A survey conducted in Baixada Santista, located on the coast of São Paulo, revealed that a large portion of digital game students plans to move to another city to work in the sector. More than seven out of ten surveyed students expressed a desire to leave the region to find employment in the field.
Furthermore, the study pointed out significant challenges, such as lack of funding and low interaction among students, gamers, and local studios.
The data was collected through the Censo Games Baixada – SP 2.0, which interviewed 221 individuals between August 18 and September 24. The online questionnaire, consisting of 65 questions, explored the gaming market, career possibilities, and participants' perception of artificial intelligence application.
Main findings of the survey
The census findings showed that 74% of students intend to migrate to other cities to work with digital games. Other relevant data include the fact that 55.1% of students and graduates do not recognize any game studio in the locality. Additionally, 42% of gamers could not state whether they had played any title produced in Baixada Santista.
Regarding professional experience, 30% of students and graduates reported having practical experience in studios, with 61% of these professionals working outside the region. Participating studios indicated that the lack of financial resources is the main difficulty for 69.6% of them, and 60% have never tried to submit projects to public calls.
The research also observed that most of the involved studios have less than two years of activity and are not yet legally formalized.
Artificial intelligence in game development
The survey also investigated gamers' views on the use of generative artificial intelligence in the game creation process. Specifically, 37.7% of gamers stated that they would avoid purchasing games developed with this technology, while 53% indicated that their purchase decision would depend on transparency about the use of AI or the intrinsic quality of the game.
Details about the research
Data collection was carried out through questionnaires distributed in developer groups, social media, and QR codes presented at events such as Praia Games and Santos Geek Power Up. It is important to note that the sample used is a convenience sample and therefore does not necessarily represent the entirety of the digital gaming sector in Baixada Santista.