The game development community's dissatisfaction over generative AI tools may be picking up speed. According to new data from the Game Developer Collective (a joint survey project conducted in partnership with our peers at Omdia), developer adoption of generative AI tools is on the decline after an initial spike in interest in the first half of 2025.

This year, only 29 percent of Collective participants reported that they are using generative AI tools, a year-over-year decrease from 36 percent of panelists who reported that they used the technology in the same time period last year.

That trend represents a reversal from what the Collective observed from 2024 to 2025. In the second half of 2024, only 24 percent of panelists said they were using genAI. That means reported AI adoption rose 12 percent from 2024 into 2025, and has declined 7 percent since.

The number could pick back up again. But as the decline took place, more developers reported negative sentiments about the technology.

Related:Devs are more worried than ever that generative AI will lower the quality of games

As we reported last summer, almost half (47 percent) of surveyed developers said they were worried that generative AI would negatively impact the quality of games, with only 11 percent believing it would have a positive impact. Those numbers stayed mostly static in the first half of 2026. However a greater shift took place on the topic of AI's impact on game development costs.

27 percent of panelists were bullish on genAI's cost reduction abilities in the first half of 2025, and only 21 percent echoed that sentiment in the start of 2026. Meanwhile the number of developers who felt genAI will increase costs jumped 8 percent year-over-year.

Our peers at Omdia aren't the only ones surveying developers about generative AI usage and sentiment, and it's worth comparing this data against other reports to assess how different segments of the industry may be responding to generative AI.

For instance, our peers at GDC Festival of Gaming found that about one-third of developers use generative AI tools (about in line with the Collective's assessment), but half of developers feel it's bad for the industry.

Both surveys state that the bulk of respondents are from North America and Europe. In Japan, the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (which organizes Tokyo Game Show) reports that 51 percent of developers use generative AI. That's according to a report in The Nikkei.

Meanwhile in August 2025, a poll conducted by Google Cloud and The Harris Poll stated that 87 percent of developers use AI agents in their workflows, and roughly half of respondents said the technology speeds up tasks in "playtesting and balancing of mechanics," "localization and translation of game content," and "code generation and scripting support" (via gamesindustry.biz).

It is worth noting that the number of games released on Steam that disclose the use of generative AI is increasing.

And while it's not a survey, famed game designer and NYU Game Center founder Frank Lantz published a thoughtful analysis of AI's impact on game design this week that explores why we haven't seen many new types of AI-driven games since the technology's explosion in 2021.

Wherever generative AI adoption ends up, its creators have faced a steady drumbeat of criticism over the technology's harmful impact on the environment, its potential misappropriation of copyrighted work, the questionable financials of various AI firms, its impact on the price of PC and console components, and the risk of psychological harm to users.

Game Developer, Omdia, and GDC Festival of Gaming are sibling organizations under Informa.