PC is still developers' favorite gaming platform, and its lead is growing

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A Game Developers Conference survey asked nearly 4,000 developers about their preferred gaming platform.

PC remains the most popular gaming platform among developers, and its lead over consoles and mobile is growing, according to a Game Developers Conference survey of nearly 4,000 developers. 

When asked what platform they were currently developing games for, two-thirds said PC. 62% of respondents said their next game would release on PC—the highest console was the PlayStation 4 at 32%, and smartphones/tablets were at 35%. "Again we see PC on top and increasing its lead year-over-year, while dev interest in other platforms remains relatively steady," the report said. 

PC was the most-picked platform when respondents were asked which platforms "most interest you as a developer right now", at 60%, ahead of the Nintendo Switch at 45%.

The survey also revealed what developers thought of PC store fronts such as Steam, GOG and the Epic Store. Just 6% of developers agreed that Steam justified the 30% cut it takes from revenue a game makes, while 17% said it "maybe" justified the cut. A further 17% said they didn't know, while 32% said Steam did not justify the revenue cut, which was the largest group of respondents. 27% said it "probably" did not justify the cut. 

However, Steam remained the most popular PC store front, with 47% of PC developers using it to sell their games. Direct sales via a developer's website were next, at 26%, while itch.io, the Humble Store and GOG were each used by less than 20% of respondents. 

The survey included others tidbits on developers' virtual reality preferences, loot boxes and workload, with nearly half of developers saying they work more than 40 hours a week. You can download the full report for free by signing up via email here.

Samuel Horti
Samuel Horti

Samuel is a freelance journalist and editor who first wrote for PC Gamer nearly a decade ago. Since then he's had stints as a VR specialist, mouse reviewer, and previewer of promising indie games, and is now regularly writing about Fortnite. What he loves most is longer form, interview-led reporting, whether that's Ken Levine on the one phone call that saved his studio, Tim Schafer on a milkman joke that inspired Psychonauts' best level, or historians on what Anno 1800 gets wrong about colonialism. He's based in London.