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The Game Developers Conference Europe has released the results of its second annual “European State of the Industry Survey”. The survey—which tabulates the responses of over 400 European industry professionals—highlights game development trends, tax incentives and more around the European continent.
PC and Mobile:
Top platforms for game development in Europe were, once again, PC and mobile, the report reveals. 58% of survey respondents are working on PC titles, and 60% expect their next game to be released on PC. Meanwhile, 65% are currently working on mobile games, with 64% planning to release their next game for mobile devices.
Consoles:
In terms of consoles, PlayStation 4 is in the lead as the “most active platform,” with 18% of survey respondents working on PS4 games, compared to 13% for the Xbox One. 33% of developers polled expect their next game to be developed for PS4, versus 23% for Xbox One.
Crowdfunding:
The GDC Europe survey also reveals that crowdfunding is catching on in Europe. While less than 10% of European developers presently use crowdfunding for their projects, 41% plan to use it for future projects, despite European legislation making it trickier to do so. In comparison, roughly 11% of North American survey respondents said they accept crowdfunding for current projects, up from 4% in 2013.
Sweden:
The 2014 survey saw respondents pick Sweden—home to developers such as Mojang and DICE—as the “premier current game development hub in Europe”. The survey also indicates that the U.K. and Germany are expected to overtake Sweden as the top hub in five years’ time.
Tax Incentives:
Finally, 47% of survey respondents felt that the United Kingdom offers the best tax breaks for local game development. Tied at a distant second place were Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, each with 9.5% of the votes. Despite this, respondents feel that the U.K. is still inferior to Canada with regard to tax benefits.
Photograph courtesy GDC Europe. This year’s event will take place from August 11th – August 13th, 2014 at the Congress-Centrum Ost in Cologne, Germany, co-located with Gamescom.
