2025 Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco amid industry layoffs

Young game industry professionals at the ongoing 2025 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco have expressed reservations about the future employment opportunities amid a changing landscape.

The 2025 GDC, one of the gaming industry's most influential events, runs from March 17 to 21 at the city's Moscone Center and has drawn some 30,000 attendees including representatives from major tech companies like Meta, Epic, and Netflix, alongside numerous independent game developers.

However, beneath the surface of fun and games, some attendees discussed the booming influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and growing concerns about job security within the industry.

A recent GDC survey of 3,000 developers revealed that one in ten had been laid off in the past year, and half of the developers are self-funding their games.

"I'm kind of nervous about getting into the industry. I'm not sure if there's a place for me. So it's just a lot of competition," said Tessa Breland, a visual effects artist at Mars Games.

Haley Hughes, a level designer at Mars Games, echoed the concern, citing recent industry layoffs.

"I have seen a bunch of cases of layoffs and studio closings and stuff like that. Marvel Rivals, that new MOBA or battle arena-type game, ended up closing their studio in Washington, and Ubisoft has closed a few studios, and you just see it happening a lot more this year than it has in previous years, so that's a little bit scary for somebody who's still in school and trying to get their foot into the door," she said. Another key issue at this year's GDC is the increasing use of generative AI in game development. While the GDC survey found that one in three developers are using AI to streamline their work, there is a growing sense of distrust.

Only 13 percent of developers believe generative AI is having a positive impact on the industry, down from 21 percent last year. Conversely, 30 percent believe it has had a negative impact, a 12-point increase from 2024. Key concerns among developers include the potential for copyright theft and the overall quality of AI-generated content.

2025 Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco amid industry layoffs

More than 1,000 coal mines in China have adopted intelligent systems, as their application expands from pilot projects to large-scale deployment, the China National Coal Association said recently.

Statistics show that by the end of 2025, a total of 1,066 coal mines nationwide have introduced smart systems, with such technologies now supporting more than 65 percent of the country's coal production capacity. The number of autonomous mining trucks in operation surpassed 4,000 units, roughly doubling on an annual basis.

The rapid adoption of smart mining is driven by robust domestic capabilities in intelligent equipment and technology. In Beijing, a newly deployed underground Internet of Things (IoT) precision positioning and management system links workers, positioning cards and operating zones, while also enabling health monitoring. Its core technologies and components are fully domestically developed and have been applied in coal mines and coal preparation plants. "This underground positioning system we've developed has a positioning deviation of less than 20 centimeters when a person or device is stationary. Even when a person or device is moving at high speeds, the margin of error remains minimal. A single device can cover a radius of 800 meters," said Wu Fengdong, general manager of China Coal Beijing Coal Mining Machinery Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Coal Group Corporation.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), cumulative investment in smart mining has exceeded 107.1 billion yuan (about 15.6 billion U.S. dollars), with intelligent technologies now widely applied, accelerating the shift from traditional mining to modern, technology-driven extraction.

Over 60 pct of China's coal production capacity uses smart technology by end of 2025