94% developers expect AI to cut long-term development costs despite high integration expenses

A newly released Google Cloud survey revealed that 87% of developers are now using AI agents to streamline and automate tasks, even as the technology fuels unease among workers already reeling from historic job losses. 

The report, conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, surveyed 615 developers in the US, South Korea, Norway, Finland, and Sweden in late June and early July.

Most of the respondents said AI agents were easing the burden of repetitive or technical work, per the report. Forty-four percent said they were using agents to optimize content and process information at speed, enabling them to focus on more creative responsibilities.

Ninety-four percent expect AI to bring down development costs in the long run, though nearly a quarter of the respondents said it remained difficult to quantify return on investment, particularly given the high upfront costs of integration.

The video game industry is in crisis

The relationship between video game developers and AI hasn’t exactly been rosy. Between 2022 and May 2025, more than 35,000 workers were laid off across the global games business, with large publishers such as Embracer Group, Electronic Arts, Unity, Microsoft, and Sony all cutting staff. According to industry trackers, it is the most sustained wave of job losses in the sector’s history.

At Microsoft, which shed around 9,000 gaming jobs, workers and union organizers have accused management of prioritizing investment in AI initiatives over staff retention. In one highly controversial case, about 200 developers at King, the Activision Blizzard subsidiary known for Candy Crush, were reportedly replaced by AI tools they had helped design, sparking outrage among colleagues and industry peers.

Unions have become increasingly vocal. Blizzard’s narrative design team last month voted to unionize, one week after workers on the Call of Duty franchise did the same.

Opinions are divided on AI as industry ponders way forward

While most developers in the Google study cited efficiency gains, most of them still agree that there are some gray areas that need better clarification. 63% of respondents expressed concern over data ownership, with questions unresolved about whether studios or creators hold rights to AI-generated content.

The “State of the Game Industry” survey, published in January ahead of the Game Developers Conference, painted a more skeptical picture. It found that more than half of studios were already experimenting with generative AI, but nearly a third of respondents characterized its impact as negative. They warned of homogenized content, algorithmic bias, and potential job erosion.

At July’s Develop conference in Brighton, panelists argued that human oversight remained essential to authenticity and inclusion in storytelling, stressing that AI tools should not replace lived experience or cultural nuance.

For many workers, AI represents not only a technical shift but a profound restructuring of how games are made and who gets to make them. Unions are expected to expand as staff seek to safeguard pay and creative input. Meanwhile, investors and executives are betting that the cost savings promised by automation will outweigh legal, reputational, and cultural risks.

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