In today’s industry, difficulty is a selling point, a curtain that divides demographics, and a constant point of disagreement over which direction our industry is headed in. It creates stereotypes that target individual games, entire genres, different studios and publishers, and even video game platforms. This examination is primarily focused on highlighting difficulty as a useful tool in game design, though it also aims to dismiss the veil of confusion that’s fueled by so many different opinions and uses of it in games.
The State of the Game Industry reports US-based tariffs are impacting 38 percent of business leaders in the game industry, affecting financial decisions.
Revenue rose by only 0.2% year-on-year, while downloads increased by 4.6%
The 2026 State of the Game Industry reports one-third of game workers are using gen AI, and half of the respondents think it's having a negative impact.
