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Devcom 2025 Reveals Speaker Survey Results and Announces New and Interactive Keynote Sessions

Written by: TokenMinds Team

Devcom 2025 Reveals Speaker Survey Results and Announces New and Interactive Keynote Sessions

- devcom speakers offer insights on trends, development strategies, and business models -
- “Viva La Game Dev” and “Mario Kart World: Beat the Pros” on the keynote stage -

Cologne, Germany, August 5, 2025 – With less than two weeks to go, the devcom developer conference (#ddc2025) continues to build excitement with fresh program highlights and the release of key insights from this year’s speaker survey.

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The 2025 edition of the survey was answered by 100 devcom speakers, offering a snapshot of current industry sentiment, challenges, and trends with insights like:

  • 33% of respondents would like to see as little AI involvement in the development process as possible.
  • 56 participants cite “economic and political uncertainty” as the biggest challenge currently impacting development
  • 46% believe “major platform holders” will shift focus toward “cloud and digital services” in the coming years

Meanwhile, devcom has added fresh content to its keynote stage program with two new sessions:

  • Letters from Malevelon Creek: Narrative Design of the 'Helldivers 2' Galactic War by Stephen Flowers (Arrowhead Game Studios)
  • My 25 Year Journey Through the Game Industry by Minh Le (Ultimo Ratio Games)
  • 160 GB of Resistance: A 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' Post-Mortem by Ievgen Grygorovych & Mariia Grygorovych (GSC Game Worlds)
  • Picking Up Things: First-Person Interactivity in 'Indiana Jones and the Great Circle' by Zeke Virant (MachineGames)
  • (NEW) "Viva La Game Dev: How a YouTube Empire Became Indie Game Gold", featuring the creators behind popular videogame comedy group Viva La Dirt League
  • (NEW) "Mario Kart World: Beat the Pros", a live audience challenge hosted by content creators and pro players

Session Highlights: New Additions to the devcom Keynote Stage

Viva La Game Dev: How a YouTube Empire Became Indie Game Gold

With Adam King, Alan Morrison, Rowan Bettjeman, Konrad Kunze – moderated by Markus Wilding

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What happens when a group of comedians with 7+ million YouTube subscribers dive into game development? You get Nice Day for Fishing — a weirdly wholesome fishing sim born from the creators behind Viva La Dirt League. This panel goes behind the scenes of how viral content creators transitioned into indie devs, what they’ve learned along the way, and what happens when humor, risk-taking, and collaborative chaos meet in game production.

Mario Kart World: Beat the Pros

Hosted by Tjan & DitoMido, featuring pro racers Bisalina (Lucina Hum) and WoloU

Think you're fast in Mario Kart? Time to prove it on stage! In this live-action challenge, audience members can jump into the race. If you beat both of our pros back-to-back, you’ll win a free Content Ticket to devcom 2026. Expect crowd energy, loud cheers, and serious bragging rights.

Speaker Survey 2025 – Key Results

The annual devcom Speaker Survey offers a unique, forward-looking snapshot of the industry's mindset in the current year:

What business model will dominate the near future?
Digital/physical premium games remain the most favored (27%), with paid subscriptions (20%) and Free-to-Play with in-game purchases (18%) also ranking high.

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Is Early Access still viable?
96% believe it is - either broadly (37%) or within specific genres and communities (59%).

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Platform exclusivity is fading
Only 6% believe exclusivity will remain a core strategy. Most expect limited (28%) or timed exclusives (34%) to become the norm, with 32% predicting exclusivity will become less common altogether.

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AI in development: where it works best
Most valuable use cases cited were code & production (32%) and art & animation (11%). Still, 33% preferred minimal AI involvement, indicating that the divide remains sharp.

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Biggest industry challenges
Top concerns included economic and political uncertainty (56 votes), market saturation (53 votes), and rising development costs (44 votes).

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Are large-scale digital showcases still worth it?
Visibility was the key reason for 54% of respondents, who answered yes. However, 21% felt costs outweigh benefits, and 8% said they're too crowded for real impact.

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Buying habits: digital vs physical
Digital formats dominate with 59% preferring them. Physical editions appeal mainly to collectors (22%), with a further 19% choosing physical by default.

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Cloud gaming outlook
The outlook is divided: while 45% think console/PC will remain dominant, another 46% expect major platform holders to shift toward cloud and digital-first services.

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devcom direct links:

About devcom

devcom (devcom developer conference) is host of the official developer conference of gamescom, and Europe’s largest community-based event for games industry professionals. Throughout the year, devcom provides content, events and services tailored to the games industry based on its core values of diversity, inclusion and sustainability.

The next devcom developer conference #ddc2025 will take place in Cologne from August 17-19, 2025.

All devcom branded formats are developed & organized by game events GmbH, a subsidiary of game - Verband der deutschen Gamesbranche (the German Games Industry Association and owner of the gamescom & devcom brands).

Your Press & Media contact: 

Robin Hartmann | he/him | robin@devcom.global

Marchsreiter Communications | devcom@marchsreiter.com 

Find devcom on: 

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