The Game Developer's Conference has released its third annual State of the Industry research. 2,000 North American game developers who attended GDC 2014 were asked questions about the state of industry, what platforms they develop for, and retail vs. digital. The following are the results of the survey, which will be conducted again at GDC 2015, which takes place March 2-6.

PC and Mobile remain top platforms for developers, but PS4 and Xbox One are catching up

PC and Mobile remained the top platforms for developers for another year. 56% of developers said their current game will be release on PC, and 50% said their project will launch on mobile devices. As for their next projects, 53% of those polled expect them to be released on PC, and only 48% expect them to be released on mobile devices.

This is the exact opposite of the PS4 and Xbox One as a large percentage of developers are moving to these platforms. Last year only 14% said they were working on a PS4 game, and only 12% on Xbox One games. This year, 26% of developers are working on PS4 titles, and 22% on Xbox One. Looking ahead at future projects, 29% expect their next game to be released on PS4, and 24% on Xbox One.

This shift comes at a time when consoles are selling faster than ever. Sony recently revealed that 18.5 million PS4s have been sold to consumers worldwide, and while the Xbox One hasn't found the same success, it's still doing well.

Digital and Microtransactions vs. Retail

Digital and Microtransactions sales continue to be a big money maker for developers. 29% said they saw most of their profits from direct sales to consumers through digital sales. 21% cited microtransactions as their primary source of profit. Only 13% of developers surveyed said the majority of their profits came from retail sales. It's clear that cutting the retailer out of the picture has worked for quite a few developers, but there are some who aren't fairing so well either digitally or through retail.

19% of developers said they saw no profits, were non-profit, or didn't know where their profit came from.

eSports is getting Big

eSports popularity is exploding within the industry, and developers are taking note. 12% are working on an eSports game, with 79% of all respondents said they expect eSports to be a long-term, sustainable business. Services like Twitch have made it easy to broadcast gameplay, and high-profile events like EVO and the Call of Duty Tournaments have been getting more and more attention. eSports are here to stay, and their popularity will continue to grow.