-wide research conducted by the group identified that while progress has been made regarding sexual orientation, there is a critical need for increased support and development for trans and non-binary professionals.
- The initiative has moved beyond corporate Pride branding to implement concrete actions, including quarterly employee meetups, roundtable discussions, and specialized training on topics like intersex awareness.
Breaking In & Leveling Up: Meet the Game Industry’s Next Generation
The game industry is currently navigating a critical transition in talent acquisition and workplace culture, driven by a disconnect between the demand for junior developers and the lack of structured mentorship programs.
- The industry faces a hiring paradox where studios demand prior experience that entry-level candidates cannot obtain, forcing new talent to gain initial experience at indie studios or startups.
- Sustainable growth requires eliminating toxic crunch culture and adopting modern management practices, such as four-day work weeks, to improve long-term employee retention and productivity.
- Studios must move away from rigid hiring criteria that prioritize traditional 'hardcore gamer' backgrounds and instead focus on diverse, modern skill sets.
A Survival Guide for Game Developers in a Post-Pandemic World
The global game industry is currently navigating a significant market correction characterized by widespread layoffs and increased operational burn rates following a period of unsustainable pandemic-era expansion.
- The game industry is undergoing a significant market correction characterized by widespread layoffs and high operational burn rates following unsustainable pandemic-era expansion.
- Career stability now requires a shift toward self-directed management, as many studios lack formal mentorship and onboarding structures to support professional growth.
- Long-term success depends less on baseline technical proficiency and more on soft skills like emotional intelligence, concise communication, and adaptability to shifting project requirements.
Loud and Clear: Improving Accessibility for Low Vision Players in 'Cosmonious High'
Owlchemy Labs has established a new standard for inclusive virtual reality design through a comprehensive accessibility update for the title Cosmonious High.
- Owlchemy Labs implemented a 'describable item system' in 'Cosmonious High' that functions like alt text, using text-to-speech (TTS) to describe interactive objects, journals, and tutorial popups for blind and low-vision players.
- The development team utilized spatialized audio to provide players with a sense of an object's location, using volume and directional sound to help players narrow their search for items in the virtual environment.
- A dedicated 'assist button' was mapped to unused controller inputs, allowing players to trigger or cancel TTS descriptions on demand, giving them control over the information flow and preventing audio clutter.
Building Cognitive Accessibility Into Your Games
Cognitive accessibility in gaming centers on the design and implementation of features that enable players to effectively perceive, process, and act upon information.
- Cognitive accessibility addresses barriers related to information processing, including conditions like ADHD, PTSD, and traumatic brain injuries, as well as situational or temporary needs that affect any player.
- Developers should implement accessibility features early in the design phase rather than as an afterthought, as this allows for more effective integration of modular and customizable gameplay elements.
- Key recommended practices include providing manual save options, offering detailed content warnings, sharing accessibility information prior to launch, and conducting regular testing for light and motion sensitivities.
The New Business of Narrative
The modern landscape of game development is undergoing a fundamental shift as a new generation of creators prioritizes narrative innovation and socially conscious storytelling.
- Developers are shifting away from high-cost cinematic cutscenes toward mechanics-driven gameplay to explore complex human experiences like cultural identity and the immigrant experience.
- Titles such as Before Your Eyes and Venba demonstrate that interactive systems can foster deep player empathy without relying on traditional branching dialogue or conventional win-loss structures.
- Narrative-focused studios are achieving commercial viability by bypassing traditional publishing models in favor of building dedicated, niche communities through social media distribution.
Getting Hired with a Personal Touch
Securing a position within the competitive game industry requires a strategic shift from generic mass-application tactics toward highly personalized, research-driven engagement.
- Prioritize professional social media profiles, as hiring managers often view personal accounts to assess character and cultural fit, which can negatively impact an application if the content is unprofessional.
- When submitting work tests or portfolios, provide multiple file formats and backups to ensure the hiring manager can access your work regardless of their device, software, or technical constraints.
- Demonstrate self-awareness and honesty regarding skill gaps by explicitly addressing them in your application, which signals professional maturity and a willingness to learn.